100 years ago in Spokane: News of battlefield deaths arrive even after World War I ends

The war in Europe had been over for more than a week, but bad news continued to arrive. The wife of Lt. R.G. White received word that her husband had died in the Battle of the Marne on July 24.

This news confirmed her worst fears. She had heard no word from him since mid-July. She had recently made a trip east “in an effort to enlist the services of influential friends in locating him.”

Mrs. White was the former Miss Sarah Hart Ross, superintendent of household arts in the Spokane schools.

From the Red Cross beat: Miss Lily Courtney Snow, the founder of the Courtney School of Elocution and Dramatic Art in Spokane, was headed for a new vocation.

She had enlisted in the Red Cross and was headed for Paris, where she was to engage in “hospital hut work.”

A hospital hut was a temporary hospital, hastily built to meet demand in war zones.

The Spokesman-Review said that “Miss Snow is well qualified for hospital hut work because of her ability as an entertainer,” but offered no further explanation.

From the flu beat: Fewer than 50 new Spanish flu cases were reported, and this was considered good news since the number continued to decline every day.

On a more alarming note, the death toll in Spokane went above 200.