Street Robbery in Spokane
Two young boys ambushed a woman near a streetcar stop, snatching her purse in the dark.
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.
A lady of Spokane loses her purse while waiting for a car at the corner of Napa and Riverside. The woman was waiting for a car when two boys, apparently 12 or 14 years of age, with their caps pulled down over their eyes, approached her swiftly from behind. They came directly to the woman and parted on either side of their intended victim. Before the woman could make any movements, one boy snatched her purse containing $8 and vanished in the darkness.
“They came directly to the woman and parted on either side of their intended victim.”
Street robberies near transit hubs remain a persistent urban safety concern. While this 1903 account captures the vulnerability of transit passengers, the narrative reflects the era's focus on juvenile delinquency as a growing metropolitan anxiety.
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