Jim Kershner’s This day in history » On the Web: spokesman.com/topics/local-history

From our archives, 100 years ago

Temple Witham, a young Coeur d’Alene painter, demonstrated his remarkable new invention: A flying machine powered by a clock.

An eight-pound model of the flying machine flew 300 yards on the fort grounds in Coeur d’Alene, “propelled by the works of an eight-day clock.”

The machine differed from the Wright brothers’ plane “essentially in principle, starting to rise from a stationary position.”

“The inventor asserts it cannot ‘turn turtle’ and he can stop his machine instantly in the air,” said The Spokesman-Review.

The paper claimed that the demonstration on the fort grounds proves its “practicability.” The young inventor said he was contemplating the construction of a 12-passenger model.

From the crime beat: A 65-year-old woman was beaten to death in her Marble Creek cabin in Idaho by mysterious assailants.

The woman saw her children off to school that morning, and her husband went to Clarkia for the mail. At noon, a neighbor found her in the cabin, with signs of a “terrific death struggle” evident. She was beaten to death by a stick of firewood.

Also on this date

From the Associated Press

1836: Inventor Samuel Colt patented his revolver. … 1901: United States Steel Corp. was incorporated by J.P. Morgan.