100 years ago in Spokane: Defense attorneys argue newspaper bias in Van Skike manslaughter trial

Attorneys for W.J. Van Skike used a modern-sounding strategy for contesting his conviction for manslaughter.

They blamed the media.

The attorneys claimed, in an affidavit, “that the verdict of guilty was brought about by a newspaper campaign against careless auto drivers and by the actions of reporters who attended the trial.” In particular, they charged that reporters sat at the prosecutor’s table and held improper conversations with both judge and jury during the trial.

All three reporters named in the affidavit denied talking to judge or jury or otherwise behaving improperly. One Chronicle reporter admitted that he sat at one of end of the prosecutor’s table, but it was only because it was the only seat vacant in the jam-packed courtroom.

Van Skike was convicted of running down a widow with his car and dragging her 13 blocks while she screamed for him to stop.

From the labor beat: Members of the Cooks and Waiters Union of Spokane were attempting to find out what happened to all of the cash in the treasury, about $1,300.

One ominous clue: The business agent of the union “has not been seen since last Thursday.”

The hunt was on for R.A. Cullen, who had earlier expressed his intention to retire.

Meanwhile, union members were clinging to the hope that Cullen had simply put the money in a safe deposit box and that the matter would soon be cleared up.

Also on this date

(From the Associated Press)

1910: The Boy Scouts of America was incorporated.