100 years ago in Spokane: The great railway strike led to 10 workers getting fired

The first serious confrontation in the ongoing railroad workers’ strike took place at the Northern Pacific shops in Parkwater when 10 laborers were “summarily” fired for refusing to ice some refrigerated cars.

That, they said, was a job ordinarily performed by the striking carmen.

Northern Pacific management apparently had no comment, but the union reported that the fired men were all “old employees of the company.”

At the national level, the chairman of the Senate’s interstate commerce committee said he would attempt to resolve the strike by guaranteeing a “fair living wage.”

From the mountaineering beat: Four members of the Spokane Mountaineers Club spent the day clearing out the “old trail which runs from Mica Peak eight miles to Liberty Lake.”

The trail had been choked with brush and fallen timber. They paused in their exertions to have their photo taken, and it appeared on the front page of the Spokane Daily Chronicle.

From the lake resort beat: The Liberty Lake Park resort published a large ad asking the question: “Why Travel 500 miles to the Seashore? 40 minutes Easy Driving by Auto Lands You at Beautiful Liberty Lake Park, Where You Can Get Just As Wet as in the Ocean.”

So on this date

(From onthisday.com)

1985: “Live Aid” concerts held at Wembley Stadium in London and John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia raises more than $70 million for African famine relief.