The Tomale Peddler and the Hen Roost
A South Seattle widow loses her flock to a hungry vendor who is quickly caught and sentenced to jail.
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.
Mrs. Hattie Webber, a widow who resides in South Seattle, complained to the police yesterday that someone had robbed her hen roost on Monday night of forty-five chickens. The police began an investigation and soon had the thief under arrest. He proved to be Charles Lopes, an East Indian, and a tomale vender by profession. Most of the chickens had been decapitated and all had been sold to the proprietor of a market on Second street. Only fourteen of the widow's chickens were alive. The quick and the dead were taken to the police station to be used as evidence against the thieving tomale peddler. Lopes was taken before Judge Glasgow in the municipal court and he pleaded guilty to petty larceny. He was sentenced to three months' imprisonment.
“The quick and the dead were taken to the police station to be used as evidence against the thieving tomale peddler.”
This petty larceny case reflects the precariousness of life for widows and immigrant street vendors in 1890s Seattle, where 'tomale' stands were part of the early street-food scene. It serves as a stark reminder of how swift and punitive the justice system was for the impoverished residents of early South Seattle.
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