100 years ago in Eastern Washington: A woman’s husband and five kids vanished after he sent her to the movies one night

A mysterious disappearance baffled Walla Walla authorities – and Mrs. Joseph Egg was especially alarmed.

She said that her husband sent her to a moving picture show Saturday night, and when she returned to their ranch, her husband and all five children were gone. All of the “light globes” (probably meaning light bulbs) were also gone, adding to the mystery.

All five children were ill with whooping cough, so Mrs. Egg was in an understandable “state of hysteria.” The youngest, age 6 months, was the most seriously ill.

“She could assign no motive for the disappearance,” a correspondent said.

In the meantime, she was staying at the home of her brother-in-law.

From the Prohibition beat: The price of illicit liquor in Spokane was shooting up, providing a “bonanza for bootleggers.”

The price nearly doubled, to $10 per quart of whisky.

This was a marked difference from earlier, when Spokane liquor was so cheap that bootleggers in Great Falls, Montana, were buying their supplies here instead of bringing them across the Canadian border.

Federal agents based these estimates on information “gathered from bootleggers and their customers.”

Also on this day

(from onthisday.com)

1944: British Premier Winston Churchill travels to U.S.

1947: Jackie Robinson is named Rookie of Year by Sporting News.

1955: Future MLB Hall of Famer Baltimore Oriole Brooks Robinson goes 2-4 in his first game.