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

100 years ago in North Idaho: Bomb under bed sends man through roof of store

Joe Blalock was asleep in his small store in Cornwall, Idaho, near Moscow, when an explosion from a bomb catapulted him all the way through the roof, the Spokane Daily Chronicle reported on July 18, 1917. (Spokesman-Review archives)

Joe Blalock was asleep in his small store in Cornwall, Idaho, near Moscow, when an explosion catapulted him all the way through the roof.

Blalock was badly injured and was rushed to the hospital. He was unable to tell police what has happened. However, a detective said that Blalock had enemies in the neighborhood. The detective was tracking several suspects down.

The authorities made a point of saying that it appeared the Industrial Workers of the World (Wobblies) had nothing to do with it.

From the golf beat: Mrs. Frederick Wilson, a prominent “society woman,” was hit in the eye with a golf ball at the Hayden Lake links.

An unidentified lad was teeing off on No. 5 and the errant shot went only a short distance before it struck Mrs. Wilson, who was walking toward the No. 4 green, with full force. A doctor said it was too early to tell whether she would lose sight in that eye.

Her husband told the paper that it was “purely accidental” and he did not blame the young lad.

From the farm beat: Farmers in the Palouse were facing one of the worst harvests in 21 years. A farm banker who just finished a tour of the Palouse said the harvest would be less than half of normal, mainly because of an uncommonly hot, dry summer.

Also on this date

(From the Associated Press)

1947: President Harry S. Truman signed a Presidential Succession Act, which placed the speaker of the House and the Senate president pro tempore next in the line of succession after the vice president.