The Sleeping Thief of the Lake View
A lodging house guest thinks a quick snooze is the perfect cover for a crime.
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.
Ed Clifford secured a room at the Lake View lodging house last night and this morning was seen ransacking a trunk in the hall. While the servant went to report the theft, Clifford jumped into bed and was snoring loudly when investigation was made. Later he escaped to the woods but was captured and allowed to go on paying room rent. When he had gone, it was learned that he had stolen various articles from guests and he was arrested at Edison and jailed here.
“Clifford jumped into bed and was snoring loudly when investigation was made.”
This story highlights the vulnerability of the boarding house era, a time when 'lodging houses' provided the essential housing that supported Seattle's transient labor force, often at the cost of personal security.
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