100 years ago in Spokane: A ‘mystery man’ from Mississippi (maybe) showed up with a paralyzed throat that rendered him mute

Spokane’s social services bureau was baffled by a “mystery man” under their care, the Rev. A.G. Lawrence.

He arrived in Spokane two weeks earlier by train. Authorities knew nothing about him except for his name. They had no idea of his background or his family.

He was suffering, they said, from paralysis of the throat and hands. “He cannot write or tell anything about himself,” the bureau reported.

He arrived from Pasco, but investigators could find no clue when they inquired with authorities in that city. They believed he was probably a “Southern man,” possibly from Mississippi.

Inquiries to Mississippi authorities had so far proved unfruitful. In the meantime, he was being housed in Spokane’s Welcome Hotel, “where the guests were looking after him.”

From the crime beat: Frank Brinton, the Fort Wright soldier tossed over a three-story railing, was still “hovering between life and death” at the fort hospital.

The fate of Maurice P. Codd was also in the balance. He had already been charged with first-degree assault, but he would be facing murder charges if Brinton were to die.

Codd was a former “prominent student at Gonzaga University.” He threw Brinton over a railing during a downtown altercation.

Also on this date

(From Associated Press)

1783: Britain’s King George III proclaimed a formal cessation of hostilities in the Revolutionary War.

1789: Electors chose George Washington to be the first president of the United States.