The Jailhouse Docket
Four local residents, including a man accused of arson at the Hotel Dacres, enter pleas of not guilty as court proceedings begin in Walla Walla.
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.
According to pleas entered in the superior court this morning, four prisoners confined in the county jail charged with various offenses are innocent. This was arraignment day and John Lampson, charged with forgery; T. W. Parker, charged with the same offense; John Grant, charged with attempted robbery; and Andy Lee, charged with arson, all entered pleas of not guilty. Their cases will be set for trial next Wednesday. Fagan Scott, charged with the attempted murder of George Ortell, was not arraigned, his attorney, Oscar Cain, saying that his client was at Milton working. Lampson is alleged to have raised a $6.25 check issued by the North Pacific Flour Mills company to $62.50 and attempted to pass it at the Whitehouse clothing store. Parker is an ex-convict accused of forging the name of A. H. Harris to a $40 check. Grant is alleged to have assaulted and attempted to rob a man named Fred Carey. Andy Lee is accused of firing the Hotel Dacres last month during an epidemic of fires which the police believe he was responsible for.
“Grant is a genuine Southern negro and is alleged to have assaulted and attempted to rob a man named Fred Carey.”
This reporting offers a window into the local criminal justice system of 1903 Walla Walla, highlighting the frequent use of local jails for both pre-trial detention and sentences. It also reflects the era's blunt, often discriminatory, descriptors for defendants, which remain a sobering reminder of the biases embedded in historic local news.
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