100 years ago in Spokane: Fatal shootout began with arguments over piles of wood, prosecutors say

Prosecutors in the Louis Adams (sometimes referred to as Adamo) murder trial told jurors that the most mundane of all neighborhood disputes – a dispute over a pile of wood – was the event that started the tragedy.

Adams had blocked an alley with his pile of wood. One of the neighbors answered and the fire brigade came and ordered the removal.

Adams lost his temper, pointed to his neighbor Joe Gracio’s house, and began to swear in Italian. The irony was that Gracio wasn’t even the neighbor filing the complaint.

But the argument was simmering. Gracio told his wife that he intended to tell Adams to “be more careful with his language in the presence of women.”

Three days later, the two men discovered each other shopping for products in a warehouse.

Gracio went to Adams and started a conversation. Adams got angry. Then Adams drew a revolver and shot Gracio “with an Italian oath”.

The first shot missed, but Adams fired four more shots, hitting Gracio all four times. Then Adams went up to the wounded man and hit him several times with his revolver. Gracio soon died of his wounds and Adams surrendered to the police.

The process was going on and the defense would soon be bringing their case.

From the medical beat: A 5-year-old girl died of polio in a sanatorium in Spokane.

This was the fourth polio death in Spokane in three days. The girl was from Troy, Montana, and had come to Spokane for treatment.

The city’s health officer reassured concerned parents that the disease in Spokane was not “epidemic”. However, he urged parents to see a doctor immediately as soon as a child showed the slightest sign of illness.