Jim Kershner’s this day in history

From our archives, 100 years ago

Georgia McCarthy, 22, the “Girl Box Car Queen,” went on an angry rampage after being arrested, kicking the shins of Spokane policemen and even kicking the shins – and the camera – of a Spokesman-Review photographer.

The “well-dressed, athletic” girl had been arrested for the theft of a watch. She admitted to “bumming” her way from Portland to Tekoa in a boxcar. She jumped off in Tekoa, stopped at the first house she saw and asked to wash her hands.

Police said she stole a watch while no one was looking and jumped back on a train to Spokane. When spotted in Spokane, she jumped into the airshaft of a hat store on Riverside and tried to kick out a window to escape.

Police nabbed her and a two-hour fight ensued. When police led her in front of some police and press cameramen, she burst out of the officer’s grasp with a curse and aimed a kick at one of the cameras. She missed and caught the photographer in the shin instead.

A detective grabbed her by the shoulders and she fought bitterly for a long time before finally being subdued.

“I may look like a boob, but I am not in that class,” the Girl Box Car Queen muttered while being led back to jail.

Also on this date

(From the Associated Press)

1775: John Hancock was elected president of the Continental Congress, succeeding Peyton Randolph.