What was the reason for the Inland Northwest’s “disappointing growth” from 1910 to 1920?

“The question can be answered in a sentence – discriminating freight rates and neglected reclamation of our arid and semi-arid lands,” The Spokesman-Review said.

By “discriminating freight rates,” the editors were referring to the widely held belief that railroad freight rates were unfair to the Inland Northwest’s farmers and factories. “Manufacturers and others … have been driven and are constantly being driven, to the Coast cities by that uncertainty.”

“Neglected reclamation” was a reference to the slow pace of irrigation development in the region. “The success of these (irrigation) endeavors depends on the growth and prosperity, not only of the Inland Empire, but of the entire Pacific Northwest.”

The future growth of the Inland Northwest depended, said the editors, on rectifying these two drags on the economy.

From the medical beat: Lillian Dyer, 47, a “prominent Spokane club woman,” died of a tick bite at St. Luke’s Hospital.

She was conscious to the end, “in spite of intense suffering from the dread disease.”

She believed she had been bitten in the back during a walk she took at Twin Lakes. She had no ill effects until three or four days later, when she became feverish.

Also on this day

(From onthisday.com)

1928: American aviator Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, landing at Burry Port, Wales