Jim Kershner’s this day in history

From our archives, 100 years ago

Blanche Mitchell, a young woman arrested for prostitution, ignited a furor when she claimed that police had tipped off the proprietress of the Spokoma Hotel in advance of the raid.

This confirmed the suspicions of Justice Fred Witt.

“The last raid we planned, on the Spokoma Hotel, … was kept an absolute secret, only very few knowing about it,” said Witt. “In spite of this fact, someone learned of it and I am told that Mrs. Harris (the proprietress) was tipped off.”

He said it was “evidently from an inside source.”

Spokane’s commissioner of public safety said he would leave no stone unturned “to discover who the traitors are.” He had “suspicions of two members of the department,” but no proof yet.

Incidentally, when Mrs. Harris was brought to court for running a disorderly house, she claimed that all of the women who lived there were simply chambermaids.

However, the prosecutor said that every man was assigned his own personal chambermaid upon checking in. Mrs. Harris was found guilty.

Also on this date

(From the Associated Press)

1995: The online auction site eBay was founded in San Jose, California, by Pierre Omidyar under the name “AuctionWeb.”