A Furniture Store Fisticuff
A social slight between families led to a curse-filled brawl inside a Second Street furniture shop.
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.
Ulysses G. Crocker, an upholsterer who works at Illinski & Lebeau's furniture store on Second street, was arrested yesterday morning and escorted to police headquarters on a charge of assaulting his employer in his shop. The men, it seemed, had been the best of friends until an invitation to a social gathering was received by Mrs. Crocker, to which Mrs. Lebeau thought she should have been invited. Yesterday morning Mrs. Crocker was on her peaceful errand bent, but, coming into the shop, noticed that Lebeau made no reply to her 'Good morning.' Indeed, she alleges that Mr. Lebeau made a remark in which he applied to her a term used properly in the kennel. She told her husband, who was in the shop, and he came out to remonstrate against the insult to his wife. A cursing match ensued, and finally the men came to blows. Each declared the other struck the first. The justice discharged the prisoner, deeming that there was sufficient evidence of his having acted in self-defense.
“Indeed, she alleges that Mr. Lebeau made a remark in which he applied to her a term used properly in the kennel.”
Workplace disputes are rarely settled by fisticuffs today, but the blurring of lines between personal social grievances and professional settings remains a timeless source of drama. This case shows how deeply personal social standing and etiquette were integrated into the working life of Seattle residents in the late 19th century.
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