100 years ago in Spokane: Robber impersonating police officer tries to assault woman at Manito Park

William Crampton approached a couple seated on a bench at Manito Park, flashed his policeman’s star, and ordered the man to leave at once.

The man, a soldier, did as ordered.

Crampton then escorted the woman, Mrs. Charles Anderson, through the park.

Trouble was, Crampton was not a policeman at all. He was a Northern Pacific brakeman. While escorting Mrs. Anderson through the park, he attempted to assault her.

“Unsuccessful in this, he threatened to take the woman to the police station unless she paid him $5, which she did.”

Mrs. Anderson and her soldier friend then contacted two genuine police detectives, who found Crampton lurking around the park with a flashlight. They booked him for impersonating a police officer and highway robbery.

From the heat beat: Spokane was in the grip of a heat wave, with the highs staying above 90 every day for a week.

A front-page editorial cartoon showed a malevolent sun wilting fields of Northwest wheat. Local farm bank officials said that heat wave had done considerable damage to the wheat crop but they still hoped for a “fair

harvest. Another week of hot weather, however, and they predicted yields would be about 65 percent of normal.