A Dangerous Train Prank Near Ritzville
A rock hurled at a passenger train nearly strikes a woman, sparking an unsuccessful manhunt.
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.
When the first section of the west-bound passenger train pulled into Ritzville Saturday evening, the conductor told of a stone being thrown through one of the windows of the last coach, barely missing the head of a lady passenger, and gave it as his opinion that the same parties would probably try it over again on the second section which was only a few moments behind. An officer who was present, immediately went to the place where the rock thrower was said to be, but the miscreant had lost no time in leaving, and a thorough search failed to discover anyone.
“A stone being thrown through one of the windows of the last coach, barely missing the head of a lady passenger.”
Public transportation safety and localized vandalism remain common public interest items. This incident underscores the reliance of early Ritzville on the Northern Pacific line, making any threat to rail transit a significant civic concern.
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