100 years ago in Spokane: The strychnine poisoning death was ruled an accident, and another local resident suffered a tragic demise

The Spokane County coroner ruled that A. Wills Hagey’s death by strychnine was an accident – ruling out suicide or murder.

Hagey suffered convulsions and died an hour after drinking a small quantity of grape wine that his son had obtained at a rural roadhouse.

“The bottle into which the grape wine was poured at the roadhouse probably contained a small quantity of strychnine,” the deputy coroner said. “As a half a grain of strychnine will kill a man, the quantity in the bottle might have been small and still deadly.”

A lab test of the bottle showed the presence of an alkaloid, but the sample was too small for a conclusive determination. Tests of his stomach contents were still underway.

The coroner’s hearing found no evidence to indicate any motive for suicide or foul play.

“His family affairs were normal, and his business was satisfactory,” the coroner said.

From the accident beat: Opal Kerr, 13, died when a can of kerosene exploded when she tried to light the kitchen range at her grandparents’ Hillyard home.

Her grandmother rushed to her aid and smothered the girl’s burning clothes with a quilt, but it was too late. Other neighbors arrived and extinguished the fire raging in the kitchen.

Also on this day

(From onthisday.com)

1945: Chinese civil war begins between Kuomintang government led by Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong’s Communist Party.

1975: “Saturday Night Live” premieres on NBC with George Carlin as host.