The Pen and the Pistol: A Seattle Saloon Brawl
When an editor’s satirical writing sparked a public confrontation on Mill Street, a local developer settled the score with a revolver—until his target managed to disarm him.
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.
Yesterday morning, about 10 o'clock, in front of the Grotto Saloon on Mill Street, there was an altercation between two prominent citizens of this city. The timely interference of Constable Thornton prevented what must have been very serious injury to one or both parties. Mr. Jack Levy, of the Grotto Cigar Stand, publishes a small advertising sheet occasionally, and from time to time has inserted articles indirectly reflecting upon prominent parties in the city. Yesterday, Mr. Jas. McNaught, feeling himself aggrieved by some one of these articles, approached Mr. Levy on the threshold of the Grotto Saloon and asked if he were responsible for such publications. Mr. Levy answered in the affirmative. Mr. McNaught requested him to 'sin no more,' while using an epithet which, amongst old miners, is a term of endearment, but in polite circles is a deadly insult. Mr. Levy replied that he did not consider the language insulting, but as he spoke, he returned the compliment. Mr. McNaught struck him a blow, and Levy made a rush for his assailant but was met with a cocked revolver and retreated into the saloon. Following him, they clinched and fell to the floor. In the scuffle, Levy succeeded in wresting the pistol from McNaught. The affray ended with the appearance of Constable Thornton, who arrested both men. Little blood was spilled—McNaught received a severe bite on the index finger, and Levy another on the ear. This morning, Justice Snyder fined McNaught $22.50 and costs.
“An epithet which amongst 'old miners' is used as a term of endearment, but which in polite circles is received as a deadly insult.”
Long before the age of social media, the power of a small, irreverent broadsheet to incite physical violence was a reality of Seattle’s rough-and-tumble street life. This 1878 clash over 'indirect reflections' reminds us that the thin line between protected speech and personal vendetta has always been a tension in the city's press history.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.