100 years ago today in Spokane: Horse hypnotism and death threats punctuate trial

E.W.P. Giesleman testified in court that his neighbor, C.O. Segersteen, had threatened to kill him with a club – but that was not even close to the most alarming exchange between the two neighbors.

Segersteen also accused Giesleman of “going to his stables 11 nights in succession (and) hypnotizing his horses so that they were continually weak and skinny.”

Segersteen also accused Giesleman of “crawling through a keyhole” in Segersteen’s house and “dancing all night on his body until it was black and blue.”

When Segersteen took the stand, he admitted he had a few issues with his neighbor, but he denied ever threatening to club him to death.

From the hospital beat: Spokane was in the midst of a big expansion of its hospital capacity.

Deaconess Hospital was finishing its new building and adding 200 beds. St. Lukes Hospital was building a new 200-bed building.

Two other proposals were being contemplated: a Lutheran hospital and a Swedish hospital.

Even without the latter two – strictly theoretical – projects, the city would soon have a sorely needed boost in its ability to handle patients.

“Dozens of patients have been turned away daily, and hundreds of cases of sickness, which ordinarily would have required hospital care, have been attended to at home and at private hospitals and sanatoriums.”