100 years ago in Spokane: gas siphoning debuts as a new type of crime

From our archives, 100 years ago

A Spokane plumber, 23, committed a new category of crime in Spokane.

He stole “gasoline from an auto by use of a siphon.”

Police said it was the first time they had ever heard of such a theft. They warned citizens to watch out for thieves with rubber hoses.

An auto owner was parked downtown when he saw the suspect with a rubber hose. One end was in the auto tank and the other was discharging a stream of gasoline into a five-gallon can.

The owner called for a police officer. The thief dropped can and hose and took off running when he saw the officer.

A “two-lap race” around the block ensued before the officer grabbed the suspect, to the cheers of spectators.

From the rescue beat: Two Roslyn boys, age 14, saved the lives of two children during a house fire.

Mrs. Renko Scholish, wife of a Slavonian miner, had started her stove and then walked over to visit with a neighbor. Her five children were still in the house.

The boys, Harold Prescott and Edward Rushton, were playing in the street when they saw the Scholish house aflame. They rushed into the house, found a little boy and “threw him out into the snow.” Then the boys found a little girl and carried her out. The mother also ran in and grabbed her baby.

The other children also escaped unharmed, but the house was destroyed.