Jim Kershner’s This day in history

From our archives, 100 years ago

Spokane audiences enjoyed some fine vaudeville entertainment at the Orpheum Theater. French vocalist Camille Ober impressed the crowds by hitting a G in the fourth octave.

Meanwhile, pianist/comedian Hyman Meyer performed a spoof of grand opera that “revealed both his digital dexterity and his ability as a comedian.”

“His imitation of a chicken singing opera also found instant favor,” said a reviewer.

From the feud file: What the paper described as an “Italian feud” boiled over in a Spokane fruit store. A man who held a grudge against the proprietor walked into the store, grabbed the proprietor’s hand and “nearly bit off his thumb.”

The store owner, throbbing thumb notwithstanding, soon got the better of the man with the dangerous choppers and “had him nearly beaten into insensibility” by the time police arrived.

Then, at the police station, the injured proprietor decided he hadn’t inflicted enough damage. The proprietor leaped over the police counter and started pounding on the man again, while filling “the air with Italian invectives.”

By the way, the proprietor was 68 years old.

Also on this date

(From the Associated Press)

1970: Fiji became independent after nearly a century of British rule.