100 years ago in Spokane: Cartoon bids farewell to a year of war

A front-page editorial cartoon helped bid farewell to 1917 in telling fashion.

An old, bearded man, with “1917” emblazoned on his forehead, was feverishly writing a tome called “Important Events in 1917.” It included such chapters as “Names of Great Battles in 1917.”

Below him stood a small boy, labeled “The Schoolboy of Future Generations,” who stared up at the old man in consternation.

The old man said to the boy, “Wait Till You Get to This Chapter, Kid.”

The caption at the bottom of the cartoon said, “All the pain and misery of the war doesn’t fall on the present generation.”

From the travel beat: Here’s the narrative that Sidney C. Miller wrote about his three-day train trip from Chicago to Spokane.

At Minneapolis, it was snowing hard and the temperature was 36 below zero.

At Miles City, Mont., the temperature was up to 16 below, and the snow continued.

At Deer Lodge, Mont., the sun came out, but it was still 16 below.

At the Rocky Mountain crest near Butte, it was snowing and raining, and the foundation washed out from beneath the tracks. The train had to stop while rocks were dynamited and the tracks repaired.

At Avery, Idaho, there was another washout. The eastbound train and the westbound train exchanged passengers on either side of the washout, and the trains reversed course.

At St. Maries, the river overflowed so that water was up to the car platforms for a two-mile stretch.

The train made it through to Spokane – 17 hours late.