100 years ago in Spokane: Rail workers threatened to strike, and authorities caught a gang of ‘bunco men’

A nationwide rail strike was looming, and 2,000 Spokane rail workers were poised to walk out unless the railroad companies backed off on a proposed wage reduction.

The secretary of the Spokane Brotherhood of Trainmen said that his members were “solidly behind the general strike movement.”

They represented approximately one-third of the total railroad workers in Spokane. Approximately 11 other unions were also considering joining the strike, set for the end of the month.

Federal officials in Washington D.C. were at work, trying to avert a strike.

From the bunco beat: A “gang of alleged horseracing bunco men” was broken up after they tried to defraud a Spokane salesman of $5,000.

The fraudsters made friends with S.V. Clayton and told him that he might be the luckiest man on earth because they had inside dope on the big races. They always won their bets.

They convinced Clayton to make a $1 bet, and soon after they handed him $6 in winnings. The next day they convinced him to bet $5, and handed him $20.

Then they urged him to sell his farm in North Dakota and bet $5,000. Clayton pretended to go along with them, but his suspicions had been aroused. He notified police.

The bunco men claimed they would give Clayton $15,000 as soon as he showed up with the $5,000 in proceeds from his farm. At the appointed time, two officers accompanied Clayton and grabbed one of the bunco men.

The other ran for two blocks “until the officers pulled their guns and began putting bullets uncomfortably close.”

Detective Martin J. Burns said the bunco men “showed bad judgment in selecting their victim.” Not only did Clayton see through their scheme, but he ended up more than $20 ahead.