Jim Kershner’s this day in history

From our archives, 100 years ago

Spokane police were certain that they had finally tracked down fugitive Preston Thayer, wanted for the murder two months earlier of a Spokane chauffeur, James Pollock.

Canadian mounted police officers said they had Thayer under surveillance at a ranch 100 miles north of Calgary.

So a Spokane deputy went to Calgary, filled out the arrest and extradition forms and waited eagerly for the Canadian police to get their man.

The mounted police arrived triumphantly with the fugitive.

The Spokane deputy’s face fell; the man was not Preston Thayer.

 The deputy returned home “empty-handed and disgusted.”

From the Apple Show beat: It was Children’s Day at the National Apple Show in Spokane, and all children received a special treat: free apple pies.

There was such a melee in front of the ovens that three policemen had to fence off a passageway. By the end of the evening, an astonishing 10,000 pies had been distributed.

A front-page cartoon depicted a sleeping boy tormented by apple-shaped apparitions. The caption read, “The dream that came to the little boy who ate too many free apple pies.”