100 years ago near Colville: A rum runner in a plane escaped with 17 cases of whiskey, authorities said

A rum-runner – make that, rum-flyer – ran out of gas 4 miles south of Colville and was forced to make an emergency landing in a field.

The pilot was believed to be carrying 17 cases of whiskey. He was able to replenish his gas and fly toward Spokane before officials arrived at the field, near Orin, Washington. They arrived just in time to see the plane disappear to the south. They suspected he flew to a spot closer to Spokane where the liquor was unloaded and distributed in autos.

Authorities believe the pilot and plane had averaged four trips over the Canadian border each week.

“Scores of Spokane people, on trips northward, have seen the big plane in the air,” reported the Spokane Daily Chronicle.

Spokane’s aviators said this aerial rum-runner was a mystery man.

“I am rather anxious myself to find out who this rum-runner might be,” said C.H, Messer of Spokane’s United States Aircraft Corp. “It hurts legitimate flying business, and commercial flyers should do what they can to stamp out aerial rum-running.”

From the legal beat: During a mass meeting at Spokane City Hall, a five-member investigating committee was formed to look into the Maurice Codd subornation of perjury trial.

This committee had no particular legal standing but was given the task of recommending whether or not there should be a retrial for the remaining defendants.

This self-appointed committee’s work was veiled in secrecy, according to the Spokane Daily Chronicle. When the paper sent a reporter to the committee’s first meeting, in a local real estate office, the chairman opened the door a crack and said only, “We haven’t done a thing and I don’t know how soon we will act.”

Voices from inside shouted, “Shut the door! Shut the door!”

Prosecutors said this committee would not influence their decisions in the least.