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

100 years ago today in Spokane: Officers find whiskey stills in Mica Peak area

From the July 17, 1918 Spokesman-Review (S-R archives)
By Jim Kersher The Spokesman-Review

Officers found an illicit whiskey still at an old Mica Peak logging camp. It was set up in an abandoned bunkhouse and had a 15-gallon capacity.

It appeared that the unidentified bootleggers were still in the midst of setting up the still, because some of the pieces were not yet connected.

“I think, however, that the owners had been planning to begin making whisky and changed their minds for some reason, probably having learned that we were on their trail,” said an Internal Revenue inspector.

This was the second whiskey still found in the Mica Peak area. A 50-gallon operation was found in a farm about 4 miles away.

From the Irish beat: Miss Kathleen O’Brennan of Dublin gave a fire-breathing speech in Spokane on “Ireland Today,” and said Sinn Fein was the only hope for Ireland’s future.

She declared 80 percent of Ireland backed Sinn Fein.

She also declared Ireland had but one enemy – and it was not Germany.

“Ireland has no quarrel with Germany,” she told an enthusiastic crowd of about 150. “Germany has not infringed upon any of our rights. Ireland has no enemy but Great Britain.”

She said Great Britain “has the ear of the world though her press” and has “hypnotized America.” She said, “Intellectually, you are slaves of England.”

O’Brennan was described as a “keen little woman with a vivid green drape about her shoulders.”