The Day the 'Mercury' Office Became a Shambles
After an article called his theater a 'branch of hell,' a local theater manager stormed the newspaper office, triggering a violent brawl and a shooting.
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.
John Considine, of People's Theater and divorce court notoriety, gave the editor of the Sunday Mercury a beating yesterday, while his partner, Don E. Johnson, was arrested for shooting at a man who attempted to 'lick the editor.' Considine went to the Mercury office on the southwest corner of Cherry and Third streets after seeing an article titled 'Branch of Hell,' which accused him of running a tough gambling house and defying the police. Upon entering, Considine pounced on editor Frank Lavere, driving him across the room. Johnson, an associate of the paper, pulled a gun, but his shots struck William E. King, Considine’s assistant, in the shoulder. Considine eventually disarmed Johnson, struck him with his own revolver, and exited the scene. Officer Stepler later arrested Johnson on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon.
“You dirty cur... I don't want to kill him anyway.”
This violent confrontation between a theatre owner and a muckraking weekly highlights the volatile, often lawless nature of Seattle's early tabloid scene. The 'Mercury's' claim of exposing 'tribute from saloons' echoes modern debates over local media credibility and the ethics of investigative journalism in a hyper-polarized civic environment.
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