The Bullet That Missed: A Masked Highwayman’s Attempt on a Seattle Merchant
C.H. Helling of 112 Seventh Avenue was left with a burned face and a shredded lapel after a masked robber opened fire on him while walking with his companion near Pike Street.
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.
A masked highwayman held up and attempted to murder C. H. Helling, of 112 Seventh avenue, one Sunday evening, as the latter was walking along Pike street with Miss Nellie Kendall.
The robber fired at them without a moment's warning. The bullet from his revolver passed through the lapel of Helling's coat, the powder burning his face and shirt bosom.
The robber who did the firing was assisted in his search through Helling's pockets by a man standing as an accompanist. Finding no money, the highwaymen disappeared in the hill districts.
Helling's escape from death was simply miraculous. When the shot was fired, he fell to the sidewalk, and when Miss Kendall attempted to assist him, she was brutally pushed away.
The police are investigating the affair.
This 1905 account of a violent street robbery in downtown Seattle highlights the precarious nature of public safety in an era before modern policing. While today we might view this as a random act of violence, it underscores how central business districts were once sites of direct physical danger for pedestrians, a stark contrast to the heavily surveilled and patrolled urban cores of today.
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