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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Jim Kershner’s this day in history

From our archives, 100 years ago

A Spokane man and his bride found an unusual venue for a wedding – in a taxi, on the busiest corner of Butte.

John D. Keist, of Spokane, and Mary E. Dennis, of Dillon, Montana, were in a hurry to get married because they had to catch a train.

So they raced in a taxi to the county clerk’s office, and then recognized Justice of the Peace J.C. Conn standing on a street corner. They pulled up next to him and asked him to marry them.

“Do we have to get out, judge?” asked the groom.

“No, I can marry you right where you are,” said the judge. “I can tie you just as tight as I can inside. This may not be as romantic as a flying machine wedding, but you know it’s a whole lot safer.”

They found two witnesses, one of whom was the taxi driver, and performed the ceremony with a “crowd of curious people blocking traffic and cheering.”

Then the happy couple raced to the station and caught a train to their new life in Spokane.

From the baseball beat: Local inventor E.L. Rice unveiled his newest creation: an automatic baseball pitching machine. 

Rice declared that his machine could even simulate a curveball. The machines were being manufactured in Spokane.

Also on this date

1876: Alexander Graham Bell received a patent for his telephone.