Jim Kershner’s This day in history

From our archives, 100 years ago

Jack McDonald  rolled into town with $300 in his pocket and proceeded to make a lot of friends in the Spokane saloon district.

He strolled into the Atlas Bar and asked the assembled drinkers and card players, “Tired? Hungry? Sleepy?”

The men declared they were all three, plus thirsty. So McDonald “set them up” – meaning, he bought a round of drinks.

He did so not just once but several times. He even called in more men from outside the bar.

Then McDonald had sandwiches delivered from a nearby restaurant. He even bought groceries for men who claimed they had hungry families at home.

Then he went to some other bars and did the same. He didn’t stop until his funds were depleted. Then he quietly departed, “asking or receiving no thanks.”

In his wake, the men asked each other who this Jack McDonald was. Aside from the fact that he was a Coeur d’Alene mining man, none of the men knew anything about him.

Also on this date

(From the Associated Press)

1542: The fifth wife of England’s King Henry VIII, Catherine Howard, was executed for adultery.

1741: Andrew Bradford of Pennsylvania published the first American magazine. “The American Magazine, or A Monthly View of the Political State of the British Colonies” lasted three issues.

1972: The 11th Winter Olympics ended in Sapporo, Japan.