100 years ago in Spokane: A Canadian man met a tragic fate after being talked into ‘rum-running’ to meet locals’ demand for booze

Grand Forks, British Columbia, was one of the main supply points for illicit liquor in Spokane – and the “rum-running” trade proved fatal for a Grand Forks man.

William C. Patterson, 40, was shot dead in a summer resort hotel in Bridesville, east of Grand Forks. Authorities said he was murdered by rum-runners who left a cargo of whiskey in his care.

“They are working on the theory that British Columbia whiskey exporters left a cargo of liquor with him, with the understanding that American bootleggers would call, pay for the whiskey, and take it to Wenatchee,” the Spokane Daily Chronicle wrote.

The deal apparently went sour. Patterson was found alone in a hotel room with a bullet hole in his head. Police believed rum-runners paid him for the whiskey, but then murdered him and robbed him in the dead of night.

Police said Patterson was not a known rum-runner, but that he was talked into taking the cargo of whiskey by friends.

From the accident beat: An 8-year-old Hillyard boy was playing with some friends in the rail yard at Hillyard when he tried to cross over between two stopped rail cars.

Just as he started to climb over, the train suddenly lurched in motion. The boy fell between the cars and was crushed by one of the wheels as it passed over him.

Also on this day

(From onthisday.com)

2001: “United We Stand” benefit concert for the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks victims was held at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C., and was organized and headlined by Michael Jackson and featured Aerosmith, Mariah Carey and The Backstreet Boys.