The Mayor’s Peaches and the City’s Panic: A Night of Burglary in Pioneer Square
Burglars break into Mayor Gattert’s home on Third Street, fleeing with nothing but a can of peaches, while public outrage over crime reaches a fever pitch.
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.
We are again called upon to record the occurrence of two more burglaries which were perpetrated Monday morning too late to be published in full in yesterday's issue.
The residence of Mayor Gattert, on the corner of James and Third streets, was entered by burglars at about the hour of two A.M. yesterday. They effected an entrance through a basement window which happened to be unlatched. After exploring the cellar they ascended to the kitchen, where, after they had wrenched off the lock, they found entrance to the back part of the house. Here they were warned off by the barking of the watch dog, and it appears, left precipitately for their only prize 'a can of peaches' was left upon the stove.
The occupants of the dwelling were awakened by the noise but too late to intercept the fugitives in their flight.
The grocery store of Bean White was also entered the same night by the novices. The thieves, however, considerately disturbed nothing save some sweetmeats, not even touching a lot of postage stamps which lay in a showcase. The rumor that the residence of Mr. Maydenbauer on Third street, was also burglarised, proves to be unfounded.
...The past day or two there has been current a general suggestion on the part of the citizens to organize proceedings toward putting a summary stop to the outrages that have disgraced our city for a week past, without awaiting the law's vexatious delays in the matter. The indignation of the community is coming to be aroused to the point beyond which forbearance ceases to be a virtue.
This 1876 account captures Seattle’s transition from a rough frontier town to a municipal entity, where even the Mayor was not immune to petty crime. The public's demand for 'summary stop' to outrages mirrors modern frustrations with slow bureaucratic responses to rising crime rates, highlighting that the tension between due process and immediate public safety is a perennial civic struggle.
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