This day in history: St. George’s anniversary fete got off with a hiss

From 1975: An unwelcome visitor paid a visit to the St. George’s School’s 20th anniversary celebration.

A rattlesnake approached the outdoor audience area, causing some consternation.

An audience member borrowed a walking stick and tried to persuade the rattler to head back into the forest.

The rattlesnake was uncooperative, however, so the man dispatched it “with mighty blows of the walking stick.”

In other news, a reviewer attended the Foster Brooks comedy show at the Opera House and reported that Brooks told a bunch of “stale, cheap jokes.” Brooks was “without a doubt the most believable drunkard ever to hit the stage,” but the Lovable Lush act was said to have worn thin before the halfway mark.

From 1925: Gonzaga University students would soon be heading back to their homes on the coast in a “strange caravan.”

A number of the college men had purchased old Fords at auction for less than $40 each. One was a “Ford truck bug that has an umbrella on top.” Four students from Tacoma went together on that vehicle, and vowed to shove it in to Commencement Bay once they made it home.

Three California students bought a Ford touring car, “which has only two bearings.” They hoped to reach California by the end of the summer, even if the car required pushing.

On this day

(From onthisday.com)

1654: Louis XIV is crowned king of France.

1929: Vatican City becomes a sovereign state.