The Midnight Extortion at the Cherry Street House
A Seattle restaurant owner claims he was held at gunpoint and forced to empty his bank account, sparking a sensational lawsuit.
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.
Charles Wente, proprietor of The Rookery restaurant at 123 South Third Street, brought suit in the superior court yesterday to recover $1,200 from Julius Conrad. Wente claims that Conrad, who owns a saloon on the corner of South Third and Washington streets, compelled him, at the point of a rifle, to sign a check for $1,200 on Thursday morning at 3 o'clock. The incident allegedly occurred at Conrad's house at 610 Cherry Street. According to Wente's attorneys, Conrad held him prisoner until the bank opened at 10 o'clock that morning to ensure the check could be cashed. Conrad denies the criminal act, asserting that he has lived on the coast for twenty-five years and maintains a good reputation among business men. Wente has reportedly gone into hiding, fearing for his life.
“The fact remains that Wente was compelled at the point of a rifle to give up $1,200 and it is nothing else than robbery.”
This incident occurred in the heart of what was then a bustling, rough-and-tumble downtown Seattle. Today, the area near 610 Cherry Street is a dense urban center, but the clash between established business owners and the dark underbelly of the city's nightlife remains a recurring theme in local crime reporting.
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