Two Sailors Apprehended After Tacoma Stick-Up
A pair of teenage sailors attempts an armed robbery in Tacoma, only to be captured after a pursuit by police and citizens.
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. B. Armstrong, son of the deputy city treasurer, was held up shortly after 7 o'clock while walking home along North Yakima Avenue in Tacoma. Two sailors, 19-year-old Edward Richardson and Pat Martin, accosted him at the corner of North Third Street and Yakima Avenue. Wearing a handkerchief mask, they demanded cash, but finding none on him, they bypassed his watch and fled into nearby logs and underbrush. The victim raised the alarm, leading to a pursuit by Policemen Place and Gleason, along with Detective D. O. Smith. The pair was captured shortly after. Though they had no money and no pistol—carrying only a case knife—Armstrong identified them, and a mask was found on one of the suspects.
“Armstrong identified them. A handkerchief mask was found on one. The highwaymen had come here from Portland, where they left the bark De More.”
This incident reflects the transient, often dangerous nature of 1890s waterfront life in Tacoma, where sailors from merchant vessels frequently found themselves destitute and desperate in port cities.
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