Gambling in the Stag Saloon
A municipal judge rules that draw poker is punishable as a misdemeanor under city ordinance.
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.
Judge Glasgow, of the municipal court, yesterday handed down a decision in the case of E. Thorndyke and others, charged with gambling, in which he holds that playing draw poker, as a gambling game, is punishable under the city ordinance. The case came up about five weeks ago, when Thorndyke and nine others were arrested on the charge of playing draw poker in the Stag saloon. The judge sustained a demurrer as to the insufficiency of facts in the original complaint, as it failed to explicitly state the game was played for money, but he confirmed the validity of the ordinance. Meanwhile, E. Fairbanks escaped conviction for conducting a game in a shop at Washington and South Third streets, after witnesses testified he was merely selling checks for the proprietors, H. D. Williams and Gus Zimper. Williams was later arrested and fined $5 for contempt of court.
“The judge sustained the demurrer as to insufficiency of facts, holding that the language of the complaint simply indicated that the game was played, but left out the essential point of being played for money.”
This ruling highlights the early efforts of Seattle's municipal government to define and regulate 'vice' within its growing urban core. Today, the intersection of Washington and South Third (now South Main) sits in the heart of Pioneer Square, a district that has transitioned from a center of illicit gaming to a focal point for historic preservation and civic debate.
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