100 years ago in Spokane: The great railway strike showed signs of easing, but was that just Great Northern spin?

Spokane railroad executives were declaring at least partial victory in the lengthy rail shopmen’s strike, one of the most disruptive strikes in Spokane history.

At the Great Northern shop in Hillyard, 924 men had walked out months ago, yet now 900 workers were on the job. Some of these were nonunion replacement workers, but others were union men who were returning to work. Similar reports came from the other three main railroads in Spokane.

The Great Northern also reported that it had moved more rail cars in August 1922 than before the strike.

“Our organization is moving smoothly and no trouble with the strikers has been reported in this division since the federal injunction went into effect,” the Great Northern superintendent said.

Yet the strike continued, and the striking unions did not confirm any of the executives’ claims.

From the police beat: “Send the (police) wagon down Sprague Avenue!” said a breathless caller to police headquarters. “There’s a guy running around the streets with a bathrobe and no shoes on!”

This was accurate to a point. A.H. Reed, a Spokane newspaperman, was the guy in the bathrobe.

That morning, he was returning from his bath at the Granby Court rooming house when he saw a prowler leaving his room.

Reed accosted the prowler and frog-marched him down the stairs. But the prowler broke free and ran out the front door. Reed followed, his bathrobe billowing behind, through alleys and vacant lots.

The prowler disappeared in the vicinity of the Spokane Public Library.