The Madison Street Midnight Escape
A Seattle grocer skips town in the dead of night, leaving behind a shop full of unpaid bills and curious neighbors.
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.
J. A. McCartney, a grocer at 100 Madison Street, had suddenly departed for parts unknown, leaving behind liabilities of $1,000. He had been in business for some time and stood in full on his payroll, but the local creditors paid little attention to him as he always kept his customers. Last Sunday afternoon, residents of the neighborhood saw two large wagons back up to the door of the store, and they were soon filled with shelving and supplies. McCartney had stated a few days before that he intended to go prospecting. On Thursday, the word finally leaked out that McCartney had set off for parts unknown. The creditors of the different firms drove up to McCartney’s store yesterday, and the remaining goods were turned over to their respective owners.
“Last Sunday afternoon, residents of the neighborhood saw two large wagons back up to the door of the store, and they were soon filled with shelving and supplies.”
The disappearance of J. A. McCartney mirrors the precarious nature of small-scale entrepreneurship in Seattle, a city where the cost of doing business often forces owners into desperate, midnight exits. While the commodities have changed from basic dry goods to modern tech or service-based enterprises, the community impact—unpaid labor, local debt, and the sudden vacancy of a storefront—remains a staple of urban turnover in Seattle.
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