W. M. Fisher is not dead
On the platform at the Chartiers Chestnut street station, there is always more or less of a crowd congregated when the 4:47 afternoon train pulls in. Persons who are expecting returning friends are there to meet them, others are there on business and still more swell the attendance because they have nothing else to do.
The usual scenes witnessed at railroad stations are seen there and it is very seldom that anything occurs worthy of more than passing notice.
Monday evening, however, an event which has not been paralleled on the “planet” since the days of the miracles, occurred. A “dead” man, clothed and in his right mind, stepped from the train and amid the awful silence that followed his appearance, the same deceased, quietly took a firmer hold on the string attached to which was a dog of unknown breed and color. The crowd gasped; ticket agent Montgomery fled to his retreat in the rear of the station and a girl from West Washington, whose eyes bulged out past the rim of her sailor hat, quit chewing gum, and exclaimed, “What that’s “Bill” Fisher.” The remark coupled with the fact that a pleasant smile spread over the face of the “dead” man, as he gentlemanly assisted Mrs. Fisher from the strain, assured the spectators that William Fisher, formerly of West Washington had not experienced that sleep that knows no waking and joined the vas majority, as published by the Washington papers, but was with us once again with his pleasant manners and cheery voice.
Conductor Laverty lowered his eyelid knowingly and shouted “Chestnut street station, Main street the last stop” and then Mr. and Mrs. Fisher were surrounded by a host of friends who while shaking the former hand congratulated him on the now undoubted fact that he was not dead.
This is a clip from the original Washington Observer newspaper this article first appeared, August 3, 1893.
The cause of all this astonishment was that Mr. Fisher, who removed from West Washington some few months ago, was reported to have died in Pittsburg after a lingering illness and this statement was generally accepted. It was sometime before he could answer all the questions eagerly propounded him, but an Observer reporter was at length informed by the gentleman himself that he and Mrs. Fisher have, during their absence, been residing at Beaver Falls and New Brighton, but that they expected to make their home at this place, at least for sometime. Both Mr. Fisher and Mrs. Fisher left in a few minutes for a short visit with relatives west of town.
Editor’s note: This article first appeared in the Washington Observer on August 3, 1893. We assume this was written tongue-in-cheek, but there’s no way to know for sure. Happy April Fools Day!