The Sheriff vs. The Election Posters
A Seattle lawman is arrested after he goes on a rampage tearing down political advertisements, leading to a physical showdown with a local citizen.
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.
Yesterday morning the Executive Committee of the Citizens' Convention issued a circular headed 'A Warning,' which gave the law governing the qualification of voters and stated that any person who attempted to cast a fraudulent vote would be arrested and prosecuted. N. H. Snyder was employed to post these notices about the city, and especially upon the telephone poles. It appears that Sheriff Cochran took umbrage at these circulars and followed the bill poster about the streets, tearing them down as fast as they were put up. Finally, Mr. Snyder objected to this sort of treatment, and our very courteous and gentlemanly Sheriff laid hold of him in a rude, angry and violent manner and shoved him from his work. Mr. Snyder swore out a warrant against the Sheriff, which was served by Constable Thornton. When taken before Justice Soderberg, the Sheriff made an affidavit that he could not have a fair trial before that magistrate, and a change of venue was granted to Justice Jones' court. The trial was set for 2 o'clock this afternoon. Mr. Cochran afterward went to the Third Ward and commenced tearing down the notices. Constable Thornton remonstrated with him. He called the Constable 'all sorts of names unfit for publication' and Mr. Thornton took him by the nape of the neck and threw him out into the street. Afterward he went ranting about the streets damning everybody who had anything to do with the circular.
“He called the Constable all sorts of names unfit for publication and Mr. Thornton took him by the nape of the neck and threw him out into the street.”
Local political tensions often boil over into petty vandalism, but seeing a sitting sheriff physically accosting a bill poster feels like a precursor to our modern era of hyper-partisan municipal elections. The struggle for control over public space—and who gets to 'warn' the voters—remains as relevant in Seattle today as it was in 1887.
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