Jim Kershner’s this day in history

A new form of transportation was set to debut in Spokane: an “auto-omnibus.” Today, we would call it a bus. It was an automobile capable of carrying 18 passengers. It was intended to call on the city’s hotels and take passengers to the train depots. This auto-omnibus had become a “fixture in the larger Eastern cities,” and the head of the taxi company in Spokane said he believed “it will prove advantageous here.”

From the murder file: The state Supreme Court ordered a new trial for Arthur Ash, who admitted to waiting in ambush for an aged rancher near Rock Lake and shooting him. He confessed to shooting the rancher because the rancher had confessed to “being intimate” with Ash’s wife. Ash was convicted of manslaughter. But the high court ruled that this “compromise” verdict was not justified by the evidence and ordered Ash to stand trial for first degree murder.

Also on this date

(From the Associated Press)

1865: Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered his army to Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House in Virginia. … 1942: During World War II, American and Philippine defenders on Bataan capitulated to Japanese forces; the surrender was followed by the notorious Bataan Death March, which claimed thousands of lives. … 1959: NASA presented its first seven astronauts: Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard and Donald Slayton.