The Mysterious Disappearance of a Local Hotelier
After securing bond on a criminal charge, a local business owner vanished after borrowing money and cigars from a business partner.
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.
Some time since, Wm. Brix, the ex-hotel keeper and well-known soda-water man, was placed under bonds to appear before the next grand jury on a criminal charge. For the past week or so he has been quietly closing up his business affairs. Sunday evening he went into French & Co.'s liquor store, where he generally made his headquarters, and told Mr. French that he was going up the Skagit and would like to take along a few sample cigars. The proprietor gave him five or six boxes and loaned him five dollars, and Mr. Brix disappeared. For some reason the bondsmen became satisfied that instead of going to Skagit, he had stowed himself away on the steamship Elder. The ship was searched, but no Brix could be found. Constable Campbell was furnished with the necessary papers to arrest him at sight and took passage on the same steamer. Under the circumstances, Mr. Brix will find it very difficult to get away.
“For some reason the bondsmen became satisfied that instead of Mr. Brix going to Skagit, he had stowed himself away on the Elder.”
Fugitive stories in 1880s Seattle often ended with a man disappearing into the untamed Skagit wilderness or hopping a steamer to San Francisco. While modern surveillance has changed the nature of 'disappearing,' the impulse of an accused individual to flee pending legal jeopardy remains a human constant.
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