The Final Deadline
A foreman for the Times, devoted to his craft until his final breath, dies after a sudden illness.
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.
William A. Jones, who served in the Times composing-room for many years and for some time past as foreman in that department, died on Sunday morning after a sudden illness, which began on Friday evening with a congestive chill and prostrated him to unconsciousness. Just before his death he became conscious for a moment, and in that gleam, dwelling upon the business habits of his life, he suddenly exclaimed, 'The ads are all right, Sherman lock up the forms, and let's go to press.'
“The ads are all right, Sherman lock up the forms, and let's go to press.”
This story highlights the intense, all-consuming nature of early newspaper production in Washington Territory, where the rhythm of the 'press' dictated the lives of its workers. Even today, the legacy of print media in Snohomish remains tied to the civic identity of the region.
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