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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Jim Kershner’s this day in history

From our archives, 100 years ago

A man named Hugh Watson was on trial for “white slavery” – in this case, forcing his wife to be a prostitute.

However, after he told his own “pitiable tale” in court, he convinced everybody, including the prosecuting attorney, that he was the victim in the case.

He said he worked full-time on the Monroe Street Bridge project but he continually came home to discover his wife, Jennie, being unfaithful.

Twice, he said, he had to “manhandle” men who were “consorting” with his wife. He discovered that she had money “she never got from me,” and he finally told her that “she couldn’t live with me and go with other men.” He said he was willing to “do anything to keep my wife straight, but it was no use.”

He said he continued to support his five children.

The prosecuting attorney, after hearing his testimony, made a motion for a verdict of not guilty. A moment later, Watson was “embracing his five children with wet eyes.”

Jennie Watson, on the other hand, was heard to say, “I’ll get him yet. I’m not through with him.”

She told another woman that she would “get him with a shotgun next time.”

Also on this date

(From the Associated Press)

1963: Mary Ann Fischer, of Aberdeen, S.D., gave birth to four girls and a boy, the first known surviving quintuplets in the United States.