The Unsolicited Tip that Landed a Cook in Jail
After exhausting his savings at the Warwick saloon, a patron tried to play police officer by demanding the proprietor's arrest—only to find himself in the patrol wagon instead.
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.
Because Robert E. West, a cook, proclaimed his opinion of the local police force and of Mayor Wright in a loud, forceful and boisterous manner on Pacific avenue this morning, he is now spending the day quietly in the city jail. It appears that West had spent a few hours and all of his money in the Warwick saloon and gambling house during the early part of the morning. When his money was gone, West was asked to go. This he refused to do and ejection proceedings were instituted. On reaching the sidewalk, West approached Policeman Stine and requested the latter to 'pinch' the Warwick proprietor. Stine hesitated and West became voluble in his demands. Still the officer refused to follow West's instructions and the latter became so demonstrative that the patrol wagon was called. West was booked on a charge of being disorderly.
“West approached Policeman Stine and requested the latter to 'pinch' the Warwick proprietor. Stine hesitated and West became voluble in his demands.”
Public intoxication and disorderly conduct charges remain a staple of local police blotters, but the site of the 'Warwick saloon' on Pacific Avenue is now the heart of Tacoma's modern commercial and historic district. The tension between the city's nightlife and its policing of public behavior has been a constant refrain in Tacoma for over a century.
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