Jim Kershner’s This day in history

From our archives, 100 years ago

A Spokane city jail inmate earned the nickname “Neversweat” because of his “marked disinclination for all varieties of labor” – but the guards finally found a job he could tackle with gusto.

Too much gusto.

Earlier that day, police raided an “Austrian family jubilee” and confiscated two cases of perfectly good bottled beer. The “Austrians” had made the mistake of holding the party on a Sunday, a supposedly booze-free day.

So a guard and Neversweat were given the job of pouring the beer into the sewer. The guard was called away for a while.

“Before the prisoner could be stopped, three bottles of the foamy liquid that made Milwaukee famous found its way down his throat,” reported the Spokane Daily Chronicle.

Other officers intervened and destroyed the beer. Neversweat looked on “with tears of longing flowing from his eyes.”

From the big game beat: An 11-year-old boy, wearing a cartridge belt and revolver, was arrested by police at Chicago’s Union Station as he tried to board a train to Washington.

The boy explained to officers that he intended to go to Walla Walla “and shoot lions.”