Jim Kershner’s This day in history » On the Web: spokesman.com/topics/local-history

From our archives, 100 years ago

A mysterious woman called Spokane police and delivered a gruesome message: Go to a cottage at 1730 Broadway and you will find a human hand.

A skeptical patrolman was sent to investigate. He went into the kitchen of the empty cottage, looked in the cookstove … and discovered a severed human hand. It appeared to be the hand of a woman or boy.

“The flesh had evidently been burned, as though an effort had been made to destroy it,” said The Spokesman-Review.

Police were searching urgently for the occupants of the home.

From the fire beat: The Juvenile Bostonians, a vocal group, were performing in a concert hall in Oroville, Wash. Suddenly, one of the footlights popped and a “column of fire shot up.”

“There was a wild scramble for the only exit in the rear of the hall,” said the paper.

However, two “plucky” girl singers never stopped their duet. The manager smothered the flames and the crowd, calmed by the singing, returned to their seats.

No damage was reported.

Also on this date

(From the Associated Press)

1961: Roger Maris of the New York Yankees hit his 61st home run during a 162-game season, compared with Babe Ruth’s 60 home runs during a 154-game season.