The Church Burglars of Seattle
Two young boys were caught breaking into the Plymouth Congregational Church to steal tools, leading to their committal to the reform school.
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.
Guy Weyler and Fred Ballentine, two lads arrested on suspicion of stealing a handsaw, pleaded guilty in municipal court to the charge of petit larceny. The evidence showed the boys kicked in a door of the Plymouth Congregational Church and stole the saw. Though the boys initially claimed a second-hand dealer named Jacob Rickles had put them up to the theft, Judge Glasgow ordered them both committed to the reform school at Chehalis. During the proceedings, the boys were initially meek and tearful, but laughed heartily once returned to the city jail.
“Weyler, who is the more hardened of the two, said to Attorney Winstock: 'Rickles told us to swipe some tools.'”
This account captures a grim aspect of juvenile justice in the 1890s, where property crime often resulted in immediate institutionalization rather than social support. It highlights the vulnerability of children in the city's early industrial landscape.
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