The Lonely End of Mike Steinburg
An elderly, indigent man dies alone at the county poor house after being found starving in a tent near Lowden.
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.
Mike Steinburg, the man who was found near Lowden station in a starving condition, died at the county poor house last night. Some time ago Dr. Stiles received a call from Lowden and upon arriving there he was directed to a tent where he found Steinburg without any means of living or even a stove to warm the tent. He ordered the man to be taken to the county poor house, but the helplessness of the patient prevented that and he was taken to a nearby farm house where he was kept until Dr. Stiles received a letter stating that he would have to be moved, whereupon he was taken to the poor house. Death was caused by an abscess in the stomach. Deceased was sixty-five years of age and leaves no relatives in this country. The remains were buried by the county.
“He found Steinburg without any means of living or even a stove to warm the tent.”
This account of the 'county poor house' and the tragic death of an unhoused, elderly individual in a tent near Lowden exposes the precarious social safety net of early 20th-century Walla Walla. It echoes modern concerns regarding elder care, homelessness, and the civic responsibility toward those living on the fringes of society.
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