A Year's Wages Stolen at Gunpoint in Electron
A laborer, having saved nearly a thousand dollars from his hard work at the Columbia Improvement Company, is held up at the point of a pistol while waiting for his train.
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.
P. L. Lacey was compelled at the point of a pistol to hand over his money to a thug at Electron Saturday evening. Lacey had worked for almost a year, saving $1,000 from his earnings. He was on his way to take the train when he was held up. A laborer, Edward Boor, is suspected of being the highwayman. The sheriff's office here was notified and all avenues of escape are being watched. Deputy Sheriff McGilloh was sent to Orting and Deputy Doten went to Eatonville. Lacey's grounds for suspecting Boor are that he thought he recognized the man, who is said to have known that he had the money on him. Lacey had been employed by the Columbia Improvement Company and from month to month had saved his time checks. Saturday, he cashed them for the amount of which he was robbed.
“Lacey had been employed by the Columbia Improvement company and from month to month had saved his time checks. Saturday he cashed them for the amount of which he was robbed.”
The community of Electron, once a bustling site for the Columbia Improvement Company's power works, has long since vanished into the wilderness of Pierce County. The vulnerability of workers carrying large amounts of cash highlights the stark contrast between the era of paper time checks and our modern, digital financial systems.
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