Jim Kershner’s this day in history

From our archives, 100 years ago

The Spokane ticket agent for the Great Northern made a rare sale from his ticket window – two around-the-world fares.

Mr. and Mrs. Mortimer Watson, of Tekoa, bought rail and steamship tickets for a trek around the globe. They intended to begin their journey on Nov. 3, 1912, from the Spokane depot and head to Chicago and New York by train.

There, they would sail on the steamship Caronis to Liverpool. From there they would visit London, Paris, Vienna and Marseilles.

From Marseilles, they’d embark on a Japanese steamship for Hong Kong, touching at Suez, Colombo and Singapore. From Hong Kong, they would take passage on a Great Northern steamship to Seattle, and finally back to Spokane by rail.

They said they planned to take six to eight months to complete the trip, although the tickets allowed them to stay at some of their stops as long as they wanted. The Watsons said they had no fixed itinerary. The cost of the tickets was not disclosed, but the newspaper speculated the total might have been close to $1,000 each.

Also on this date

(From the Associated Press)

1947: Howard Hughes piloted the Hughes H-4 Hercules (dubbed the “Spruce Goose” by detractors), on its only flight, which lasted about a minute over Long Beach Harbor in California.