A Sidewalk Brawl on Front Street
George Brackett and Capt. J. H. Bryant brawled on Front Street, traded throws, and were arrested.
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.
George Brackett, of Edmonds, writes to the POST-INTELLIGENCER giving his account of the scrap which occurred on Front street between himself and Captain J. H. Bryant. He says that as he was turning into L. A. Treen's store he had to pass Captain Bryant, and the latter gave him a terrible punch with his shoulder, which would have knocked him down had he not been quick on his feet. He says that Captain Bryant then struck him on the face, they clinched and to save himself he threw Bryant down: that they got up, still holding one another, Bryant still trying to strike and that he then threw Bryant down on the edge of the sidewalk. Then they were arrested.
“Captain Bryant... gave him a terrible punch with his shoulder, which would have knocked him down had he not been quick on his feet.”
Public altercations on Front Street—now First Avenue—were a common, albeit rowdy, fixture of 1890s downtown life. This account highlights the transition from private feuds to civic police matters, a recurring theme in the history of Seattle's evolving urban order.
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