Late-Night Stabbing on Pacific Avenue
A laborer is found dead in a pool of blood after a night of drinking, leading police to arrest a local porter on suspicion.
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.
Jake Field, a colored porter, was arrested at 6 o'clock this morning by Detective Smith and Captain Lawrence on suspicion of being implicated in the murder of John Axelson, a laborer who was stabbed to death on Pacific Avenue near Twenty-first Street shortly after 1 o'clock last night. The victim was stabbed in the breast and fell face downward, discovered by Officer Busn. John Batsch, proprietor of the Garfield hotel, identified Axelson as one of his boarders who worked with a section gang on the Interurban. Axelson had recently drawn his month's salary and had been drinking. Police are investigating a report that Axelson had trouble with a man in a saloon earlier that evening, which led to Field's arrest, though authorities are not yet certain of his involvement.
“The murdered man was stabbed in the breast, and fell face downward. The body was discovered lying in a pool of blood by Officer Busn.”
Pacific Avenue near 21st Street remains a central artery in Tacoma's historic downtown, though the bustling labor boarding houses of 1904 have largely transitioned into modern commercial and residential use.
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