100 years ago in the Pacific Northwest: Feds up their efforts to bust bootleggers at sea, borders

U.S. Customs authorities were escalating their battle against cross-border rum-runners.

First, they warned that they were prepared to close their ports to all traffic at night. Second, they assigned a “special speed boat” to be used to combat liquor smugglers on Washington’s coast. The boat was headed for Seattle from Norfolk, Virginia.

Some of the new orders were aimed at the Mexican border, which was rife with problems.

“A similar condition, but not so bad, exists across the Canadian border, especially at Blaine,” said Washington’s federal collector of customs. “And because of the grave situation we found in Mexico, I am returning to Seattle to make a similar investigation.”

From the military beat: Marine Sgt. Julius Lee Gerth, aka “Major Forbes Robertson,” was escorted to Bremerton to face court martial charges of desertion, conduct unbecoming of a Marine and impersonating an officer.

Gerth had become infatuated with a Spokane woman and followed her here. He represented himself at various society events as Major Forbes Robertson, because he believed that posing as an officer would enable the “path of love” to go more smoothly.

The name Forbes Robertson may have had a high-class ring to it, because at the time, Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson was a world-famous Shakespearean actor.