The Bank President and the Cashier’s Scuffle
A power struggle at the Seattle Dime Savings bank leads to a public street fight over the company vault.
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.
An encounter between I. N. Bigelow, president, and E. J. Landers, cashier, of the Seattle Dime Savings bank, at 224 Pike street, yesterday afternoon, brings to light an unpleasant state of affairs, and will doubtless end in the cashier severing his connection with the institution. Bigelow, dissatisfied with Landers' management and alleged outside speculations, attempted to remove the bank's cash and assets while Landers was at the clearing house. Upon discovering the depletion, Landers confronted the president, leading to a scuffle at the corner of Pike and Third streets. Landers successfully recovered a pouch containing $16,000 in assets, while Bigelow maintained that he was merely securing the depositors' funds against a judgment lien and the cashier's financial mismanagement.
“I will leave it to the public to judge who is the 'irresponsible party.'”
Bankers engaging in public fisticuffs over the control of assets reflects the unstable, often lawless nature of early Seattle's financial institutions. The neighborhood at 3rd and Pike remains a focal point of intense business and street-level friction, echoing the city's long history of volatile commercial disputes.
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