Jim Kershner’s this day in history

From our archives, 100 years ago

A man was suing Washington Water Power for $5,000 over an incident in which he was injured while riding in a WWP streetcar, although WWP lawyers alleged that the man simply fell down while drunk.

Fellow passengers testified they smelled liquor on his breath. The man said that was impossible because he had given up drinking four whole days before the accident.

When asked why passengers smelled liquor on him, he offered a creative explanation: He said he had taken home some whiskey in his pocket so his wife could make camphor, an aromatic product. Lawyers informed him camphor is not made out of whiskey. Well, he said, that’s the way they make it at his house.

From the zoo beat: Caretakers at the Manito Park Zoo were perplexed about what to do with a timber wolf mother and her new whelps. The wolf had dug beneath the floorboards of the cage and given birth. 

The problem was, the den extended under and outside the iron bars of the cage. Caretakers were keeping a careful watch to make sure she and her youngsters didn’t escape.

Also on this date

(From the Associated Press)

1945: During World War II, American soldiers liberated the notorious Nazi concentration camp Buchenwald in Germany.