The Grocer and the Cheese Thief
When local police were too busy to help, a Front Street store owner took matters into his own hands.
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. L. Henderson has constituted himself a court of summary jurisdiction, and all sneak thieves had better make a mental note of the fact and try some other shop than his. Last Tuesday, a passing stranger picked up a cheese from Mr. Henderson's store on Front Street and started up First Avenue with that unconcerned air which betokens an innocent purchaser. Mr. Henderson had spotted him and went in pursuit. He was not long in overtaking him; he snatched the cheese from his hand and seized him by the arm, intending to turn him over to the first policeman who came along. But Chief Jackson's guardians of the peace were too busy guarding their own peace to venture into any neighborhood where there was any work for them to do, so Mr. Henderson soon wearied of waiting. But he was determined to spoil the thief's appetite for cheese, so he threw the stolen article on the sidewalk and belabored the purloiner until he howled for mercy. When his breath was almost puffed out with the great exertion, he gave the culprit a parting kick, picked up the cheese and returned to his store, deeming that justice was satisfied and there were no costs to pay.
“Chief Jackson's guardians of the peace were too busy guarding their own peace to venture into any neighborhood where there was any work for them to do.”
Public frustration with the visibility and responsiveness of Seattle police is a recurring theme that bridges the 1890s to the 2020s. Vigilantism, while common in the frontier era, highlights the perennial tension between citizen expectations of 'law and order' and the actual capacity of city services.
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