The Jail-Breaking Drunkard of 1877
A rowdy arrest in Seattle leads to a display of destruction inside the city lockup.
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 drunken fellow was arrested on Friday evening for disturbing the peace and put in the lockup. He was very indignant at the officer who incarcerated him and threatened to tear the jail down, and his failing to carry out this threat was no fault of his. When the officer called to take him out in the morning, he found the stove completely demolished. The fellow had kicked it over and smashed it into fragments. For this little maneuver, Justice Svelye, in addition to the usual fine of $10 and costs, imposed a fine of $12 extra.
“He was very indignant at the officer who incarcerated him and threatened to tear the jail down, and his failing to carry out this threat was no fault of his.”
Public order, substance use, and the state of city detention facilities have been perennial points of tension in Seattle since its infancy. Today’s debates over the 'revolving door' of the justice system and the physical conditions of municipal holding cells echo the same frustrations seen in this 1877 report.
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