Jim Kershner’s this day in history

From our archives, 100 years ago

The city still was shaken by several serious sledding accidents, including one death, so authorities announced a further safety step: supervised sledding hills.

Certain streets in various parts of the city were designated as “coasting grounds” and would be closed off to traffic. Furthermore, watchmen would be posted on those sledding hills so that “good order is maintained.”

The watchmen would not only keep auto traffic away, but they also would make sure that “larger boys and girls” did not bully the smaller ones, so that “all will be given an equal show.”

The location of these coasting grounds still was being determined.

From the farm beat: Washington State College President E.A. Bryan suggested that Inland Empire farmers should not become too enamored of wheat. 

Record-high wheat prices had caused many farmers to abandon mixed farming-and-livestock operations and turn exclusively to wheat. This was lucrative in the short term. But he warned that a termination of the European war would send wheat prices sharply down.

 He said wheat farmers should learn from previous “toboggan slides” in wheat prices and hedge their bets by keeping part of their operations in livestock and dairying.