100 years ago in Spokane: A new concept for the city, a junior high school, was launched

The Spokane School Board considered a new type of school in town – junior high.

The superintendent prepared a recommendation calling for “at least one secondary school to be built in 1922 or 1923” and perhaps two.

The superintendent presented this as an alternative to building a third grammar school. A middle school would “lift both elementary and high schools from their overcrowded conditions”.

From the oil fraud strike: A federal grand jury was convened in Spokane to further investigate whether Spokane’s “oil fever” was due to fraud.

Although fraud proceedings against Alfred L’Ecuyer had been closed a few weeks earlier by a federal commissioner, new facts were piling up. A US Bureau of Mines investigator declined to say what it had found so far, despite determining that a particular sheen of oil from a Spokane source was due to the fact that there was already grease at the bottom of the tub.

“I warned them not to fool themselves and I was assured they would be careful,” said the inspector.

From the ice fall: An ice harvest crew picked more than 1,500 tons of ice from Lake Fernan near Coeur d’Alene.

“The ice is about 10 inches thick and is said to be the best quality harvested here in years,” wrote a correspondent.

During this time, ice was harvested from northern lakes and stored and then shipped across the country.