Brutal Midday Assault on Tacoma Streets
A man is kicked to death in broad daylight by a mob on a city street, leaving authorities with only one suspect in custody.
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.
Tacoma, Wash., July 11.—A crowd of men became involved in a terrible assault at the corner of Commerce street and Puyallup avenue shortly after noon today. Thomas Ashworth, 45, was thrown down. The gang jumped on him and kicked him repeatedly about the body and head. They kept up their terrible work until they kicked him to death. John Kennedy, 21, of 201 Auburn street was the only one caught. He was lodged in the twenty-ninth district station. The other members of the gang had not been caught at a late hour.
“They kept up their terrible work until they kicked him to death.”
This violent incident in the industrial heart of old Tacoma highlights a turn-of-the-century struggle with lawlessness and mob violence in growing Pacific Northwest cities. Today, this location near the intersection of Commerce and Puyallup sits at the center of a redeveloped urban landscape, yet the memory of such public, unpunished violence serves as a stark reminder of the volatile nature of the early boomtown era.
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