Jim Kershner’s this day in history

From our archives, 100 years ago

The strange case of C. Dennica, victim of an attack by thugs, took a strange turn.

He tried to escape from Sacred Heart Hospital by shinning down a water pipe – from the fifth floor.

He apparently made it all the way down, but the sisters saw him and had officers waiting at the bottom. He was escorted to jail for his own safety.

He had arrived at Sacred Heart three weeks ago when a thug struck him over the head in a robbery at Sandpoint.

There, physicians discovered that a section of his skull had been “crushed against the brain.” So they performed brain surgery on him and removed a large blood clot.

However, his recovery was spotty. He veered in and out of a coma. He “continues to lapse into unconsciousness suddenly and is apparently dead.”

Then, for no apparent reason, he recovers and becomes uncommonly active, and does something dangerous, such as shinning down a water pipe.

From the medical beat: A grand jury in Lewiston indicted a local doctor for “performing an illegal operation.”

His bond was set at $1,000.

Also on this date

(From the Associated Press)

1792: Congress passed the Coinage Act, which authorized establishment of the U.S. Mint.