The Mystery of the Amal Bar
A man lies dead in a Spokane saloon with no identification but a letter from 'Maggie' and a question about a baby.
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.
An unknown man, apparently about 35 years old, was shot and killed Sunday evening at the Amal bar, on Main Avenue, between Stevens and Washington streets in Spokane. The shooting occurred just after midnight and from the testimony of the witnesses, was apparently accidental. The bullet entered his breast and evidently passed through his heart. There was nothing by which to identify him except a letter, not in an envelope. The letter was dated from Spokane, June 23, and began: 'My Dear Frank.' It was signed 'Maggie,' and a postscript said, 'How is the baby?' The man was of medium height, with gray eyes and brown hair. He was clad in ordinary workingmen's clothes: overalls, a flannel shirt, a dirty black coat and a gray slouch hat.
“There was nothing by which to identify him except a letter, not in an envelope. The letter... began: 'My Dear Frank.' It was signed 'Maggie,' and a postscript said, 'How is the baby?'”
Unsolved deaths of transient laborers were a common, tragic footnote in the development of early Spokane. While the Amal Bar and its era of uncontrolled street-level violence are long gone, the story highlights the profound anonymity often faced by those who built the city's foundations.
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