100 years ago in Spokane: Child born to ‘schoolgirl’ considered for adoption

An 11-year-old girl gave birth to a 4-pound baby boy in Marble, Washington, a small town near Northport.

The mother was an “Italian schoolgirl” — a third-grader.

The father was alleged to be an 18-year-old, whose name was turned over to the prosecutor at Colville.

The baby was brought to Spokane and the Washington Children’s Home Society was caring for it temporarily.

“The father and mother (of the young mother) are industrious people, so far as we can learn,” said a spokesman for the society. “We cannot say whether the baby will be for adoption. The baby appears to be normal.”

From the police beat: Four people were in jail for the notorious “woman-slugging” robbery in Spokane – and one of them was already planning his escape, apparently.

When Ivan McLennan was brought into the Spokane County jail, jailers discovered a small saw hidden in his coat. Authorities believed he obtained the saw in Missoula, while being transported to Spokane from Butte, where he was arrested.

McLennan and three other people, including “Twig” Ward and Frank Pooler, were accused of robbing Mrs. Dora Sherlock and then slugging her until almost unconscious before they left her house.