Razor Violence in the Mascotte Saloon
An argument between two men on a Seattle sidewalk ends in a gruesome public stabbing.
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.
While attempting to quiet a dispute between Louis Galli and Nicholas Capordi last night at 11:30 o'clock on the sidewalk in front of the Mascotte saloon, at 420 South Third street, Joe Fagnilli was slashed in the face with a razor by the former. The cut extended across the nose and diagonally down to the lower jaw on the left side, making an ugly gash. Galli and Nicholas Capordi became engaged in a verbal row in the Mascotte saloon over an old trouble between Galli and another Italian named John Poscorrelli. Finally they went out on the sidewalk, where Capordi hit Galli in the face with his fist. The men started to clinch, when Joe came out of the saloon and tried to persuade Galli to go home with him. Galli had been drinking and, without a word, drew a razor and slashed at Fagnilli. The first cut drew blood from his left ear and the second gashed his nose and extended across the cheek to the lower jaw. The blood spurted from the ugly gash and the end of his nose would have fallen off if hit a hard rap. Galli made a dash for King street as soon as he saw what he had done and disappeared under the coal bunkers, while Capordi disappeared in the crowd that swarmed about the place where the wounded man lay. Officer Laubscher arrived in time to take up the chase after the slasher, after having told the Italians to get Fagnilli ready to go to the police station. By good luck he ran Galli down at the Monte Cristo saloon and both cutter and victim were taken to the station.
“The blood spurted from the ugly gash and the end of his nose would have fallen off if hit a hard rap.”
Public violence outside of nightlife establishments remains a recurring friction point in downtown Seattle. The location of the incident, South Third Street, places this event in the historic heart of the Pioneer Square district, a neighborhood that has navigated constant transitions between industry, vice, and residential development for over a century.
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