Electronic government publications in the Washington State Library online catalog can be downloaded to desk and lap top computers and handheld devices, such as, Kindle* and Nook*.  There is no charge to download a state or federal government publication.  In most cases, Washington State and U. S. government publications do not have copyright restrictions.  The downloaded publication can be searched by key words and simple phrases.  Publications with hundreds of pages can be stored and accessed conveniently on a computer or handheld device as long as needed for a class or project.  The file can be deleted when no longer in use, but the publication will be preserved for future use in the Washington State Library (WSL) online catalog.

For some devices, pdf files must be converted to electronic publications format.  Calibre, a free software program, can be downloaded to convert pdf files to an epub format which ereaders can use.

Washington State government publications — the links below are to the catalog records in the WSL online catalog.  Click on the link that reads “View online version” to read the publication with the option to download.  The catalog record provides information on which agency produced the publication and the publication date, scope, etc.

A 10-year Retrospective of Washington’s Labor Market Experience under the North American Free Trade Agreement

What does Washington State get for its Investment in Bonuses for Board Certified Teachers?

Freedom Tails  (It is difficult to tell what this publication is about with just the title, but there is a lot of information in the catalog record.)

Listed below are three more examples of Washington State government publications; these are direct links to the publications, but records can be found in WSL’s online catalog:

Use of Social and Health Services by Children of Incarcerated Parents

Stakeholder recommendations for efficient water rights processing and effective water management

Washington State Patrol Retirement System Pension concerns study

Some samples of U.S. government publications:

Raising the Ages of Eligibility for Medicare and Social Security  This link is to the WSL online catalog record for this publication.  Click on the link that reads “View online version” to read the publication with the option to download.

Or, click on this link to WSL catalog record for Unauthorized Hair Samples Submitted for Analysis and solve the case of the “unauthorized hair samples”.  (Could it be a job for Lady Godiva?)

Listed below are three more examples of federal government publications; these are direct links to the publications, but records can be found in WSL’s online catalog:

Indian issues:  Spokane Tribe’s additional compensation claim for the Grand Coulee Dam: Testimony before the Committee on Indian Affairs, U.S. Senate

Coastal Habitats of the Elwha River, Washington – Biological and Physical Patterns and Processes Prior to Dam Removal (This publication takes awhile to download).

Assessment of Soil Disturbance in Forests of the Interior Columbia River Basin:  A Critique

For more information, contact Public Services at Washington State Library.

*These products are listed as examples only.  The Washington State Library does not recommend or endorse any products listed.

From the desk of Steve Willis, Central Library Services Program Manager of the Washington State Library:

(An alternative title for pun-lovers could be: A Quack Dentist in Blaine Ducks From the Web of the Law Without Paying the Bill. Patients and Creditors are Down in the Mouth)

Con artists always make good news stories, no matter what the era. There seem to be no shortage of articles about swindlers in these old newspapers. This particular tale is more amusing than most– found at random in The Blaine Journal, March 14, 1902, page 1:

 FLEW THE TOWN

 Our “Dentist” Gets up and leaves Without Giving any Notice to His patrons and Creditors. Warrant Out For Him.

“A fellow signing himself Dr. S.J. Clifford blew into this city a short time ago and opened up a dental office. There was a splendid opening for a dentist here and while this fellow didn’t look just right yet he found some patrons, mostly because they were too busy to get away to Whatcom to have the work done. The doctor was long on collections but generally short on the cash. The result of this was that he was soon in debt for board and had a lot of work on hand partly paid for but not yet finished. Since the ‘doctor’ left many amusing things have come to light. It is said that at one time he was secretary of a local lodge and that the boys found him ‘short on the cash’ and made him ‘dig up’ forthwith. Rumor has it that one of our prominent citizens is mourning the loss of a set of teeth. Several complain of having paid him money for the work that he has not yet finished. He was practicing dentistry without a license and the state board was hot on his trail. The man was not without a little love affair and it is said that he has written to his fair one to come and see him as he is very sick with the spinal meningetis in the hospital at Seattle. A warrant was issued out of the county attorney’s office for him and a hunt was made in Whatcom for the much wanted tooth carpenter but he had left there a few hours before and was in Seattle. The dentists down in the county seat know him, for he had one of them buy a dinner and another loaned him a dollar on the strength of professional courtesy. He is probably out of the state and looking for pastures new and the warrant is about two days too old to catch him.”

A competitor's ad in the same newspaper

The Blaine Journal is the earliest ancestor of the present-day Ferndale Record. All of these newspapers on microfilm are available via inter-library loan.

To read more about medical frauds, look in any library catalog under one of my all-time favorite Library of Congress subject headings: Quacks and quackery.

[accompanying material: An ad for a rival dental office, Whatcom Dental Parlors, and, a notice for a fraternal meeting with “Doctor” Clifford’s name as secretary]

"Dr." Clifford was active in the community

From the desk of Steve Willis, Central Library Services Program Manager of the Washington State Library:

Typhoid was a very real killer in the United States a century ago. Although tremendous gains had been made in understanding and fighting the disease by the early 20th century, typhoid killed over 1400 Washingtonians between 1909-1915, including former Governor McGraw in 1910.

WSL has some interesting state publications from this time period addressing the problem. The primary source of typhoid, according to these books, were unsanitary outhouses. The use of springs on the doors and placing screens on any openings was promoted as a way to prevent flies from spreading the germs. The close proximity to any water supply was also recognized as a problem.

This all came to my attention after I grabbed, at random, the reel for the Washtucna Enterprise, serving the small wheat farming town of Washtucna in the southeast corner of Adams County. This newspaper ran from 1902-1925. WSL has microfilm reels of the title from 1914-1924. The following article was found in the Sept. 3, 1915 issue.

Dr. Albert Victor (1869-1948), the hero of this story, has a nice biography, along with other members of his family, in History of Adams County, Washington. His efforts must have paid off. 1915 was the first year in quite some time the county reported zero deaths from typhoid.

Many Buildings Condemned.

“Wednesday morning Health Officer Dr. Victor took a ‘shot’ of anti-typhoid, armed himself with a good supply of condemnation blanks and started out over the town to see how many of the residents of the town had heeded the warning given them to have their outhouses repaired or arranged to comply with the ordinance recently passed by the town council.”

“He found a few who had done so, and others busily engaged in the task of trying to comply with the new law. He unhesitatingly tagged each place which did not comply with the new law, giving the owner or tenant ten days to make the necessary improvements.”

“It seems rather strange that the Doctor would find that neither the mayor nor any of the councilmen, who had framed and passed the law, had their outhouses in a condition which he would accept and he tagged them with his condemnation notice. However, he says, some were busy making the required improvements and the others had arranged to have it done.”

“The Doctor says at no place did he meet with any objections and all commended the action being taken, agreeing that it is a good move toward improving the sanitary conditions of the town. He is very persistant that the town be cleaned up and those who fail to comply with the law, will very likely find him on the job, trying to convince them that they are wrong.”

“The health officer is to be commended in doing this work and should have the cooperation of every resident of the town.”

There are a number of books celebrating the outhouse as part of the American experience in history. Typhoid is barely mentioned in these works, if at all.

Mostly these writings are humorously nostalgic, such as Andrew W. Berg in The Big Smoke, 1985: “I have often wondered if we are producing a nation of youngsters who are culturally disadvantaged because they have not experienced the thrill of pushing on outhouse over on Halloween.”

But for truly waxing eloquent, it is hard to beat this poem by my former neighbor Walt Tornquist of McCleary, Washington in his book, Sunshine and Shadows (1976). I would like to hear this recited by a gifted actor in the manner of the late John Houseman:

Old Privy

Have you grown up

Since modern plumbing came to stay?

If this is the case

You have missed the dear old privy days.

The privy in the old days

Was quite awkward at its best,

But the end product and satisfaction

Took care of all the rest.

A three-holer in the old days

Was a swanky exclusive retreat

And the old Sears Roebuck catalogue

Handled its part of the job real neat.

There was a large supply of drawbacks,

In the summer when the flies were thick

And in the winter when the ice and snow

Made the trail to the outhouse slick.

But this was pioneering,

And a trip when the wind blew hard and cold

Was a record breaking performance

Whether you were young, middle-aged or old.

I miss the dear old out house

Half hidden behind the old apple tree

Where old fashioned red and white roses

Were as fragrant as they could be.

But this is what they call progress

And sanitation thrown in to boot,

I still have a soft spot for the old privy,

I guess I’m sort of a coot!

Random News from the Newspapers on Microfilm Collection: The General Dullness Was Relieved– Two-Fisted Politics in Walla Walla

From the desk of Steve Willis, Central Library Services Program Manager of the Washington State Library:

This January 27, 1872 article from the Walla Walla Union demonstrates Washington Territory was indeed part of the rough and ready Old West when it came to journalism and politics. The writer for the Republican paper is obviously enjoying the beating his rival, the editor of the Democratic Walla Walla Statesman received at the hands of an insulted legislator. The fact two Democrats were fighting each other seems to make the scene even more delicious to the writer. There are several inside jokes here that probably require long hours of research to decipher:

Another “Head” on K.B.

DEMOCRACY CRAWFISHING–TAILS ON TOP

ANOTHER STREET FIGHT. RICH SCENE IN COURT.

 “The general dullness was relieved on Wednesday last, and all Walla Walla had a good laugh. The Editor of the Statesman, who considers himself the head of the Democratic party, has been throwing dirt at a member of the late legislature, whom he has dubbed the ‘tail end of the Walla Walla delegation,’ and ‘the tail end of the party,’ ‘evil genius,’ etc. Well, on the day mentioned, to borrow the Statesman’s idea, the head and tail met in front of the Court House. In the brief ‘toss-up’ that ensued, ‘heads’ came down with ‘tails’ on top. Heads lost– tails won.”

“In other words, the Legislator struck the journalist and either knocked him down, or he fell down in attempting to make one of his usual retreats. The Legislator then assumed a graceful position by taking a seat on the journalist’s abdomen, which was large enough to have seated a whole legislative assembly, saying that he would show him who was the ‘tail end.’ He then proceeded to bump the editorial head against the frozen ground in order to beat a little sense into it. The under man adopted the ‘passive policy’ and offered no resistance; the upper man observing this did not try to do his pupil much damage, but only tried to show him who the ‘tail end’ was. At this point the two ‘ends’ were separated, and thus ended the first lesson.”

“On the same afternoon the case of the Territory plaintiff, vs. J.H. Lasater, defendant, came on for hearing. The complaint charged that the aforesaid Lasater had, on the same day, committed an assault and battery upon one W.H. Newell. Considering the avoirdupois of the parties, and the weightiness of the charge, Chief Justice Horton called associate Justice Frush to assist him in sitting on the case. The people were represented by N.T. Caton, Prosecuting Attorney, and the defendant represented himself.”

“The complaint was read and defendant plead guilty to the soft impeachment, but just how guilty became the important question before the Court. Newell, the batteree, was called and sworn. When asked the question, ‘do you know the defendant?’ he evidently thought he was about to be sold if he answered yes, so he said, ‘I know the scrub.’ Here the defendant claimed the protection of the Court, and said that the witness should not call him pet names and that if he did so again he would protect himself. Witness subsided and was more respectful. He then went on and told his side of the story, which did not differ materially from our version above, except that he denied the running part of the fight. He got stubborn once or twice and refused to answer the defendant’s questions, but was admonished by the Court and persuaded by the defendant to answer. He insisted on making a speech instead of answering questions, but was, by the Court on the one side, and the defendant on the other, compelled to set down and let the defendant bore for truth.”

“The second witness called only saw half of the fight, and the third one did not see any. With this the prosecution rested; so did the defense. Prosecuting Attorney submitted the case without making any speech, but the defendant wanted his say. He told his side of the fight, and as he was on top, and in the best position to see what was going on, we are inclined to believe his version. He also told the reason why he put a head on the Editor, and said it was because he had tried to blackmail him, as he had almost every other citizen of the county. He said that if the Editor of the Statesman wanted peace he could have it by giving him a wide berth and letting him alone in the future, but that if the paper attacked him again, he will go for the editor again, and upon this proposition he rested his case.”

“The Prosecution replied and the Editor wanted to close, but was informed by the Court that he could make any remarks he chose after sentence was passed. The Court then assessed a fine of $20 against the defendant and adjourned. The defendant smiled, the audience laughed, and only one man frowned; that man was mad because the fine was not raised to $250, and because he had not been allowed to make a speech, and thus ended the second lesson.”

“The matter has caused no little comment, and so far as we can learn, all hands, except the man with the ‘head on,’ are satisfied. If there is no more vilification of the top man in the fight, then the matter is probably at an end, but if the Statesman persists in applying the appellation of ‘tail end’ to the winner of the late fight, then will come the third lesson, which will in all probability end the chapter.”

William H. Newell was about 50 at the time this article was originally published, and already a living legend in Pacific Northwest journalism. Here’s a description of him from Lyman’s History of Old Walla Walla County (available both in hardcopy and in digital form from WSL):

“Mr. Newell was a character, bold, energetic, caustic, and as a writer, incisive and forceful. It is related that once having a joint debate with Judge Caton, he began by saying: ‘Fellow citizens, it is a disagreeable task to skin a skunk, but sometimes it has to be done. I am going to skin N.J. Caton.’ Judge Caton reached for his hip-pocket and the meeting broke up in a general row, though it does not appear that any one was seriously hurt. The Statesman under Mr. Newell was democratic in politics and during the embroglio between President Johnson and Congress it was an active supporter of the former. It is said by some that its attainment of the place of United States official paper in the territory was due to that support. In 1878, the Statesman became a daily, the first in the Inland Empire. But on November 13th, the active, scheming mind of the editor was stilled by death.”

The Walla Walla Union ran from 1869 to 1891, when it merged with the Journal and Watchman to form The Weekly Union-Journal. The title ceased about 1904.

The rival Walla Walla Statesman is available on microfilm at WSL, and the years 1864-1869 have been digitized by our Digital and Historical Collections unit and can be viewed online.

From the desk of Steve Willis, Central Library Services Program Manager of the Washington State Library:

When the following jokey editorial in The Ellensburg Capital was printed June 23, 1921, the 6-year old statewide experiment in Prohibition was clearly not being taken seriously. But a dark side to this light-hearted attitude later engulfed two individuals mentioned in this opinion piece:

 AH, HA! THE SECRET IS NO LONGER A SECRET! WHO IS SELLING LIQUOR?

 “Listen, dear reader: It is said that liquor is being sold in Ellensburg.”

 “My goodness! Can you imagine anything like that? Why, what is the county coming to? Is it possible the fair name of our city is being fairly or unfairly so flagrantly flaunted that this matter has become public property and is being talked about upon the street corners? And has it reached the stage where officers of the law mention it? Can this be true? Again we say, can this be true?”

 “Is it possible that a bottle of the elixir of life can be bought or bartered for within the corporate limits of this city? Again we say, can it? Oh, this is simply awful! It surely cannot was. If this IS true, we would like to have someone explain to us the whyness of the whichitude. Things have come to a pretty pass when the bootlegger is brought under public suspicion. Has the public no heart? Would it take away the living, the bread and butter from the mouth of the illegal dispenser of coffin varnish and force him to work and earn his living by the sweat of his brow like honest people? Shades of Peruna, this is heart-rending! Bring on the smelling salts ere we faint. We are surely plumb flabbergasted.”

“The bootlegger came in for considerable discussion at the council meeting last Monday night when that body and City Attorney Kern were informed that liquor is being sold in Ellensburg. They were told that city police officers were refused search warrants when they desired the same to search premises where they thought liquor was being sold. Police Judge Flynn stated that he had refused to issue the warrants for the reason that he believed he had no legal right to issue them and he took his position from the fact that a superior court judge in Bellingham had handed down a decision a few months ago to that effect.”

“Chief of Police Tucker stated to the council that he had been unable to obtain search warrants but that on different occasions he had taken county officers to places which he had under suspicion. Night Officer Edmundson told the council that he is convinced that liquor is being sold in Ellensburg but that he had been unable to procure search warrants.”

“City Attorney Kern stated that he will look into the matter thoroughly that is into the legal part of the proposition– and find out if there is anything which prevents the police judge from issuing the search warrants. He said that the municipality would be bound only by the decision of the local superior court or the state supreme court.”

“What we can’t understand is what lead anybody to think that ‘hard licker’ is being exchanged for coin of the realm right here in Ellensburg. Why, this is the county seat of Kittitas county and surely nobody would have the nerve to offer for sale alcohol or its by-products here. Now if someone wanted to go six or seven miles out in the country and buy one or two 16-gallon kegs of Canadian whisky, that’s a different thing. But to for one minute presume that whisky can be purchased right here is astounding. But, of course, you can never tell, there may be something to it after all. However, if nothing develops to warrant the issuing of a warrant someone should be spoken to in a harsh tone of voice. Our curiosity has a reached a point where it is 125 degrees above the city hall and we wait with fevered brow and parched tongue for news from headquarters.”

“If there be bootleggers in our midst we say it is no time for idle chatter, no time for mollycoddle stuff. The powers that be should repeat the words of Benjamin Franklin as he stood shoulder to shoulder with Davy Crockett at the battle of the Alamo, ‘Officer, do you duty; let the corks fall where they may.'”

The Ellensburg Capital ran from 1887 to about 1951. WSL has an almost complete run available on microfilm and interlibrary loan.

In his History of the Yakima Valley, Washington (1919) (also available in digital form from WSL) , W.D. Lyman writes: “The name of the paper was a pointer in the direction of the expectations of the proprietor and his fellow citizens to the future official status of the metropolis of the Kittitas. But alas, like many of the hopes of ‘mice and men,’ which the Scottish bard assures, and with more truth than in some of his sayings, ‘gang aft agley,’ this hope was dissipated and all the ‘capital’ Ellensburgers have to fill the cavity with is the name of the newspaper, a city block, and an addition.”

Judge Mathew E. Flynn, had come to Washington Territory as an army soldier and was discharged at  Vancouver around 1884. He had lived in Ellensburg since 1886, was elected Mayor in 1904 and served for a couple terms. He was a Justice of the Peace in that city from 1914 to his death on his 76th birthday, August 26, 1930.

Francis Asbury Kern, known as “F.A.,” was an attorney who arrived in Ellensburg from his native Virginia in 1909. In 1912 he won the election for Prosecuting Attorney as a member of Theodore Roosevelt’s Progressive Party. He is chiefly remembered as a key figure in the completion of the High Line Canal, the largest irrigation project in the Ellensburg area. F.A. died at age 77 in 1961. Kern’s photo is featured in the Ellensburg portion of WSL’s Washington Rural Heritage collection.

William A. “Salty Bill” Edmondson joined the Ellensburg PD in 1918. It was a career move that eventually landed him the Chief position from 1937-1939. He died in Seattle at age 62 on June 4, 1941. His photo is also included in the Ellensburg portion of WSL’s Washington Rural Heritage collection. He’s the gentleman on the left.

The fate of Chief Alva Tucker and officer Edmondson casts a shadow over the humor in the editorial above. On the evening of July 2, 1927 the two officers confronted Johnny Emerson, a young bootlegger. The three men had a long personal history of playing cat and mouse. Without any words a shootout took place on a downtown street. When the smoke had lifted, both Tucker and Emerson were dead.

Tucker, who was 53 at the time of his death, left behind a widow and four children. He is the only police officer in Ellensburg history to have been killed in the line of duty. In 1998 he was a Washington State Medal of Honor recipient and his name is included on the Law Enforcement Memorial on the Capitol Campus, a reminder that Prohibition had a dark side.

Random News from the Newspapers on Microfilm Collection: James Fitzgerald, the Human Ostrich

From the desk of Steve Willis, Central Library Services Program Manager of the Washington State Library:

“No, sir. This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.”

I was reminded of this quote from the movie The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance after breezing through several old newspaper articles regarding the life and adventures of James Fitzgerald, who was known on both sides of Washington State as “The Human Ostrich.” The facts are very inconsistent from story to story, but each story makes fascinating reading.

It all started when the microfilm reel I grabbed at random for this installment turned out to be the White Bluffs Spokesman, from the now extinct town of White Bluffs. Somehow it seems fitting to this story the town had the word “Bluffs” in it, as we shall see. This article was on the top of the fold for the February 18, 1916 issue:

 Human Ostrich Checks Out

 “James Fitzgerald, once a resident of White Bluffs, and who became notorious after he left here by eating considerable glassware and a hardware store or two, is dead. He was 69 years old and his death occurred a short time ago in the county hospital at Prosser, of dropsical complications.”

“Fitzgerald was a man of unique appearance, being six feet and six inches tall. He had a double set of teeth and could chew glass as easily as most people chew gum.”

“He was operated on in Seattle a few years ago and something like 50 different articles were taken from his stomach. The list included knives, nails, pieces of glass and one ten dollar gold piece. For a time before his death, this ‘human ostrich’ was the star attraction at the Gibbs moving picture show in Richland.”

Both of the Prosser papers covered Fitzgerald’s death. The Independent Record and its rival The Republican-Bulletin repeated the Human Ostrich story, as well as the double set of teeth. But both added that Fitzgerald had been living in the east end of Benton County for several months and had been in ill health for awhile. Also, he had worked in the circus. The latter paper had additional information: Fitzgerald was born in Ireland, and “In his younger days he is said to have traveled with circuses and museums.”

The ten dollar gold piece found earlier in Fitzgerald’s stomach was also mentioned by The Republican-Bulletin: “At the time the operation was made the surgeon doing the work offered his services free if Mr. Fitzgerald would give him what he found. Fitzgerald, however, demurred at this arrangement insisting that he should be allowed to retain the gold piece, and the matter was adjusted in that way.”

As it turns out, Fitzgerald had been the subject of an operation only a few months before, not years, in May, 1915. He died January 17, 1916, apparently having never fully recovered from the surgery.

According to the 1910 census from King County in the appropriately named Novelty Precinct, Fitzgerald was born in Ireland and arrived in the United States in 1884. He was 62 years old in this census, working as a railroad section hand. He never married.

There were several acts in United States history billing themselves as “The Human Ostrich,” performers who could consume anything and did, for a price. It is possible Fitzgerald was the true identity of “The Original Human Ostrich” who was an attraction at Seattle’s Luna Park starting in 1907.

On May 1, 1915 the Post-Intelligencer took The Human Ostrich under its wing (get it?) when the paper ran a long feature article on Fitzgerald after the surgery which resulted in the removal of over a pound of metal and glass debris from his stomach. He told the press he had stopped eating nonfood items a couple years earlier, but didn’t start experiencing severe pain until recently. According to the P-I, the following items were retrieved from the patient’s stomach:

8 knives

1 bolt, two and a half inches long, with a nut on the end

1 dime

1 penny

1 nickel

1 shoemaker’s awl

1 loaded 30-30 Krag-Jorgensen cartridge

1 key

5 pins

9 parts of jack-knife handles

11 knife blades

9 flat springs

4 German silver ring tags

3 nails

100+ bits of broken glass

A photo displaying these items accompanied the news piece. The article did not mention a ten dollar gold coin.

Fitzgerald told the paper he discovered he could eat almost anything without ill effect in 1885 while in Quincy, Illinois. Despondent and unemployed at the time, he ate rocks and shingle nails, hoping it would kill him. But not only did he live, he didn’t suffer any discomfort. He appeared to have made a living out of making bets in taverns based on what he could or could not eat. It is probably safe to assume a goodly amount of alcohol was a major contributing factor in these wagers.

The story said he had lived in Seattle since the late 1890s, “occasionally working in the lumber camps or mines.” The reporter mentioned Fitzgerald’s “rich brogue” and described his subject as “a brawny, big-framed two-fisted man, who stands more than 6 feet tall in his stocking feet and weighs nearly 200 pounds.” No mention of the double set of teeth, although this was included: “With considerable relish Fitzgerald yesterday told how easy it was to eat a beer glass if one were careful about biting off the chunks and to chew them thoroughly. That the habit is not more general seemed strange to Fitzgerald, who was obviously of the opinion that any person could do it who had ambition and the appetite.”

A follow-up P-I article on May 25 explained how Fitzgerald had become a national celebrity in the medical community. Dr. Don H. Palmer was the operating surgeon. The King County Medical Society wanted the patient to appear before them for more examination and questions.

It would seem Mr. Fitzgerald never quite recovered from the surgery. He died less than a year later, and is buried in Prosser’s Odd Fellows Cemetery. I could make another wordplay here, but that would be in bad taste. (That was a double-score two-in-one-sentence set of puns in that last line!)

White Bluffs, the town hosting the newspaper article that started this whole little trail, ceased to exist in 1943, when the federal government took over the area as part of establishing the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. Exactly when, why and how long Fitzgerald lived there is unknown.

If you have any information on this interesting character in Washington State history we would love to hear from you.

Written by Shirley Lewis and Leslie Boyter.

The Quinault Rain Barrel, one of Washington State Library’s newest microfilm additions, is now available for perusal. Is it a humble newsletter? Is it a full-fledged newspaper? Is a little raincloud going to follow you around as soon as you put one of the nine rolls of microfilm in your hand? These questions, and more, can only be answered by taking a chance by going over the rain barrel. No, we’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto. And the clouds around here are more likely to douse you in a torrent of rain than pick you up and toss you around. But to see the inside of the rain barrel you’ll have to sit yourself at a microfilm reader and transport yourself to a land where the rain comes barreling down at impressive rates.

Co-published by the Quinault School and Grays Harbor College, The Quinault Rain Barrel captures life in the Olympic Peninsula rural communities of Amanda Park, Quinault, Neilton, and Humptulips.  It contains great local news including people, bear sightings, hunting, fishing, environmental issues, politics, school news, library events, and, of course, weather.  For many years, the front page featured a “Rainfall Record” with figures on the current and previous years’ rainfall.  Some issues contain pictures of the flooding caused by record-setting rain.

First published in 1973, The Quinault Rain Barrel started out as a booklet-format newsletter and eventually became a newsprint newspaper.  This title was published in various Washington towns with various publication schedules (monthly, biweekly, and weekly).  There were even a few years when the newspaper was not published at all. Sadly, the final issue was published in August 2004.

Washington State Library has an extensive collection of Washington newspapers on microfilm available for use in the State Library or via interlibrary loan.  The State Library continues to seek out and microfilm these important sources of Washington history.  State Library staff members thank Brooke Pederson, Library Manager at the Amanda Park Timberland Library, for her help in collecting and lending these newspapers for microfilming. We could not have had such success with this project without her help.

Random News from the Newspapers on Microfilm Collection: The Civil War’s Youngest Soldier

Although this article was found entirely at random, I do have some history with this case. So some of the information was already filed away at home, but I could’ve easily found it here at the Washington State Library if I wanted to invest some time researching.

The newspaper in Montesano, Washington known today as The Vidette has a long genealogy of titles going all the way back to 1883, when it was initially called the Chehalis Valley Vidette. In fact our subject, William Henry Bush, worked on the first issue at the printing press.

By 1909 the newspaper was known as The Chehalis County Vidette. Chehalis County changed its name to Grays Harbor County in 1915.

In the issue for Feb. 19, 1909, the paper ran an amusing headline article about a local character named William Henry Bush. It was reprinted from a piece that was originally published in the Tacoma Ledger: 

 BUSH ANSWERS QUESTIONS

 He Replies in Detail to Federal Court Summons

 “Sam D. Bridges, deputy clerk of the United States court, received something unique yesterday in the way of a return on a federal court juror summons sent out by the marshal’s office for the coming term of court. Summons from the marshal’s office are generally sent by mail and with each is inclosed a blank and generally a blue return envelope.”

“The return in question came from W.H. Bush, a well known Montesano man. The card, following the statement that it is the ‘United States court,’ etc., reads: ‘Jurors are requested to fill out the blanks below and return the inclosed blue envelope. No postage necessary.'”

“Here are the questions and Mr. Bush’s answers:”

“Full name–William Henry Bush.

County–Chehalis.

Occupation (fully)–General insurance agent, notary public and conveyancer, manager shingle mill. No room for balance.

Former occupations–As above, and farmer, logger, laborer, sheriff of county, postmaster, editor of newspaper, etc., Card not large enough.

Years at present residence–Twenty-six years.

Former residence–Porter, Ind., Michigan City, Ind., Fort Stevens, Ore., Riverside, Wash., and some other.

Married or single–Married 24 years. Two children; male (over.) Oldest 20 years; sawyer in shingle mill. Youngest, 10 years; in school. Whole family dark complectioned; gray eyes. The blue envelope you inclosed was white. If it is necessary to have the card returned in a blue envelope you have to send it.”

“Clerk Bridges says he is having a special card made, one about seven feet long, which he purposes to send to Mr. Bush in order to put the family history on.–Tacoma Ledger.”

Using the Northwest card file finding aid (which we are in the process of converting to online), I discovered a biography of Mr. Bush existed in the book South-western Washington (1890). In this entry we learn he was born in Porter, Indiana in 1857. When he was about 10 his family moved to Fort Stevens, Oregon. Between 1869 and 1883 they lived in Pacific County, Washington until moving to Montesano in 1883. Soon after arrival William became the Postmaster, and was elected county Sheriff in 1886 and 1888.

In browsing through the book Montesano Centennial 1883-1983 we find Mr. Bush served as Mayor of that town twice, 1894-1895 and 1923-1924.

The first real clue we have in print to one of the most interesting chapters in the biography of Mr. Bush, something not
included in that juror’s form, is encountered after he died Oct. 28, 1938. The Montesano Vidette for October 27th mentioned local business establishments closed for an hour in honor of William Henry Bush, but also printed this interesting bit: “A treasured memory of Will Bush was of the time he talked with Abraham Lincoln during the dark days of the Civil War. It seems in that childhood encounter, that he caught something of the gentleness and nobility of character we associate with the name of Lincoln.”

Fast forward to 1997, and here is where my personal involvement kicks in. But just for the sake of showing other ways to follow this case, you can find the article “Plea leads Maine author to young Civil War veteran” by using WSL’s online index to the Olympian newspaper.

Jay S. Hoar, a University of Maine professor researching children in uniform during the Civil War, sent out a public plea for information on Willie Bush. He had tracked him to Montesano and then lost the trail. Those of us involved with the McCleary Museum were able to answer his question within a few days, thanks to using newspapers on microfilm.

While researching material for his book Callow, Brave and True, Hoar had run across the story of Willie Bush. At the age of five Willie served as a valet for his father, Asahel Bush, as he served in the 4th battery of Indiana Light Artillery. Although not officially enlisted, Willie was issued a uniform, which appears in a photo taken about 1863-1864. At some point in the War, Willie met President Lincoln.

At the time the Bush connection was made, Jay Hoar believed Willie was the youngest person to serve in the Civil War. But perhaps William Henry Bush was unaware of that when he filled out his card. Or maybe he didn’t have enough room on the form. The answer to who the youngest person to serve in the War seems to be a matter of debate, if one scans through Internet, but Willie is definitely among the youngest, if not the very youngest.

From the desk of Steve Willis, Central Library Services Program Manager of the Washington State Library:

Found at random in The Journal (Burlington, Washington), Sept. 27, 1900, page 1, top of the fold:

Another Saloon

“The question of another saloon in Burlington has been quite freely discussed among our citizens during the past week, since it had been reported that property had been purchased and arrangements made for the establishment of another liquor dispensary. From all that can be learned it seems to be the general concensus of opinion that for a town of Burlington’s size, and without police protection, even one saloon is enough and one too many. The Journal tries, as near as possible, to represent public sentiment in this community, whatever the faults of its editor may be. The town is yet in its infancy, but has advanced wonderfully in a legitimate business way during the past year, and it is to be hoped will increase in business and population to a still greater extent during the year 1901. It has been our idea that another large general merchandise store (and we have one already carrying a stock as large as any in Mt. Vernon or Woolley), a good blacksmith and wagon making establishment, a drug store, an oat meal mill and a fruit evaporating and drying plant would be more to the interests of our citizens than another saloon. Saloons only serve the worst appetites of men; and while it may be argued by one conservative element that they are a necessary evil, whereby trade in other lines is held against other towns, such conditions do not exist in Burlington.”

“This paper speaks for the community, and by request of many of our citizens. Nothing can or will be said against individuals. The sentiment is simply against the evil which results from an over-abundance of whisky and gambling, whether by one or more saloons.”

Burlington had a population of just over 500 in 1900. The town incorporated in 1902. Apparently over time the lure of liquor license fees overcame the reluctance to limit the consumption of booze in Burlington. But a new era was dawning– Prohibition was looming on the horizon.

As explained in Skagit Settlers : Trials and Triumphs 1890-1920:

“The first victory of the dry forces was ‘local option’ which permitted divisions of the state to decide for themselves whether they wanted saloons. In 1909 rural Skagit County outside the incorporated towns voted dry and the country saloons were closed in early 1910 … local option elections were held in all the incorporated towns of the county and only Mount Vernon, Lyman, and Hamilton went dry. Burlington, five miles away from Mount Vernon, celebrated the Glorious Fourth that year by permitting its saloons to stay open around the clock from July 1 to the 5th. The railroad fare from Mount Vernon to Burlington was only 10 cents, yet from one Saturday night to Sunday, the Mount Vernon depot sold $70 worth of tickets. The situation became so notorious, witness the 1911 cartoon in the [Seattle Daily Times], that in February of 1912 the Burlington City Council decided to ban saloons. The liquor interests fought the decision but it was upheld in the courts.”

In 1914 the voters of Washington approved Initiative No. 3, a measure making Prohibition the law of the land for the Evergreen State. You can read the text of the initiative in the 1914 voter’s pamphlet, available in digital form via the WSL catalog.

The Journal lives on but under two different titles. It is part of a complicated genealogy of newspaper mergers, splits and absorptions, all documented in one of WSL’s newspaper history charts.

The Freedom Tails newsletter is a fun, uplifting and heartwarming chronicling of the canine training program at the Stafford Creek Corrections Center in Aberdeen, WA.  It follows the exploits of the shelter dogs being trained by the inmate trainers during the 12-week program that prepares the dogs to be adopted by private owners.

The newsletter was captured, cataloged and archived by the Historical & Digital Collections Program at the Washington State Library (WSL).  It came to our attention through the Washington State Depository Program which is mandated by law to capture, archive, catalog, and make available to the public publications from state agencies.  More information about the State Depository program can be found here.

The newsletter highlights the biography and photographs of each shelter dog selected for the program.  The circumstances that brought them to the program are as varied as the circumstances of their inmate trainers.  The benefits for the inmates, inmate trainers, dogs and the community are described along with follow ups of how the dogs are doing at their adoptive homes.  It is hard to tell which benefits more from Freedom Tails—inmates, dogs or the community.

If you believe in rehabilitation, second chances and changes of the heart, you may want to follow this newsletter.  If you are interested in adopting a dog or supporting the program, this site may be of interest to you.

–Pam Griffith