The Senatorial Bomb Threat at the State House
A local man causes a panic in the Olympia senate gallery while screaming threats of violence over a U.S. Senate election.
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.
Olympia, Jan. 20. The greatest excitement prevailed in the senate yesterday five minutes before the vote was taken for United States senator. Ruel Nims of Chautauqua, Vashon Island, leaned from the railing in the gallery and frantically yelled: 'If you elect Wesley Jones United States senator this place and all in it will be blown up.' For a time the wildest scene prevailed in the body of the house. The sergeant-at-arms rushed to the gallery with his assistants, grabbed the intruder, and he was hastily taken to the sergeant's room and quickly searched for bombs. None were found, but he will be held until disposition can be made of him. Mr. Nims is an aged man and has spoken wildly before of some scheme whereby George Cotterill of King County could be elected senator. Several days ago Mr. Cotterill sent the man out of town.
“If you elect Wesley Jones United States senator this place and all in it will be blown up.”
Political volatility in the state capital is not a new phenomenon; this 1909 panic underscores the intense passions surrounding early 20th-century senatorial elections, which were then still decided by state legislatures rather than the popular vote. It serves as a reminder that the tension surrounding government institutions is a long-standing feature of Washington civic life.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.