Spokane Thug Receives Fifteen-Year Sentence
A brazen criminal shows little remorse after being convicted of holding up a Union Park meat market.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Frank Fair, described as one of the most dangerous criminals to appear before the superior court, was sentenced to 15 years in the state penitentiary by Judge Kennan. Fair and his accomplice, Sam Eder, were arrested in June for the robbery of Robert Miller’s meat market in Union Park on April 14, where they stole $70 from the cash drawer. During the robbery, a revolver was fired, narrowly missing the proprietor. Upon hearing his sentence, Fair reportedly wore a sarcastic expression and commented to the deputy that he had a 'notion' to ask the judge for five additional years.
“I had a notion to tell the old man to make it five years more.”
Courtroom reporting was much more direct about local criminal proceedings in 1903. This story highlights the era's focus on 'dangerous criminals' and the stiff sentencing culture of early Washington territory courts.
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