Midnight Assault on the Waterfront
A night walk near the McDonald & Kattu mill turns into a violent, point-blank robbery as a lone assailant ambushes a Seattle laborer.
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.
A reporter was detailed to look up the unfortunate victim of a brutal assault that occurred near the McDonald & Kattu mill on the waterfront. I met the victim at his bedside and he gave the following account: 'I had nothing to do, so I started for a walk and went toward the waterfront and the plank road. While there, I saw two or three men in front of a boat hall, to whom I talked for some time. It was about 9 o'clock when I started back. When little more than halfway to town, or 10 yards beyond the McDonald & Kattu mill, I noticed a man standing in the path. I thought I had been struck with a club, but when I stood up, he fired a pistol at me, hitting me in the side, and I called for help. He then jumped and took what money I had from my right pants pocket, consisting of about $20 in gold, which was unlooked-for. A few minutes later, two men—supposed to be the same who were assisting him—came to my side, but fled when some others arrived. They brought me to town.' The victim is in serious condition, with doctors estimating he has only one chance in ten of recovering. Sheriff Cochran has offered a $100 reward for the arrest of the assailant.
“I thought I had been struck with a club, but when I stood up, he fired a pistol at me.”
Violent street robberies in industrial, dimly lit waterfront corridors remain a persistent echo in Seattle’s history. Just as this 1887 victim struggled in the shadows of the McDonald & Kattu mill, modern Seattleites continue to grapple with safety and urban development in areas where transit and industry converge.
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