The Dime-Novel Thug Bound for Walla Walla
After a Tacoma streetcar holdup, a convicted robber is sentenced to 14 years at the state penitentiary.
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 Walla Walla penitentiary will soon hold a real live dime-novel thug and highway robber. At Tacoma on Saturday, Judge Snell of the Pierce County Superior Court sentenced Joe Davis, convicted of holding up a Tacoma streetcar and relieving its occupants of money and jewelry, to serve 14 years in the pen. Davis is expected to arrive at the prison this week. Davis took his stiff sentence with the same indifference that marked his conduct throughout his trial. When asked if he had anything to say why sentence should not be pronounced, he said he had not. In passing sentence, Judge Snell told the prisoner that while the law fixed a penalty ranging from five to 20 years, the court was not disposed to give the minimum penalty because officers informed the court that Davis was implicated in an assault upon the jailer and had been caught sawing the bars of his cell.
“The Walla Walla penitentiary will soon hold a real live dime-novel thug and highway robber.”
This story highlights the historical function of the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla as the primary destination for serious felons across the state in the early 20th century. While the 'dime-novel' caricature of criminals has faded, the harsh sentencing practices of the era mirror ongoing national debates about mandatory minimums and the efficacy of long-term incarceration.
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