The Sidewalk Eviction on Ninth and Main
A second-hand store proprietor was physically tossed onto the sidewalk by a landlord and her son after a dispute over furniture and rent turned into a public scuffle.
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.
H. C. Wood and his son, George W. Wood, charged with assault and battery by Moses Sommer, a second-hand store proprietor, were found not guilty after ten minutes of deliberation by a jury in Justice Caldwell's court. The evidence showed that a Mrs. Davis rented a house at the corner of Main and Ninth Streets from Mrs. Wood, but finding herself unable to pay the rent, gave her a part of the furniture. Mrs. Davis then gave Sommer a bill of sale, covering everything in the house. While Sommer was taking the furniture, early in the morning of July 24, Mrs. Wood saw what was going on and told her husband. Mr. Wood went over to the house and confronted Sommer. Sommer was determined to take the furniture, so he was picked up by Mr. Wood and his son, one at his head and the other at his feet, and deposited on the sidewalk. There was no evidence that blows were struck.
“Sommer was determined to take the furniture, and in the end was picked up by Mr. Wood and his son, one at his head and the other at his feet, and deposited on the sidewalk.”
Eviction-related disputes in Seattle have evolved from physical confrontations on the sidewalk to legal, systemic battles in the courts, but the fundamental friction between property owners and tenants remains a constant in the city's housing landscape.
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