100 years ago in Spokane: Wife of rum-runner killed by Okanogan County sheriff ‘had a feeling something was about to happen’
Elsie Werner, the wife of slain rum-runner Benton Werner, told reporters she had a premonition of trouble on the fateful night.
“I was not with the liquor caravan, as was reported,” she said, between sobs. “I felt uneasy about ‘Banty.’ I could not sleep Monday night. About 1 o’clock in the morning, I got up and started out to find him. I had a feeling something was about to happen to him.”
Werner was shot by the Okanogan County sheriff after the liquor caravan was intercepted by police and Prohibition agents. According to one account, Werner was shot as he attempted to flee the car and run over a ridge. According to other accounts, he was shot “In open country.”
One account said he had a revolver with him when he was shot. His wife said she did not know he even owned a gun. A revolver was found underneath the load of liquor in the trunk of his car, but he clearly did not have access to that when he fled.
Federal authorities said that Werner gave a Canadian liquor house agent $3,157.65 for the liquor that was loaded into eight cars. Then the rum-runners typically paid $50 per car for “alleged safe convoy from Canada.” However, on this particular trip, the charge was raised to $250 per car. According to his friends, Werner refused to pay it. This apparently led to someone tipping off authorities.
Most of the eight men arrested were from Spokane, and several already had past liquor violations. Three cars and an unknown number of rum-rummers escaped by making it to the Condon ferry over the Columbia River.
From the dam beat: The Washington Irrigation and Development Co., a subsidiary of General Electric, filed an application to build a dam at Priest Rapids on the Columbia River.
The application called for a hydro plant producing 750,000 horsepower at high water, “making if the largest of its kind in the world.”
There is a dam today at Priest Rapids, but it came decades later. Construction did not begin until 1956.