100 Years Ago in Valley: Lightning strike knocks 6 cows, 1 farmhand ‘silly’

A farmhand and six cows were “knocked silly” by a lightning bolt that struck a dairy barn in Valley, Washington.

The lightning hit the top of the barn, knocked several shingles off the roof and zipped through the metal piping of the automatic milking machines.

Six cows were knocked over and wandered around dazed for a time. One of the hired hands was knocked unconscious and “did not revive until an hour later.”

Later in the evening, both the hired man and cows showed no ill effects.

Thunderstorms had been particularly dangerous throughout the entire region that week. The Spokane Daily Chronicle ran a front page photo of Washington State College’s agricultural barns, which had been completely ripped apart by high winds the day before. Boards were strewn across a field, as if hit by a tornado.

From the bank robbery beat: An unusually polite bank robber walked into the Bank of Starbuck, north of Walla Walla, and ordered everyone to put their hands up.

“I hate to do it, but I’ve got to,” he told the cashier, a bookkeeper and a customer.

When he saw that the “girl bookkeeper” was upset, he said, “Don’t be frightened; I’m not going to hurt anyone.”

He was as good as his word. He took $3,000 in cash, locked the three people in the vault and left without incident.

The cashier was able to open the vault with a screwdriver within five minutes. The robber was described as about 30 years old and wearing “amber glasses.”