The Library Hatchet Prank
An unknown intruder bypassed the Kennewick public library's security, but left with nothing to show for it.
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.
Sometime between Wednesday and Saturday of last week, someone broke into the public library on Third street, pried open all the bookcases with a hatchet and rifled the desk of Mrs. Shanafelt, the librarian. So far as Mrs. Shanafelt has been able to determine, nothing was taken from the building and she is at a loss to account for the motive behind the deed. She is of the opinion that it was a careless, thoughtless prank of some kind. The building was entered through a basement window.
“So far as Mrs. Shanafelt has been able to determine, nothing was taken from the building and she is at a loss to account for the motive behind the deed.”
Public libraries have always served as social anchors, but the 1915 mystery of the 'hatchet prank' reflects a time when civic spaces were loosely secured. Today, the building at Third and Kennewick has long been replaced, yet the question of who might target a quiet book repository remains a curious footnote of small-town life.
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