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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

100 years ago in Spokane: Late spring frost a frustration for local gardeners

By Jim Kershner For The Spokesman-Review

A unusual killing frost froze irrigation pipes and killed garden plants throughout the region.

The Spokane weather station reported a low of 29, and a station in an orchard north of the city reported a low of 23.

So far, the area’s apple orchardists were optimistic that it did not damage the trees, because most trees were not yet blooming. It had been a cold spring and “the trees were not as far advanced as usual.”

Home gardeners and nurseries were not so fortunate. Tomatoes and asters were badly frosted, and some potato plants, which had emerged early, were “wiped out.”

From the radio beat: The Spokane Daily Chronicle was planning to sponsor its first radio concert.

Two popular Spokane singers, Emil Eyer, tenor, and Ruth Sampson, soprano, were scheduled to present a program of concert selections.

This, however, would not be broadcast from the proposed Chronicle broadcast station in the Review tower. That station was still weeks away from completion.

Instead, it would be broadcast from Spokane’s only commercial station, at Eighth Avenue and Wall Street, operated by W.G. Irish.

Also on this date

(From the Associated Press)

1869: A golden spike was driven in Promontory, Utah, marking the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in the United States.

1933: The Nazis staged massive public book burnings in Germany.

1941: Adolf Hitler’s deputy, Rudolf Hess, parachuted into Scotland on what he claimed was a peace mission. Hess ended up serving a life sentence at Spandau Prison until 1987, when he apparently committed suicide at age 93.