100 years ago in Spokane: ‘Whiskey gang’ of bootleggers taken up by police

A well-organized “whiskey gang” was nabbed by Spokane police after their seven-passenger auto was stopped at Riverside Avenue and Browne Street.

Police say they found a suitcase in the trunk containing 12 pints of bottled-in-bond whiskey and two pieces of rubber hose that appeared to have been used to siphon whiskey from a barrel.

The driver, a 30-year-old poolroom manager, was found to be in possession of a revolver and was booked on charges of bootlegging and carrying concealed weapons. Three other people, including the woman who owned the car, were also arrested for bootlegging, although all denied knowledge of the whiskey.

A subsequent search of a house belonging to one of the “gang” turned up more liquor, along with a revenue stamp, likely counterfeit.

Police believe the auto was regularly used for bringing liquor into Spokane from Montana.

From the Wobbly beat: A 28-year-old broom maker was arrested in Harrington as a “slacker,” or draft-evader. Police said he had failed to register for the draft.

The Spokesman-Review reported that an Industrial Workers of the World membership card was found on the man.

Meanwhile, the lumber producers of Washington, Idaho, Montana and Oregon asked for startling new steps to counteract the Wobbly “menace.”

They asked for the use of federal troops to quell Wobbly strikes, and they also asked for the “industrial registration of all men between the ages of 16 and 60.”