100 years ago in Spokane: Former mayor who supports prohibition receives death threats

From our archives,

100 years ago

Former Spokane Mayor W.J. Hindley, now a minister in Winnipeg, received two death threats in the mail.

Hindley was an outspoken advocate of prohibition. One of the anonymous letters said, “If the province goes dry one week from Monday, you’ll know what to expect.” The writer threatened “dire destruction” and advised Hindley to stay in his den.

Hindley dismissed the letters as bullying by the liquor interests and said it was nothing new. He said he had gotten such letters “more or less regularly for the last five years, here and in Spokane.”

From the film beat: About 30 Spokane young people formed the Almo Film Club, one of the first moving picture clubs in the city.

The club had purchased a motion picture camera and had cast its first movie, a four-reeler comedy titled “Adventures of the Deep Sea Pirates.”

Club member Ed Shea wrote the script, and filming was scheduled to begin in the summer at Lake Coeur d’Alene.

Also on this date

(From the Associated Press)

1963: Patsy Cline, Cowboy Copas and Hawkshaw Hawkins died in the crash of their plane near Camden, Tennessee, along with pilot Randy Hughes.

1982: Comedian John Belushi was found dead from a drug overdose in a rented Hollywood bungalow; he was 33.