This day in history: Mutt and Jeff comic strip characters took over Spokane Chronicle’s sports department. Second trail of man accused of killing judge was underway

From 1975: The second murder trial of Ricky Anthony Young got underway and Spokane Superior Court Judge John J. Lally already ruled that a U.S. Postal Inspector would be allowed to testify that Young hollered to his wife, “They’ve gotten my print in the bomb package!”

Young was accused of sending a mail bomb which killed Judge James Lawless in his Pasco court chambers. He had made the comment upon being arrested by postal inspectors and being told of the incriminating evidence.

Young’s first trial ended in a mistrial when jurors failed to reach a verdict. In this second trial, jury selection was completed and the testimony was scheduled to being the next day.

From 1925: The popular duo Mutt and Jeff arrived in Spokane and immediately got jobs as, respectively, the Spokane Chronicle sports editor and sportswriter.

This development was especially startling, considering that Mutt and Jeff were not actual people, but popular comic strip characters.

The comic strip writers had “sent” the duo on a tour of the West, and this was the day they landed in Spokane.

In the strip, editor Mutt complained that Jeff had written that a tennis match had “went to eight or ten games” – not precise enough.

Jeff promised to do better, and in his coverage of a baseball game, he reported that “3,187 eyes were focused on the batter.” When Mutt questioned that odd number, Jeff replied that “one fan had only one eye.”

Also on this day

(From onthisday.com)

1940: Battle of Britain begins as Nazi forces attack shipping convoys in the English Channel.