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

Opinion

100 years ago in Washington: Robbers blew a hole in the wall of a bank in a brazen heist

 (Spokane Daily Chronicle archives )
(Spokane Daily Chronicle archives )
By Jim Kershner The Spokesman-Review

Yeggmen (safecrackers) blasted a hole through the wall of the Bank of Latah, removed the contents of 200 safety deposit boxes and escaped into the night.

The theft was not discovered until 8 a.m., and an early morning rain obliterated all tracks of the getaway car.

Yet the sheriff was convinced it was done “by the same yeggs who broke into the Valley State Bank at Post Falls” two months earlier. The “work was much the same in both instances,” he said.

Employees of the bank were trying to determine how much loot the thieves got away with. The robbers opened the safe deposit boxes and scattered the contents about. They presumably took all valuables.

The safecrackers tore a hole through the brick wall to gain access, but did not succeed in blowing the safe.

From the court beat: When Myrtle Smith “threw her arms around W. Munson, a Canadian railroad man, he became so distracted that he failed to notice that the female charmer was abstracting about $200 in Canadian money from his pockets while she whispered sweet nothings in his ear.”

At least, that was his testimony in his complaint against Smith. He met the defendant on First Avenue and walked with her for a while. Only later did he discover his cash missing.