100 years ago in Spokane: Quick action saves woman badly hurt while canning peaches

Mrs. Van Murphy was canning peaches at her Four Lakes home when one of the glass jars burst.

The glass badly sliced her hands, and she was in danger of bleeding to death until prompt action by her two daughters and a neighbor saved her life.

Her daughters quickly applied tourniquets and called a neighbor, W. B. Capell. When Capell arrived, he saw that Mrs. Murphy was still in imminent danger of bleeding to death.

He placed her in his Ford auto and sped to the city – zipping past every car in the way – and made the 14-mile trip to Sacred Heart Hospital in 20 minutes. Doctors were able to save her life, and her hands.

From the hospital beat: In Deaconess Hospital news, Caroline A. Jackson was named the new supervisor of nurses and assistant superintendent.

Jackson had previously served as assistant superintendent of the New England Deaconess Hospital, and had served overseas in the U.S. Army during the world war.

She succeeded Ethel Butts, who left to become a medical missionary.

From the obituary beat: Sad news arrived from San Francisco.

Col. Lea Febiger, who had been the commandant of Fort George Wright in Spokane in 1908 and 1909, committed suicide in his office at the California State Armory.

For years, he had suffered from a “nervous illness” contracted during his service in the Philippines. He left a note saying, “I am going insane and blind. Can stand it no longer. Must have oblivion. God forgive me.”