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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Trespassing tales

A trespassing confrontation turned potentially lethal when William McFall, of Rockford, confronted the 18-year-old son of A. M. Brandt.

During the confrontation, McFall stabbed Brandt with a blade. “The knife struck a short rib and glanced off. The wound may prove fatal.”

A warrant was signed calling for the arrest of McFall.

A different kind of trespassing incident also made the same daily news.

The Rocky Mountain Telegraph company reported a problem with crews from the Northern Pacific Railroad.

Apparently, telegraph employees placed poles and lines inside a 200-foot buffer of railroad property near Wallace.

The telegraph crews were forced to encroach on the buffer because the steep canyons made it otherwise impossible to install the lines.

“Under instructions said to have come from St. Paul,” Northern Pacific crews pulled out the wire and cut the poles.

Rocky Mountain Telegraph officials claimed that railroad crews exceeded their authority and “excited a good deal of unfriendly comment.”