Jim Kershner’s this day in history

From our archives, 100 years ago

Spokane police nabbed a Northern Pacific railroad porter, 31, and a train cook, 19, for a daring post office robbery in Othello and – possibly – a brutal murder in a freight car.

Police said the two men confessed to breaking into the Othello Post Office and a nearby store and stealing money, knives, razors, scissors and hats. Then they jumped on a freight train and rode to Lind, where they each bought a new suit of clothes and purchased train tickets to Spokane. They were arrested at the Spokane depot as they stepped from the smoking car.

They were carrying bags of what appeared to be stolen items, police said.

Meanwhile, Othello police had discovered the body of a brutally murdered man in a boxcar. He had been beaten beyond recognition, and his pockets were stripped of their contents.

Police said they would soon be questioning the two men about a possible connection to that crime, as well.

Also on this date

(From the Associated Press)

1759: Arthur Guinness founded his famous brewery at St. James’s Gate in Dublin. … 1946: President Harry S. Truman officially proclaimed the end of hostilities in World War II. … 1992: President George H.W. Bush visited Somalia, where he saw firsthand the famine racking the east African nation, and praised U.S. troops who were providing relief there.