The Nighttime Predators of North Seattle
A string of alarming street assaults in the North end has women running for their lives, while local police claim to be in the dark.
Two bold, although unsuccessful, attempts were made last Friday night by three men to waylay women on Virginia Street, between Front and Second streets. In the first case, Miss Bertha Cooper, who lives at the corner of Virginia and Second streets, was saved from being dragged into an alley through the timely arrival of a citizen with a club. In the second case, Mrs. Beaumont, who lives on Second street between Virginia and Lenora, managed to reach her house after an exciting chase. Mrs. Beaumont and Mrs. Baylis were walking toward Front Street when they encountered three men who appeared to be lying in wait. As the men closed in, Mrs. Beaumont, with the nerve of desperation, carried her prostrated friend along as they ran for safety. Miss Cooper, when hearing of these incidents, confirmed that she had been attacked by the same men near the Harvard House, only escaping when a passerby with a heavy walking stick threatened the attackers. Chief Willard said yesterday that no report of the case had been received at police headquarters, but Mrs. Beaumont states she informed the patrolman on the Front Street beat.
“Mrs. Beaumont grabbed Mrs. Baylis around the body and, with strength she cannot account for herself, carried her along at a rapid pace.”
Street safety and lighting remain a central, recurring conversation in Seattle, over 130 years after women in the North End had to rely on 'a citizen with a club' to navigate the streets at night. The persistent disconnect between citizens reporting crimes and official police awareness is a theme that rhymes sharply with modern civic frustrations.
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