The Presidential Impersonator of Snohomish
A local man causes a stir on Main Street, staging a political reception from the porch of the Snohomish Exchange before his performance is cut short by a mud puddle.
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.
The other day a man was observed walking down the main street of Snohomish City with a pair of shoes tied together by a string attached to either heel and hung across his shoulder in a careless manner. He was in his shirt sleeves, and his shirt was a flannel one; he had on a brand new pair of suspenders, and, very wisely, took the whole width of the street between the sidewalks to pursue his perambulations. Finally, he reached the porch of the Snohomish Exchange, where he took a sudden notion that he was President Hayes and held a reception and made a speech to the edification of the bystanders. It wasn't long, however, until he took another notion and laid down in a mud puddle—and the fellows said, they did, they said he was drunk.
“He reached the porch of the Snohomish Exchange, where he took a sudden notion that he was President Hayes, and held a reception and made a speech to the edification of the bystanders.”
Public intoxication and erratic behavior in the downtown core have been perennial challenges for Snohomish, from its rough-and-tumble logging days to the modern era. This account captures the thin line between the town's early 'frontier' eccentricity and its desire for civic order, a tension that remains visible on First Street today.
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