The 'Witty' Baritone of Olympia
A skeptical newspaper editorial skewers a local social columnist for romanticizing a drunken political gathering at the state capital.
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.
The Jenkins who wrote up for the Tacoma Herald the doings of a late soiree given members and attaches of the Legislature at Olympia recently, is very enthusiastic in his description of a 'witty baritone' who enlivened the union. 'Witty' and 'baritone' are something new to people about here who know the party alluded to. All the 'tone' the fellow ever possessed was obtained from the 'bar.' Jenkins, you are a wag.
“All the 'tone' the fellow ever possessed was obtained from the 'bar.'”
Political theater and the tendency of local media to polish the reputations of compromised public figures remain hallmarks of the Olympia legislative scene. This century-old jab at a 'witty baritone' reminds us that the distance between a local politician's public image and their actual conduct at the bar is a perennial subject of civic scrutiny.
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