Jim Kershner’s this day in history

From our archives, 100 years ago

Washington’s new prohibition law was scheduled to take effect in four months, yet Spokane police were kept busy merely trying to enforce the law against Sunday liquor sales.

Two cases illustrated the problem. In the first, police were mystified by a rash of drunken and disorderly people on the streets near a restaurant at 208 N. Washington St. However, the restaurant was serving nothing but coffee.

Detectives observed the restaurant for a few hours and watched sober customers enter, and then, three or four cups of coffee later, the same customers came out “rolling like boats in a seaway.”

The detectives went into the restaurant, snatched a steaming hot coffee cup from an astonished guest and took the cup to the station.

A “nasal analysis” – i.e., a good sniff – revealed the coffee had been generously spiked with whiskey. The cook was arrested for selling liquor on Sunday.

The second case involved men standing on the sidewalks on Trent Avenue soliciting liquor orders from pedestrians. Then they would go up to their room and retrieve flasks. They, too, were arrested.

Also on this date

(From the Associated Press)

1925: The silent film horror classic “The Phantom of the Opera,” starring Lon Chaney, had its world premiere at the Astor Theater in New York.