An Elopement to Victoria
A high-society elopement from Seattle leads a young couple to wake a minister in the middle of the night across the border.
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.
Victoria, Aug. 15.—Among the passengers on the City of Kingston on Saturday were Charles Dolph, of Portland, son of ex-Senator Dolph, and Miss Armstrong, of Seattle. The pair were accompanied by Mrs. Armstrong and a gentleman friend. Failing to find an issuer of marriage licenses or a clergyman earlier, they were forced to hunt for one at night. It was near 11 o'clock when the party set out in search of a minister, and not till nearly 12 o'clock did they find Rev. Coverdale Watson, who was routed out of bed to perform the ceremony. The emergency of the case having been explained, the knot was tied. Dolph and Miss Armstrong eloped from Seattle some days ago and were followed to Portland, eventually traveling to Victoria to be married. They are a bright young pair and, their identity becoming known, they attracted a good deal of attention.
“It was near 11 o'clock when the party set out in search of the minister, and not till nearly 12 o'clock did they find one.”
Elopements were the scandalous 'viral' content of the 1890s, capturing public interest in the same way modern celebrity marriages dominate social media today.
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