Bold Daylight Heist at the Puget Sound & Alaska Steamship Company
A safe on the Yesler wharf is emptied of over $170 in cash during the lunch hour.
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 safe in the freight office of the Puget Sound & Alaska Steamship Company, on the Yesler wharf, was burglarized in broad daylight at noon yesterday and $171.75 in cash stolen. Ben Brierly, the office clerk, locked up at 12 o'clock and went to dinner. Ben Smith, the wharfinger, returned at 1 o'clock and found a warehouse door open, the office door open, the curtains drawn, and the safe emptied. The safe showed no marks of force, leading Brierly to believe the burglar knew the combination or was an expert. The thief was evidently hiding in the warehouse, as a door was found hooked from the inside.
“Mr. Brierly is very positive he threw the combination when he went out and he thinks the burglar must have known the combination or been an expert at opening safes.”
The Yesler wharf was once the center of Seattle's maritime economy; today that area is reclaimed waterfront near Pioneer Square, showcasing how 'theft of opportunity' remains a persistent urban reality while the specific site has transformed from industrial wharf to recreational or commercial space.
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