100 years ago in the Inland Northwest: Authorities seize booze-filled Pullman rail car in Boise

An entire Pullman sleeping car was seized by federal authorities on suspicion that it was, in essence, a rolling gin joint.

The “Westbrook” rail car, which was running between Spokane and Boise on the Union Pacific system, was impounded for six hours in Boise by a federal district attorney.

Prohibition officials raided the “Westbrook” and found a suitcase full of whiskey and more booze in a linen closet. The Pullman porter, Walter Parnell, of Spokane, and two others were arrested for possession of liquor.

The “Westbrook” was finally released after Parnell’s bond was posted. It was allowed to continue on to Spokane, minus the liquor.

Authorities believed it was the first sleeping car ever seized under the Volstead Act.

From the school beat: A state inspector declared Hillyard High School “the worst of its size in the state.”

No other school, he said, has “such miserable housing conditions.”

The school’s principal agreed. She said the school had 170 full-time students in a building built for far fewer.

Among other problems, the school had no place to hold proper assemblies. When the school did try to hold an assembly, “the pupils sit three to a seat, line the walls and overflow into the halls.”

The Hillyard basketball team had to abandon its season because it had no place to practice.

A $50,000 bond issue failed by a few votes the previous spring, but the inspector and the principal said they had no choice but to try again.