This day in history: Baby found in garbage can was in critical condition at Deaconess Hospital. Vachel Lindsay’s new book of poetry praised

From 1976: A tiny baby boy was getting extra attention at Deaconess Hospital.

Several days earlier, a Pasco physician’s wife had found the infant in a garbage can behind her home. She was alerted by the infant’s “kitten-like cries” and discovered the baby under some empty boxes.

The infant, who was in distress, was taken to a Pasco hospital but then transferred to Deaconess in Spokane after he began coughing up blood.

The baby was also suffering from breathing problems and was in critical condition. The nurses gave the baby first and last names “so that he could be known by something other than his patient number.” They declined to disclose the name “for fear it might follow the boy after adoption.”

From 1926: Nationally known Spokane poet Vachel Lindsay released a new volume, “Going to the Stars.”

“Several poems included in the volume are known to friends of the Spokane poet and to radio audiences, as well as through the several magazines in which they have appeared,” said the Spokane Daily Chronicle.

The Chronicle praised the book’s “light, fanciful style and story.”

“Few things bring ire to the rebellious soul of Vachel Lindsay as does the charge that there is an esoteric meaning in his writings, yet his work shows the man thinks, and keenly so,” said the Chronicle.

Lindsay was also celebrating another new arrival – a daughter, Susan Doniphan Lindsay.

Also on this day

(From onthisday.com)

1989: 10,000 Chinese soldiers are blocked by 100,000 citizens in Tiananmen Square, protecting students demonstrating for democracy.