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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

William A. Pinkerton, head of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency, stopped in Spokane to say that he expected business to be booming over the winter.

That wasn’t necessarily good news for anybody else.

“Mark my word, there will be a lot of holdups this winter,” Pinkerton said.

In fact, he had already seen an uptick in the kind of crime his firm specialized in solving.

“I have noticed a decided increase in highway robbery throughout the country in the last few years,” Pinkerton said. “I blame it almost entirely to the fact that foreigners, Greeks, Austrians, Italians, Hungarians and others of this class have become ‘educated’ in crime. They are beginning to learn the antics of Jesse James and the Daltons.”

He said it would be a hard winter for the unemployed, and they will turn to “the stickup, the popular crime of the year.”

From the escapee beat: John Hore, the so-called “lunatic” who had escaped from his guard the day before while eating dinner at Durkin’s, wasn’t gone for long.

B. Croka, the guard, was having breakfast the next morning at Durkin’s when Hore walked into the restaurant. To Croka’s immense surprise, Hore willingly placed himself back in Croka’s custody.