The Midnight Raid on the Roberts Store
Creditors and a sheriff's deputy staged a dramatic, late-night seizure of a Whatcom dry goods firm after a suspicious mortgage filing.
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.
The failure of C. P. Roberts Co. has been the chief topic of conversation in business circles in New Whatcom, owing to the fact of a mortgage for $7,000 being made to Mrs. Mary Roberts, mother of C. P. Roberts. The creditors took action and a writ of attachment was issued. There was a lively scene at the store Saturday evening when the sheriff took possession, protected by an indemnifying bond. Alfred S. Black, attorney for the mortgagee, was in possession, having declared that there would be 'some lively corpses' if an attempt was made to oust him. The attempt was made about dusk and was entirely successful. The deputy sheriff knocked in a rear window with a club and rolled onto the floor, followed by the sheriff and attorney for the creditors, a man six feet three inches tall. Mr. Black was given a second or two to vacate without assistance. He saw that resistance was useless, and as he crawled out, the deputy gave him such aid that he nearly disappeared in a snowdrift.
“The deputy sheriff knocked in a rear window with a club and rolled in onto the floor, followed by the sheriff... Mr. Black was given a second or two to vacate without assistance.”
This chaotic scene illustrates the high-stakes, Wild West nature of early Washington commercial litigation. The transition from what was then 'New Whatcom' to modern Bellingham still carries the echoes of these fierce downtown business rivalries and the rapid growth of the late 19th century.
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