100 years ago in Spokane: Heavy snow took a sad turn when a driver resorted to hand-cranking his stuck auto

The city’s snow-filled streets claimed another victim, albeit indirectly.

John McGregor, 51, swerved his auto aside to let a streetcar pass, and plunged into deep snow. He tried to extract the car, but succeeded only in stalling the engine.

He tried to restart the car by hand crank, but became exhausted and had to rest and call for help. But then he went back out and tried cranking again.

He collapsed and died.

The Spokesman-Review noted that he was a “big man,” and that he had an “attack of apoplexy” brought by “rage at the condition of the snow-filled streets … coupled with exhaustion brought on by his efforts to move his car.”

He was described as a “well-known bowler” and president of a local bowling league.

He was also the proprietor of an auto repair shop.

From the court beat: The prosecution moved to reopen its case in the Maurice Codd subornation of perjury trial, in order to present newly uncovered evidence.

The prosecutors hoped to place two women on the stand who spoke with Codd when he was a patient at the Broadway Sanitorium, where he spent time in the aftermath of his fatal fight with Frank Brinton.

He allegedly told the two women that he “did throw Brinton down the light well of the Granite Building.”

The judge denied the prosecution’s motion, on the basis that similar testimony had already been given by two police officers. A case could be reopened only for new and material testimony, he said.

Perhaps the judge was also influenced by the fact that the trial had been dragging on for weeks, with at least another week in sight.