100 years go in Spokane: Pine association accused of price-fixing

Spokane’s lumber industry was rocked by news that the Federal Trade Commission had charged the Western Pine Manufacturers Association with price-fixing.

In fact, the commission said the association’s primary purpose for existence was “to agree on prices for their lumber.”

The association called the charges “absolutely false and ridiculous.”

The report was apparently aimed “directly at the Weyerhaeuser interests,” which controlled many Northwest lumber mills, including several in the Inland Northwest.

Local mill owners said this allegation “comes out of a clear sky,” and they had no evidence of any wrongdoing.

If there had been any price-fixing, it certainly wasn’t working, they said. One owner noted that lumber prices were currently so low “many lumber operators cannot exist.”

From the oil beat: In yet another sign that Spokane’s bogus “oil boom” had gone bust, a driller employed by the Latah-Texas Oil Company alleged in court that the company owed him wages and that the company was now “insolvent.”

From the golf beat: The Spokane Park Board voted to condemn land to build an additional nine holes at the Downriver municipal golf course.

To pay for it, golf fees would be increased from $10 to $20. Those were the annual fees.

Also on this date

(From Associated Press)

1879: President Rutherford B. Hayes signed a bill allowing female attorneys to argue cases before the Supreme Court.