The 'Panel Game' Larceny at the Minnehaha
A logging camp visitor is fleeced of $120 in a coordinated robbery, leading to the arrest of a local couple.
John and Ada Howard were given a preliminary hearing before Justice Von Tobel on a charge of grand larceny. The defendants, a couple living in the Whitechapel district, allegedly lured Peter Sherrard, a logger from Utsalady, into a room. During the encounter, Sherrard's purse, containing $120, was dropped and stolen. Ada Howard picked it up and passed it to John, who fled. After a failed attempt to negotiate a compromise, the pair attempted to skip town but were arrested in Roslyn. They were bound over to the superior court.
“Ada lured Peter Sherrard, a logger from Utsalady, into her room. Peter had a purse with $120 in it which was dropped on the floor of the room.”
Historical 'panel games' were common scams in early Seattle saloons and boarding houses, reflecting the vulnerability of itinerant loggers arriving in the city with their season's wages.
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