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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Jim Kershner’s this day in history

From our archives, 100 years ago

Three Spokane women – two wives and one widow – got together for a Friday evening whiskey party. They sent for a flask of whiskey from a nearby saloon, which was delivered by a messenger boy. They passed the flask around and all took swigs. One of them mentioned at the time that “it did not taste right.”

The next day, they all developed sore throats. Then their throats became paralyzed and they became nauseated. By the end of the day, all three women were dead.

An autopsy was performed on one of the women, but it showed nothing conclusive. Police were investigating the possibility that the saloon had filled up a flask that previously contained antiseptic.

From the park beat: Park Board president Aubrey L. White announced that the Ontario Land Co. had donated 39 acres for a new city park at Indian Canyon. This new parkland was west of the mouth of Hangman (Latah) Creek and included “what is popularly called slaughter-house gulch” and a small creek. The canyon “runs up the side of the rocky palisades to the little Indian settlement, where the aborigines are still living in their primitive tepees.”

Also on this date

(From the Associated Press)

1925: The first motel – the Motel Inn – opened in San Luis Obispo, Calif.