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

100 years ago in Spokane: Prohibition scofflaws make headlines

From our archives, 100 years ago

Prohibition continued to dominate the news in Spokane. Here are a few of the stories from just one day’s paper:

Roy Keller was one of a number of people who decided to “beat it” when statewide prohibition arrived, he told a judge. But he never did make it out of the state. He made it no farther than Cheney, before exceptionally cold weather stopped his journey.

He found “the social atmosphere there not so cordial as that of Spokane,” and he was freezing on the streets. He was allowed to sleep in the warm jail for 15 days, on a charge of vagrancy.

Merchants in Spokane’s Chinatown said their “Chinese wine” was not really alcoholic and was more like “American grape juice.” However, the city chemist tested it and found it to be 51.7 percent alcohol. Police seized the wine.

Police raided a noodle cafe in Chinatown and confiscated 400 bottles of beer and 10 gallons of whiskey.

A downtown pharmacist was arrested for selling a pint of grain alcohol to a man who said it was for “medicinal use.”

He said it was to treat two conditions: catarrh of the stomach and bad dandruff.

Police were not persuaded. They arrested the druggist.