Jim Kershner’s this day in history

From our archives, 100 years ago

Preston Thayer, suspected in the slaying of a chauffeur/cab driver, was still at large.

Police believed he had fled to Montana, where he knew the country. His wife claimed she had no idea where he was. Circulars with his photo were distributed throughout the Northwest and Montana. In the photo, he’s wearing a large cowboy hat and a rakish neckerchief – like a silent movie cowboy star.

From the marriage beat: George Wilford Kelley, 25, jumped off the Howard Street Bridge in an attempt to end his life over marital troubles.

He was married a few months earlier to a 63-year-old woman. She, however, accused him of infidelity. This made him so despondent that he jumped into the Spokane River.

He was swept down the rapids, but he grabbed onto a log and was eventually dragged out of the water by onlookers.

He was taken to the hospital and “dried out.”

Also on this date

(From the Associated Press)

1873: Panic swept the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in the wake of railroad bond defaults and bank failures. … 1962: James Meredith, a black student, was blocked from enrolling at the University of Mississippi by Democratic Gov. Ross R. Barnett. (Meredith was later admitted.)