100 years ago in Spokane: A booze bust led to an even bigger criminal enterprise

Federal and local agents raided a house at Lidgerwood Street and Rich Avenue and came away with a valuable haul.

The officers burst in through the door brandishing rifles and found one man filling a bottle with bootleg liquor. They confiscated a quantity of booze.

Yet they found even more valuable contraband parked outside. This was apparently a car-theft gang, not just a bootleg gang.

Police recovered a Buick roadster stolen in Montana; a Nash roadster stolen from Lewiston; and a Stephens roadster stolen from an undisclosed place.

Three revolvers and a large quantity of ammunition were also confiscated.

Four people were arrested on both liquor and grand theft charges.

From the accident beat: A 15-year-old North Central High School sophomore died instantly when his shotgun accidentally discharged as he was hunting grouse near Newman Lake with his father. His father said they had stopped to wait for their dogs when he heard the shot and turned around to see his son fall down.

From the Hillyard beat: For months, the city of Hillyard had two police chiefs because of a complicated feud between the city council and mayor.

Now, Hillyard had no police chief and zero police officers during the daytime. The sole police officer was the night officer.

This was also the result of the ongoing feud. The city council tried to “consolidate the positions of police chief and street superintendent,” but the mayor vetoed it.

The city council would attempt to solve the problem at its next meeting.