An Eccentric Prisoner's Optimistic Dance
A man awaiting sentencing in a local court baffles reporters by dancing a jig and promising a champagne celebration upon his release.
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.
Judge Easterday of the superior court postponed the sentencing of Joshua Klein again this morning, stating that several matters had to be taken under advisement before he could determine the penalty. Klein, although still showing the effects of the strain which he underwent during the court proceedings, appeared to be much improved when seen in his cell this morning. 'Everything will be all right,' he declared emphatically, 'I am to have 15 minutes' conversation with the Judge before he imposes sentence, and I have papers in my breast pocket that will cause Judge Easterday to see the affair in its true light.' When Klein was allowed to step from his cell today, he was surrounded by a bevy of reporters, and proceeded to prove his joyous state of mind by dancing a hornpipe in the middle of the jailer's office. 'Oh boys,' he exclaimed, 'wait until I get out of this place—we'll have the best champagne supper that the town can produce.'
“Wait until I get out of this place—we'll have the best champagne supper that the town can produce.”
The legal drama surrounding Joshua Klein reflects the often precarious and public nature of 20th-century justice in Tacoma. His blithe confidence in his own acquittal provides a stark, human contrast to the dry procedural records of the court.
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