100 years ago today in Spokane: Woman burned after streetcar catches fire

Miss Evelyn McLaughlin, a stenographer for the Northern Pacific railway, was coming home on the Astor Street streetcar.

Suddenly, “flames burst through the floor of the car and enveloped Miss McLaughlin.”

She and the other 25 passengers rushed to the exits. However, her clothing had caught fire. She attempted to extinguish the fire with her bare hands, with little success. Some of the other passengers came to her aid and helped her extinguish the burning clothing, but not before she was seriously injured.

She was recovering at home from severe burns of her lower limbs.

Washington Water Power officials said that two wires had short-circuited in the “contractor box” and burned through the wooden floor. They said they had never seen anything like it.

From the crime beat: Wiley M. Fox, who was in town for the Interstate Fair, was walking near Sacred Heart Hospital when a man suddenly confronted him and ordered him to throw up his hands. The man held a revolver to his face.

“Instead of complying, Fox grabbed the gun with his right hand and attempted to hit the thug with his left,” said the paper. “In the tussle, the highwayman pulled the trigger and shot Fox. The highwayman then fled.”

The bullet went through the index finger of Fox’s right hand. He was able to stagger to a drug store, and then was taken to the emergency hospital.