100 years ago in Spokane: Lulu Siler was ordered to stand trial for murder in her husband’s grisly killing

Lulu B. Siler, of Spokane, was bound over to stand trial for first-degree murder in the gruesome death of her husband, Ancil Siler, on a railroad siding near Thompson Falls, Montana.

The Spokane Daily Chronicle said she was “not visibly affected by the decision” following the four-day preliminary hearing.

This was in contrast to her earlier demeanor when a witness testified that he saw her washing out a bloody rag shortly after her husband’s body was found. Lulu Siler “almost collapsed” during that testimony, and a recess was called until she recovered.

She was ordered held without bond.

From the vice beat: A local attorney ripped into Maurice Smith, Spokane’s commissioner of public safety, for allowing open gambling and “condoning immorality” in the city.

“Look into any cigar store and you will see open gambling going on,” attorney George W. Sommer told a meeting of the Spokane Laymen’s League. “He has been strict in enforcing the liquor law, but very lax otherwise.”

Several people rushed to Smith’s defense.

In the end, the League passed a resolution “heartily” commending Smith and the city’s police force for their efforts in “making our city safe and wholesome.” It called the criticism ”unjust.”

The resolution also specified that “the prosperity of this city does not depend upon the permitting of vice and immorality within its borders.”

Also on this day

(From onthisday.com)

1805: The Lewis and Clark expedition sights the Pacific Ocean at the mouth of the Columbia River.