100 years ago in Spokane: Jury rules that squatter killed by massive rock slide was warned to leave

From our archives, 100 years ago

A coroner’s jury ruled that John Gleason, who was swept away and killed by a mud-and-rock slide at the foot of Cedar Street, failed to heed warnings.

Gleason was one of several squatters living in shacks by the river. Several of his fellow squatters testified that a railroad engineer came down an hour before the accident and told them that “a slide might come at any time” from an unstable section of railroad fill and that they “all should vacate.”

One man said he immediately went to get an armful of clothing and bedding. He said he warned Gleason, “but the old man told him” not to get so excited and “there was nothing to be alarmed about.” Not long after that, the riprap gave way. Four houses, or shacks, were swept away, although Gleason’s was the only one still occupied.

A patrolman testified that when he turned to look he saw a “house being carried toward the river and then burst into kindling wood.”

Gleason’s body was found under about 15 feet of earth and sand.

From the laundry beat: Spokane laundrymen were urging patrons to wear white.

Why?

Because of the inferiority of dyes since the European war had begun. The laundrymen could no longer guarantee the quality of colored fabrics after being washed.