100 years ago in Spokane: There was a new – and young – police chief in town

Spokane hired a new police chief on the retirement of W.J. Weir, who had been chief since 1914.

Wesley Hoyt Turner – college graduate and “police identification expert” – was the surprise pick.

It was a surprise because he was the “youngest man who has ever held the position,” said the Chronicle, although it never actually mentioned his age.

In other ways, it was not a surprise at all. Turner had joined the force in 1909 as the secretary to the chief, and was well-acquainted with all aspects of the job.

He was also a nationally known expert on scientific identification techniques. He had built up the department’s idenitification bureau to include records of “more than 100,000 criminals.”

Identification was a particularly important aspect of police work in those days, since criminals often hid behind multiple names and aliases.

Turner said he planned to conduct the police department along “progressive and scientific lines.”

From the casualty beat: World War I had been over for years, but it continued to take a toll.

Charles E. Codd, 22, of Spokane died of wounds he had received in 1917, while serving in a Canadian regiment at Vimy Ridge.

An explosion ripped through his trench, crushing his chest and causing heart complications.

He was the son of Nicholas Codd, a prominent Spokane businessman (and no relation, apparently, to the notorious Maurice Codd).

Also on this day

(From onthisday.com)

1869: Golden Spike driven, completing first U.S. Transcontinental Railroad at Promontory Summit, Utah.