Jim Kershner’s this day in history

From our archives, 100 years ago

Occupants of a Spokane streetcar were treated to an unusual spectacle: deputies pouring gallons of whisky and beer down the gutters at Broadway and Madison. 

The booze had been confiscated from a bootlegging operation at Rockford. The deputies were apprehensive that the jail trusties would walk off with the confiscated booze – as they had done on a previous occasion – so they decided to pour it into the sewer.

A passing streetcar stopped and the occupants were “permitted to smell of the contents.” One of them said it smelled like “excellent rye” and was “tolerably good for bootlegger’s whisky.”

From the joy riding beat: A young ranchman out of Rockford was fined $200 for contributing to the delinquency of a 15-year-old girl. He was charged with taking her on a joy ride and keeping her out all night. He maintained that she refused to go home and denied his actions were improper.

However the judge said “these joy rides must stop,” and “decisive measures must be taken in such cases.”

From the highway beat: An auto full of Kalispell and Libby, Montana, dignitaries drove to Spokane to demonstrate the quality of the new auto road to Glacier National Park. They said they completed the 265-mile trip in 11 hours, and the road was in fine shape.