Sauerkraut vs. the Burglar
A serial burglar is finally caught, but his most memorable encounter was a failed heist at a boarding house.
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.
Detective Ellis made an important arrest last night: Henry G. Pierce. The arrest was made on Commerce Street near Eleventh, after Pierce made a foxy effort to elude the officer. At police headquarters, Pierce admitted to burglarizing a second-hand store in December. He has also been identified as the man who tried to rob a boarding house at the smelter last December. That was the time the landlady threw a panful of sauerkraut over him, hit him over the head with the pan, and, telling him to take his guns and get out, slammed the door in his face. Hidden within his shoe was a tool of machine steel, used to unfasten window catches.
“That was the time the landlady threw a panful of sauerkraut over him, hit him over the head with the pan, and, telling him to take his guns and get out, slammed the door in his face.”
Commerce Street near 11th remains in the heart of downtown Tacoma. This story provides a rare, vivid detail of a boarding house landlady taking direct action against a intruder, highlighting the rough-and-tumble reality of working-class lodging in the industrial era.
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