Domestic Feud in Fremont Turns Police Matter
A laborer from the Fremont neighborhood faces accusations of threatening his wife, but local authorities point to the interference of a lodger as the true source of the discord.
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.
The facts concerning an unfortunate domestic affair which occurred in Fremont lately have just come to light through the statements of Police Officer Breese, of Fremont. Last Saturday afternoon a complaint was sworn out before Judge Cann, charging J. V. Diamond, a laborer of Fremont, with threatening to kill his wife, Mrs. Lucy Diamond. The principal witness for the complainant is Mrs. E. J. Young, a widow, who also lives at Fremont. A statement in regard to the trouble was obtained from Officer Breese this morning, and is as follows: 'Several weeks ago,' said Officer Breese, 'Diamond and his wife were living happily together. He worked as a day laborer and she ran a lodging house. A Mrs. Young came to Mrs. Diamond and asked for work as an assistant in housework, and she was employed. She commenced to make trouble between the husband and wife, and it is alleged she had considerable power over Mr. Diamond. She advised her mistress to get a divorce from her husband, and actually brought her into the city to have proceedings started. Mr. Diamond heard of this, and immediately ordered Mrs. Young out of his house, using, it is alleged, threatening language. Mrs. Young then out a complaint against Diamond. I do not think there is any truth in the report that Diamond threatened to kill his wife. I have known Diamond for several years, and worked with him. He is a quiet man, and never has had trouble with his wife before. This Mrs. Young was the cause of the trouble, and no blame should be attached to Diamond.'
“She commenced to make trouble between the husband and wife, and it is alleged she had considerable power over Mr. Diamond.”
Housing precarity and the intimacy of boarding house life often blurred the lines between domestic disputes and public safety in early 20th-century Seattle. This story captures the familiar tension of a living arrangement turning toxic, a precursor to the modern frictions often found in shared housing or high-density rental environments.
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