Browsed by
Category: Random News from the Newspapers on Microfilm Collection

Zillah’s Choice, Whisky or a Library?

Zillah’s Choice, Whisky or a Library?

From the desk of Steve Willis, Central Library Services Program Manager of the Washington State Library: When the Washington Irrigation Company attempted to perform a little social engineering in the community of Zillah in an effort to close the saloon, the cause of alcohol found an unlikely champion. The story is told in the Feb. 20, 1903 issue of the Yakima Republic: IS A DEFENDER OF BOOZE  A Zillah Minister Who Stands Up For Good Whisky, But Not For Bad “A…

Read More Read More

Comedy Works in Threes

Comedy Works in Threes

From the desk of Steve Willis, Central Library Services Program Manager of the Washington State Library: Somewhere long ago I read a quote from the late great Larry Fine, the “Stooge in the Middle” of the always underestimated Three Stooges. He said something to the effect that real comedy always works in threes. Either in timing, or in personalities. Library cataloger’s note: I wonder if this where the AACR2 “rule of three” came from– a Stooges fan in the rulemaking woodwork?…

Read More Read More

A Bounty on Flies in Pasco

A Bounty on Flies in Pasco

From the desk of Steve Willis, Central Library Services Program Manager of the Washington State Library: A bounty for flies? The very thought brings a smile. It makes my Boomer brain recall the Monty Python skit of big game hunters hauling out the heavy ammo in order to capture an insect. Or that immortal line uttered in the movie Return of the Fly (1959) with Vincent Price: “What if Philippe does not have the mind of a human, but the MURDEROUS…

Read More Read More

Mob Rule in Lynden

Mob Rule in Lynden

From the desk of Steve Willis, Central Library Services Program Manager of the Washington State Library: You would think that the inauguration of a local area figure to the office of Washington State Governor would be the commanding top of the fold headline. But not in the January 11, 1905 issue of The Bellingham Herald. Albert Mead’s swearing in ceremony does garner a nice spot, but above the gubernatorial news in bold caps across the top of the paper is the…

Read More Read More

Mr. Fairweather Goes to Olympia

Mr. Fairweather Goes to Olympia

From the desk of Steve Willis, Central Library Services Program Manager of the Washington State Library: Although the word “snarky” wasn’t really used in 1889, the concept was there– as we shall see. In this case study we should start with the 1889 Constitutional Convention held in Olympia, where delegates from across Washington Territory met in order to hammer out a guiding document. When I read through the WSL copy of The Journal of the Washington State Constitutional Convention, 1889, I…

Read More Read More

Sea Serpent at Devil’s Head

Sea Serpent at Devil’s Head

 From the desk of Steve Willis, Central Library Services Program Manager of the Washington State Library: Sea serpent stories are developing into a subgenre in this column. Although the creature described here resembles the “DungeNessie” serpent sighted in 1892 in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, this particular sighting took place very near to the 1899 episode of The Sea Serpent That Got Away.  This article was found in the Dec. 7, 1855 issue of the Puget Sound Courier, published out…

Read More Read More

The Logger Lawyer

The Logger Lawyer

From the desk of Steve Willis, Central Library Services Program Manager of the Washington State Library: Naturally the word “Library” in the following headline is what first caught my eye, but as the story unfolded I knew it had to be shared as the tale of a true Washington State original. This was found at random in The Oakville Cruiser, page 1 top of the fold, Jan. 28, 1916.  Champion Designs New Saw in Law Library “The law library of the…

Read More Read More

Limburger Fiend Raises a Stink in Colfax

Limburger Fiend Raises a Stink in Colfax

From the desk of Steve Willis, Central Library Services Program Manager of the Washington State Library: Sometimes the inside joke behind these eccentric pioneer news articles is just as entertaining as the work itself. Such is the case with this essay I found in The Weekly Vidette (Colfax, Wash.), April 19, 1883: LIMBURGER How a Colfax Lawyer had Probably Been Cured of a Bad Habit “Some fiend incarnate, during the past two weeks, has introduced within the city limits of Colfax,…

Read More Read More

Free Drinks on the House, Courtesy of a Train Wreck

Free Drinks on the House, Courtesy of a Train Wreck

From the desk of Steve Willis, Central Library Services Program Manager of the Washington State Library: Here’s an account from the May 23, 1891 issue of the Buckley Banner about the morning the wine flowed liked, well, wine:  COLLISION OF FREIGHT TRAINS  Iron Horses Bump Together at White River Bridge.  A Gala Day For Buckley.  Free Wine and a Free Fight.  Fourth of July Nowhere in Comparison.  “Early Thursday morning as freight train No. 56 pulled out of town and swung…

Read More Read More

A Monument for Melody Choir and Hobo the Dog

A Monument for Melody Choir and Hobo the Dog

From the desk of Steve Willis, Central Library Services Program Manager of the Washington State Library: This item on page 1 of the Jan. 17, 1907 issue of the Seattle Daily News caught my eye due to the use of the words “eccentric,” “peculiar,” and the mention of a $100,000 monument for a man and his dog: CLAIMS TO BE CHOIR’S WIDOW Latest Claimants for Estate of Dead Man Declare His Name Was Joseph Calentine “That Melody Choir, alias Joseph Melchoir…

Read More Read More