100 years ago in Spokane: Indictments against the rum-running airplane crew were in, but not for the elusive pilot

A federal grand jury in Spokane indicted two men for being part of Spokane’s notorious rum-running airplane gang – but neither was the mysterious rum-running pilot.

The indictments were for the two men who were caught unloading the plane when it landed at a Spokane airfield. The pilot jumped back in his plane and flew off before agents could nab him.

The grand jury also issued a secret indictment. Could that be for the rum-running pilot? The answer would only be announced if and when that person was arrested.

The federal grand jury also issued a number of other indictments, mostly involving booze and narcotics. Some were for bootleggers nabbed for making shipments over the Canadian border.

The only indictments that did not involve illicit substances were for horse stealing.

From the St. Patrick’s Day beat: The St. Joseph’s Catholic parish was planning a full program of Irish entertainment for St. Patrick’s Day.

An orchestra would play Irish airs, and a chorus of parochial school boys would sing “Come Back to Erin” and other songs.

Dramatic readings of “Peg O’ My Heart” and “A Voice From a Far Country” would also be featured.

Also on this date

(From onthisday.com)

1870: Hiram R. Revels made the first official speech by an African American in the U.S. Senate.

1966: Gemini 8 launched with Neil Armstrong and David R. Scott aboard, conducting the first docking of two spacecraft in orbit. The flight was aborted after a critical system failure. The crew returned safely to Earth