The Great Cross-Dressing Chase
A suspected shooter outwits Seattle police during a high-speed chase by shedding a wig and woman's dress, disappearing into the darkness of the waterfront.
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.
A large woman, heavily veiled and wearing a dark dress, walked alone on Commercial Street about 11 o'clock on Friday night to the corner of Yesler Avenue, where a young girl was waiting. The meeting was evidently prearranged, for they entered into conversation immediately in an undertone. Officer Williams noticed the gathering and walked past, but stood at a distance, trying to think what was so peculiar about the veiled figure. He was approached by a man who suggested the figure was actually the mother of John McGrew, a man who had recently shot at the man’s daughter, and that they were trying to 'square the deal.' Officer Williams and Officer Henry Surry attempted to detain the woman, but she took to her heels like a professional runner. As they gave chase down Washington Street and onto Railroad Avenue, the woman discarded her black veil, a black chip hat, and eventually a wig. Witnesses realized the person was John McGrew in disguise. Despite two pistol shots being fired by the officers, McGrew disappeared into the shadows of the Great Northern freight shed and was never found.
“There is a man in woman's clothes.”
This chase captures the volatile atmosphere of late-1890s Pioneer Square, where neighborhood feuds and police interactions were intense. While cross-dressing for concealment was a common criminal tactic then, it also hints at the rigid gender expectations of the time that such a performance could briefly baffle law enforcement.
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