100 years ago in Spokane: Rain of glass and a falling body interrupt soldiers’ departure

A huge crowd was gathered at the Great Northern depot to wave goodbye to 1,000 soldier boys – and then a near-panic swept through the crowd.

A man named Frank A. Johnson fell through the skylight onto the railroad platform, scattering shards of heavy glass among the bystanders. Several people were gashed by the glass, including one man who had a “piece of flesh” gouged out on his face.

Johnson himself escaped death only because he landed atop two persons, who broke his fall. One of them was a Mrs. Garrett and the other was an unidentified “aged man,” who remained on the ground for a short while before getting up and leaving. Mrs. Garrett had a cut on her thumb, and was badly shaken, but was otherwise uninjured.

How did this happen?

Apparently, Johnson, a Great Northern employee, and his wife were upstairs in a depot office watching the departure celebration. He decided that they would have a better view of the festivities if they stepped out the window onto the skylight in the platform’s roof. His wife stepped out first, without incident.

However, when he climbed through the window, he caught his foot on his wife’s skirt, causing him to fall heavily, shattering the skylight and falling onto the crowd below.

Johnson fractured his skull and was rushed to Sacred Heart Hospital, where he remained in serious condition.