100 years ago: Ton of salmon heisted from Spokane-bound rail car

Someone broke into a rail car bound for Spokane and stole 2,000 pounds of fresh salmon destined for the city’s municipal fish market.

The theft occurred somewhere between Seattle and Spokane. The seals on the car door were broken and later resealed. The perpetrators were not yet known, but the city filed a claim against the railroad for the loss.

Spokane city Commissioner Charles Fleming put an interesting spin on the heist. He said it proved that the municipal market salmon were of high quality.

Private dealers had been trying to spread the notion that the municipal market’s salmon were inferior. But if that were true, Fleming reasoned, why would someone steal a ton of it?

From the war beat: A public memorial service was planned at Temple Emanu-El for S. Leon Clausner, a Spokane soldier who died in France.

The Spokane Daily Chronicle said Clausner was “the first Jewish boy to enlist from Spokane and the first from this city to lose his life.”

The cause of death was not specified. Spokane’s mayor was scheduled to deliver a funeral address.