A Stabbing, a Secret, and a Domestic Dispute on Tenth Street
An officer lies about a stabbing to 'protect' a woman, revealing a messy local entanglement involving a jealous husband and a neglected child.
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.
The cloud of mystery surrounding the stabbing of Officer O. F. Holloway on Tenth Street between Columbia and Cherry streets has cleared, revealing a domestic motive. Fireman O. B. Hubbard was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon after stabbing Holloway, who had been walking home with Mrs. Hubbard. Holloway initially claimed he was pursuing a 'flower thief' to shield Mrs. Hubbard’s reputation, but investigations by Officer Monroe Jaycox revealed that Mrs. Hubbard had been leaving her one-year-old child unattended. When Jaycox found the crying child alone, he left him at a neighbor's house and informed the husband, Hubbard, that his wife was out. Later that evening, the confrontation occurred. Holloway insists the stabbing was unprovoked and that Mrs. Hubbard is a 'good woman,' though the police department remains skeptical of his version of events.
“I was not chasing a flower thief when stabbed. I merely told that story to shield Mrs. Hubbard, whom I have known for a long time.”
This story highlights the Victorian-era obsession with reputation and the way gender roles influenced police interactions and civic reporting. The 'mystery' of the flower thief is a classic example of how private personal drama was sensationalized in the city's press.
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