100 years ago in Spokane: Conscientious objector would ‘stand before a wall’ before shooting fellow man

Fred Hippen, of Spokane, requested a draft deferment as a conscientious objector.

“I’ll stand up against a wall and be shot before I’ll shoot a fellow human being,” said Hippen.

His claim was denied by both the local board and the district board, but Hippen remained “strong in his determination not to shoulder a gun.”

From the tragedy file: A tragedy played out between two women at the Seattle Hotel (in Spokane). One woman apparently entered the room of Mrs. Mary Zachary and tried to take money from her.

In the ensuing fight, little Virginia Zachary, 4 months old, was killed. The coroner was trying to determine the cause of death.

Police said the women involved in the case had been hauled into police court earlier for drinking.

From the accident beat: Mrs. Thomas Griffith was supervising work at the Glen Tann dairy farm when her hair caught in a machine’s belt and “she was almost instantly suspended by her hair from the shafting.”

She hung there until workers could turn off the power to the machine. She survived, but suffered severe scalp lacerations and bleeding.