100 years ago today in Spokane: Skunk skinning stinks up downtown

The neighbors of the Sun Chong Co., a shop selling Chinese goods near the Davenport Hotel, flooded the city health office with complaints of a strong skunk smell.

When the sanitary inspector arrived, he detected an acrid odor at the rear of the shop and discovered a young man engaged in skinning a skunk.

The man told the inspector that a farmer had given him the skunk “with the statement that it was a rare wild animal and a treat for the table.” The man did admit, however, that it had a strong odor.

The sanitary inspector tossed the skunk into a garbage can and had it hauled away to the city crematory.

From the divorce beat: Eva Rosacker sued her husband, a Spokane firefighter, for divorce because of his pro-German sentiments.

She said that when she said anything against the German government and praised America, her husband would swear at her and threaten her with violence. She also asked to be allowed to return to her maiden name, Eva Stone, and that her two children be allowed to take the name. She said the name Rosacker was German.