Jim Kershner’s this day in history

From our archives, 100 years ago

Spokane police nabbed two men suspected of 16 armed robberies and burglaries over a two-week period. One suspect, Charles Rowe, 21, bragged that he was “cleaning up an average of $60 a night for two weeks.”

Rowe listed his occupation as woodsman, but by his own telling, he was a career criminal. He said he enlisted his pal Robert Pike, 20, a chauffeur, into his scheme, but Pike proved to be an amateur.

“He was so nervous when we held up the streetcar that his hand waved,” Rowe said. “I took the gun from him for fear the conductor would get it.”

The two were accused of multiple break-ins, including one in which a burglar was discovered talking calmly on the phone at the residence of W.F. Gribble. However, a string of streetcar holdups proved to be their undoing. One of the conductors identified them, and they were soon arrested.

Rowe bragged that he had cached all of the stolen money, and he planned to retrieve it on the day he got out of jail. In fact, he said, he had done this once before. He said he once cached $16,000 before a stint in the Monroe State Reformatory. When he got out, he proceeded to “have a gay time” around town in a brand-new automobile.