Jim Kershner’s This Day in History

Thu., May 14, 2015

By Jim Kershner jimkershner@comcast.net

From our archives, 100 years ago

The spark of love got George Matthews in a heap of trouble at the Panama Hotel. He had fallen in love with Florence Raymond, who also went by the name of Mabel Guild. In striving to prove the depth of his devotion, he resorted to increasingly unwise actions. First, he threatened the girl with a large gun. When that proved ineffective, he plied her with a poisoned whisky, which made her ill. Then he hid under her bed and had to be chased out of her room.

Finally, he snuck back into her room and threw a match into a closet full of inflammables, starting a fire that burned into the roof. The fire department had a nasty fight in putting it out and the other lodgers had to be evacuated.

“How he must love that girl,” sighed a patrolman as he arrested Matthews.

Matthews proved “bashful” about talking about his passion for the girl, but he did admit to detectives that he started the fire.

One of the police officers was later heard singing a popular song of the day, which went, “There’s a little spark of love still burning.”

Also on this date

(From the Associated Press)

1804: The Lewis and Clark expedition to explore the Louisiana Territory as well as the Pacific Northwest left camp near present-day Hartford, Illinois.

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