The Thief Who Leaped from the Heights
A notorious international criminal is finally cornered in Tacoma after a dramatic chase involving a 200-foot plunge down an embankment.
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.
Albert E. Bell, alias James E. Butler, wanted by the governments of England, France, and the United States for mail robbery, and by Kansas for defrauding a national bank of $100,000, was captured last night by Chief Fackler. He was located in a lodging house on Pacific Avenue. When Officer Moran confronted him, his accomplice surrendered, but Bell fled. A wild chase ensued through the streets, culminating in Bell jumping over a 200-foot embankment near the Northern Pacific Headquarters. Officer Moran followed him down. Bell then ran toward the waterfront, hid in a government warehouse, and was eventually apprehended after a final pursuit. Police found stolen mail and checks in his possession, which Bell admitted were taken from a pouch in Seattle. Bell’s history of escapes, including one through a Philadelphia train window, made him a high-profile target for authorities.
“It is fully 200 feet down this bank and it is almost perpendicular. This fact, however, did not daunt Officer Moran, and he promptly jumped over after his man.”
The dramatic landscape of Tacoma—characterized by its steep embankments—still defines the city's geography today. While the Northern Pacific Headquarters has evolved into a centerpiece of the historic Union Station district, the raw, vertical challenges of moving through the city remain a constant for locals, much as they were for Officer Moran and his fugitive in 1904.
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