The Cosmopolitan Hotel's Escaped Bear
A bear cub makes a frantic dash through the streets of Seattle, smashing mirrors and leading his pursuers on a wild chase.
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.
Last Friday about noon, someone cast off the moorings of a fine young bear tied on the wharf at the rear of the Cosmopolitan Hotel. The animal walked out to the street, where boys and dogs gave it a start, and it ran along the sidewalk till it reached the store of C. C. Bartlett & Co. The bear ran inside, saw itself reflected in a large mirror near the door, and immediately sprang at its own image, dashing the mirror into fragments. After being driven out, the bear was chased up the hill, over fences, and into the shed of Capt. Willoughby's house. In the ensuing scramble, the bear was finally killed by Charley Willoughby. The Captain kept the skin, meat, and grease, even intending to turn the bear's grease into hair oil. The genial host of the Cosmopolitan was relieved to find he wasn't asked to pay for the $15 mirror Bartlett lost.
“The bear made a spring clear over the top of the gate, but the tow rope got foul in the pickets and gave the bear such a quick snub that it strangled him till his tongue ran out as if in search of honey.”
Animal encounters were a hazard of a town still transitioning from wilderness, though rarely involving bear-themed home decor accidents. It serves as a vivid reminder of how close the frontier remained to the heart of Seattle's business district in the 1880s.
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