The Printer Who Won the Lottery
A local newsman strikes it rich, prompting talk of a career change into banking.
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.
D. W. Nulty, a printer on the Yakima Republic, received a telegram Tuesday from C. H. Mason, secretary and treasurer of the Montana lottery, in which the chief prize was the Arborn house, of Des Moines, Iowa, announcing that ticket 9787, of which Nulty purchased a fifth interest, was the lucky one, and that Nulty was entitled to $27,750, and asking for instructions. If there is no mistake in this, Nulty can now leave the case and go into the banking business.
“If there is no mistake in this, Nulty can now leave the case and go into the banking business.”
While state-run lotteries are common today, the era of 1889 saw speculative gambling on private lottery schemes as a frequent, high-stakes way for frontier workers to attempt to leap into the upper class overnight.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.