The Great North End Porch Raids
A string of minor thefts in Tacoma's North End has residents tracking footprints in the snow to find the culprits who made off with their cold victuals.
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.
Residents of the North End are being annoyed by sneak thieves, who pick up articles of food that are left out on porches. Early yesterday morning Mrs. F. J. Studebaker, who resides at 3410 North Mason Avenue, found that some provisions that she had placed on the porch the evening before were missing. Owing to the light snow that had fallen early the previous evening the footprints of the robber were traced and the members of the Studebaker family satisfied themselves that they could lay their hands on the purloiners of cold victuals. Other families in the same section of the city are also mourning the loss of sundry articles of food which had been left outside.
“The footprints of the robber were traced and the members of the Studebaker family satisfied themselves that they could lay their hands on the purloiners of cold victuals.”
Porch piracy is as old as the porch itself, though today’s thieves are more interested in Amazon packages than cold victuals. The mention of tracking footprints in the snow provides a vivid glimpse of daily life in 1904 Tacoma.
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