100 years ago: Search and seizure of illicit booze keeps law enforcement busy

Courts all over the Inland Northwest were kept busy hearing booze cases.

In Walla Walla, three former members of the police department charged that city officials had seized booze in raids – and then kept it (or drank it) instead of destroying it.

The mayor and a police sergeant rebutted those charges, saying they personally destroyed 30 quarts of liquor. The court’s ruling was expected in a week.

In Colfax, three Endicott farmers were fined for taking the train to Missoula, filling their suitcases full of liquor and bringing it back to Washington state. The men were arrested as soon as they stepped off the train.

In Endicott, the sheriff seized 4 1/2 gallons of alcohol from a pharmacy, where it was apparently being sold illicitly.

From the nursing beat: A total of 17 nurses graduated from the Sacred Heart Hospital’s nursing school. All of them expressed their intention of going into war work. Most were destined to become Red Cross nurses.

“What we need in these times is poise, dignity, and a grim determination to win the war,” said Father J.J. Laherty, a Gonzaga University chaplain who delivered the commencement address.