Ex-Fire Chief James Murphy Shoots Saloon Owner Phil Dawe
A former Seattle fire official guns down a saloon owner in a cold-blooded dispute over free drinks, sparking outrage in the city’s lower wards.
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.
Phil J. Dawe, proprietor of the Copper Chief saloon on Washington street, near South Third, was shot and killed yesterday afternoon by James Murphy, an ex-assistant chief of the Seattle semi-volunteer fire department. Murphy, who has been down on his luck, was in the habit of getting drinks without charge from Dawe. When he walked in yesterday and asked for a brandy, Dawe served him but stooped to fetch a glass of water. As Dawe rose, Murphy deliberately shot him in the head. Murphy then finished his brandy, pocketed his change, and walked out to the street before being arrested nearby. While Murphy has hinted at a defense of self-defense, witnesses describe a cold-blooded execution. The tragedy has left Dawe's young wife, Cora, grief-stricken, and the community is so incensed that some have whispered of lynching.
“Dawe threw up his hands, shot a glance of awful reproach at his murderer, and fell like a log on the floor.”
The intersection of Washington and South Third sits in what is today a vastly transformed part of Pioneer Square. The public's immediate, visceral anger toward Murphy—a man who previously used his fire department position to protect his own real estate interests during the Great Fire—reflects the volatility of an era where frontier justice still competed with the rule of law.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.