Jim Kershner’s this day in history

From our archives, 100 years ago

For several days, police had been seeking Marie Taylor, 19, an Astoria, Ore., bride-to-be who disappeared on her way to Spokane to be married.

Finally, they had their first clue – and it must have come as a big surprise to the prospective Spokane groom.

A prominent Spokane man told police he spotted the young woman “in the Oriental dancing girls performance” with a vaudeville troupe at the Interstate Fair.

The witness said he noticed her because one of the men with the show got into a fight with her after the performance, slapping her in the face and cutting her with his ring.

Police were unable to check this story right away because the vaudeville troupe had moved on to another city.

Also from the fair beat: A Japanese aviator named Takeishi thrilled Interstate Fair crowds and broke “Inland Empire altitude records” by soaring 1,300 feet above the fairgrounds.

The final attendance number for the fair: 104,260 over seven days.

Also on this date

(From the Associated Press)

1991: University of Oklahoma law professor Anita Hill publicly accused Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of making sexually inappropriate comments when she worked for him; Thomas denied Hill’s allegations.