Billiards Proprietor Stares Down Armed Bandit
W.W. Pickerell uses nerves of steel to repel a late-night street robbery at his doorstep.
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 slight show of nerve on the part of W. W. Pickerell saved that gentleman the loss of a quantity of cash and two valuable diamonds early yesterday morning when a masked highwayman held him up at the point of a gun. Mr. Pickerell, who is proprietor of the Tunnell Billiard parlors, was returning home, and had reached a spot within 40 feet of his home, 1318 South Fourth St., when the bandit coolly stepped from behind a telephone pole with the order to 'Stick 'em up.' Without complying, Mr. Pickerell stepped backwards and swiftly pulled his gun. Aiming the revolver at the hold-up man's feet, he ordered the other to 'beat it,' and the robber, baffled, slunk into the darkness without a word.
“Aiming the revolver at the hold-up man's feet, he ordered the other to 'beat it,' and the robber, baffled, slunk into the darkness.”
Street robberies near residential areas remain a persistent anxiety in Tacoma. While 1318 South Fourth St. is now part of the historic residential fabric of the city, the sense of vulnerability when arriving home late after working in the service or nightlife industry is a perennial urban theme.
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