Gambler Who Preyed on Newsboys Driven Out of Town
After cheating a bootblack and a newsboy on the steps of a local hotel, a 'crooked' gambler is fined and given an informal eviction notice by Seattle police.
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.
Napoleon Lawrence, a gambler at craps who chooses newsboys and bootblacks as his victims, was arrested yesterday morning and fined $25 and costs by Judge Rivers in the municipal court. After paying his fine, he was told by the police that it would be healthy for him to move to some other town. For some time past, a number of newsboys have complained that a man was in the habit of inducing them to play the fascinating game of 'craps' in hallways and on doorsteps, winning money by fair means or foul and then running away. Yesterday morning, Lawrence induced Willie Taylor, a newsboy, and Frank Wilson, a bootblack, to gamble on the steps of the Pacific House on South Second street. He won some money and began cheating. The lads caught him in the act and reported the matter to Lieutenant Huff. The gambler is a man about 21 years old, rough in appearance, with a skulking manner.
“After paying his fine he was told by the police that it would be healthy for him to move to some other town.”
This 1892 report highlights the precarious life of Seattle's youth in the late 19th century, where they were simultaneously viewed as street-smart laborers and vulnerable targets for predation. The police response—'moving him along' to another town—was a common, if legally dubious, method of maintaining order in a city growing too fast for its institutions.
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