The City Dog Catcher Accused of Robbery
A laborer claims that a city official used a badge to impersonate a police officer and steal his savings from a rooming house in the Blackchapel district.
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.
W. A. Nolan, the city dog catcher, was arrested about midnight on Wednesday by Officer Gil Philbrick, upon a charge of grand larceny preferred by James Upper, a laborer who lives at South Park. According to Upper's story, missing a car home, he decided to stay in town overnight and secured a room in a house kept by Mrs. Goldberg, in Blackchapel. When he went to bed he folded up his pants, which had $40 in the pockets, and put them under his pillow. Shortly afterward, he says, Nolan came into the room and, showing a star that was pinned on his vest, said he was an officer and ordered Upper to get out of the room; he then pulled the pants out from under the pillow and rifled them and refused to return the money. Upper notified the police and the dog catcher was arrested by Officer Philbrick in the Mug saloon. He protested his innocence and said he had no idea of what he was arrested for.
“Nolan came into the room and, showing a star that was pinned on his vest, said he was an officer and ordered Upper to get out of the room.”
Public trust remains a sensitive issue in Seattle, especially when official authority is misused. While the specific title of 'dog catcher' has evolved into Animal Control, the story of an individual abusing their municipal status for personal gain is a timeless civic grievance.
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