A Night Scuffle at the Fremont Milling Company
A machinist was caught red-handed by a vigilant watchman while attempting to loot the mill of its industrial steel.
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.
E. T. Merram, a machinist, was caught in the act of burglarizing the Fremont Milling Company's mill last night at about 10 o'clock and was captured by Night Watchman Edward Ross, assisted by Capt. H. W. Barr, after a stubborn resistance. The front door of the mill is not kept locked owing to the fact that the night watchman is on the premises all night. When on his rounds last night, Ross heard a suspicious sound in the mill building and cautiously entered. Before he was hardly aware of what had happened, he found himself in contact with a human being, and a lively scrimmage took place. Ross blew his whistle for assistance and Capt. Barr soon joined in the effort. The intruder had gathered twenty steel taps ranging from one inch in diameter to a quarter inch, along with a new hammer. Merram, a 27-year-old, fine-looking man, was taken to the city jail.
“Before he was hardly aware of what had happened, he found himself in contact with a human being, and then a lively scrimmage took place.”
Fremont remains a neighborhood defined by its industrial history, though the sawmills have long since been replaced by tech offices and cafes. The 'stubborn resistance' of an intruder caught in a mill captures the raw, rough-around-the-edges era of Seattle's rapid industrialization.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.