First newspaper in territory told of duel, cholera

It was a very different kind of Sept. 11 back in 1852, when the Washington Territory’s first newspaper, The Columbian, published its first issue.

The secretary of state’s office has scanned 18 issues of the weekly paper and posted them on-line.

The papers can be a little tough to read on a computer screen, but they’re worth the squinting. There’s the “lamentable affair” of Gilbert v. Denver, in which a California editor named Edward Gilbert challenged a state senator, Gen. J.W. Denver, to a duel with rifles at 40 paces. In a man-bites-dog turn of events, the editor was disparaged in a leaflet printed by the politician.

Each man fired. And missed. Not the sort of men who give up easily, both reloaded and fired again. Gilbert, shot through the abdomen, died within minutes. He was 38.

There’s also a brief report about cholera “raging fearfully” in Jackson, Mo., and a space-filling musing that reads: “A billion. What a very great sum is a billion! It is a million of millions.” (Actually, it’s a thousand of millions, but hey, it was their first issue.)

There is the inevitable snake-oil ad, in which the blood-purifying Sand’s Sarsaparilla is touted as good for what ails you, including liver complaints, bronchitis, consumption, fever sores and stubborn ulcers. It sold by the quart.

There is also a bizarre warning to readers that they’d better support the fledgling newspaper or it would head to greener pastures.

“If we are adequately sustained, we will use every effort to advance the interests of the people,” the editors wrote. “But should not a due encouragement be given to justify an expenditure of labor, time and capital, an alternative is presented in other and many inviting vocations on the Pacific coast, where industry will be suitably rewarded without the humiliation of an eternal solicitude for public patronage.”

The paper went belly up in 14 months.

But sorry, still no Prada

Want to give your favorite state elected official or state worker a nice gift, but just can’t seem to find anything under $50?

You’re in luck. The state House of Representatives is considering HB 2089, which would raise the bar for such gifts to $75. As the law stands now, the annual limit for gifts to state politicians and employees is $50. The limit doesn’t apply to gifts from family or friends, awards, prizes, scholarships or, of course, campaign contributions. Nor does it apply to flowers and food at official functions, regardless of value.

In his son’s name

On Monday, about 48 hours before the first of several deadlines that kill off bills, an Arlington window-maker named Paul Rubio found himself racing around the halls of the state Capitol, making his case to anyone who would listen.

Rubio wants longer prison sentences for drivers who kill people. He wants lawmakers to pass House Bill 1209, which would increase the standard sentencing range for vehicular homicide from a midrange of three years to about 7 1/2 years.

He’s getting a lukewarm reception from lawmakers facing a $2.2 billion budget shortfall. Last August, Rubio’s 20-year-old son, Matthew, was killed three blocks from home by a woman driving the wrong way down a highway. She was 23, pregnant, drunk and driving without auto insurance. For killing Rubio’s son, she was recently sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison.

Paul Rubio wants lawmakers to toughen the law, in hopes that some other parent will be spared his grief. To cover the increased prison cost, he’s pitching a small increase in the liquor tax. Trying to drum up public support, he gets out of work after midnight and passes out fliers at local grocery stores, asking late-night shoppers to call lawmakers and urge them to pass HB 1209.

And he was in Olympia on Monday, carrying a map and trying to make his way through a sea of suits to find the lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee, where the bill is stranded. He didn’t have an appointment; he just knocked on offices and waited, hoping to talk to people about what had happened to his son.

“If I stop, that’s the day that for me, my son will quit living,” he said. “All I’ve got left is to speak for him.”