The Grocer and the Holstein Cattle
A local grocer refutes retirement rumors while planning his move to Salmon Bay.
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.
Hearing it whispered about town that C. P. Stone, the Front street grocer, was about to retire from business, a reporter called on that gentleman. Mr. Stone said, 'The rumor is not founded on fact, but started from the report that I had leased my store to a hardware corporation. On or about the first of April, I intent to remove my stock to Melhorn's block, where I will continue the grocery business on a less extensive scale. My object is to enable me to devote more of my time on my farm and among my stock. I have leased one hundred acres of improved land on Salmon Bay to raise feed for my cattle. Holstein cattle are now the most popular breed, and I shall give more time also to my poultry department.'
“I have leased for a term of years one hundred acres of improved land on Salmon Bay.”
This story captures a moment when the area around Salmon Bay was farmland rather than the bustling maritime industrial district it is today, highlighting how quickly Seattle's land use changed in the late 19th century.
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