A Deadly Encounter in a Roslyn Coal Camp
A miner returns home to find an intruder in his bed, resulting in a violent stabbing that leaves his wife at death's door.
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.
James Garrison is a fugitive from Roslyn justice and his wife lies near death's door, all on account of the latter's fondness for men other than her lawful husband. Both persons are colored. Garrison is a miner. He came home unexpectedly Saturday evening and found his accustomed place in the family bed occupied by a strange African, who succeeded in making his escape before the astonished head of the house could collect his senses. When Garrison had pulled his wits together he commenced to dissect his faithless spouse with a razor. After slashing her several times across the stomach and lower limbs, he left as suddenly as he had appeared upon the scene, and has not been seen since. Mrs. Garrison's chances of recovery are very slim.
“He came home unexpectedly Saturday evening and found his accustomed place in the family bed occupied by a strange African.”
Roslyn was a quintessential coal company town, and the extreme transience and isolation of mining life often heightened domestic tensions. Today, this story serves as a stark reminder of the often-unreported private violence that occurred within the precarious housing arrangements provided to Black miners in Washington's early industrial era.
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