100 years ago in Spokane: Alleged threat against president lands local lad in court

Bryant Schneider, 20, the son of a Palouse wheat farmer, was charged in federal court with threatening U.S. President Woodrow Wilson.

The boy said that he would “knock the block off” of the president. Neighbors heard the remark and notified authorities. The Secret Service was then called in.

He denied ever making any threats against the president. The boy’s father, J.W. Schneider, was a Russian native of German descent (not an uncommon background in Eastern Washington). The father testified that neither he nor his family were antagonistic toward the president or the U.S. government. He said he considered himself American.

There was some indication that this charge was the result of “a neighborhood row” between the Schneiders and the family on a neighboring farm. They reported the alleged threat and were the principal witnesses.

However, the case was turned over to a federal grand jury in Spokane, and the boy was released on $1,000 bond.

From the sewer file: Mrs. Abrams was walking to the theater when she decided to switch her $200 diamond ring to another finger. The ring dropped on the sidewalk and rolled down a sewer grate.

She called the city, and the sewer superintendent immediately sent out a crew.

They retrieved the diamond ring – and Mrs. Abrams gave every member of the crew $1 each.