100 years ago in Spokane: Police say aftermath of library dance leads to ‘gross immoralities’

A group of Spokane’s high schoolers were engaging in “wild parties, liquor drinking and gross immorality.”

At least, that’s what the Spokane Daily Chronicle alleged in a sensational front-page story.

The paper said that police had arrested three girls and two boys who told a shocking story about a teen party and its aftermath.

They went to a semipublic dance at the East Side Library, days ago, and “neither the boys nor girls have been home any length of time since.”

“Some were arrested in downtown hotels – boys and girls together in some instances, it is said,” reported the paper.

When interviewed, the teens said they became intoxicated at the Friday night dance, “and kept on drinking.” They revived sufficiently to go to “a bungalow beyond Fort Wright.” Then they all went together to downtown hotel rooms, where they were arrested, apparently on a tip.

“Not until we began to round up the bunch on Tuesday night was there any sign of the party breaking up,” said police. “And the startling feature is that only one parent of the five notified the juvenile department that their young people were not coming home at night, as they should. Both boys and girls in this particular party made statements that showed that gross immoralities had resulted from their continued associations.”

Police said they did not want to give the impression that everyone who attended the East Side Library dance went wild. It was only a small group.

However, police said they would use greater care when issuing permits for semipublic dances.

From the dance beat: In a related story, a group of high school girls formed a new club called the Alpha Delta Club, specifically as an anti-dancing club.

The club was organized for “sole purpose of having a good time without dancing.” Instead, they would organize picnics, hikes and lake excursions.