The Steamer Glide Theft
A logger loses $400 in cash while traveling to Seattle, but the legal quandaries of searching passengers on a steamer lead to an awkward stalemate.
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.
Yesterday morning a gentleman engaged in the logging business, named Record, boarded the steamer Glide at Skagit City, bound for Seattle. After being out a short time he missed his pocketbook containing $400, which he had in his pocket after venturing on board. The captain was notified of the loss, and decided that a search be made, but one of the passengers objected, and it was decided to wait till the steamer arrived at Seattle, where an officer could be procured. On arrival here, Officer Small boarded the steamer, but feeling that he had no right to make a search of the passengers without a warrant, he went ashore, followed by all the passengers. The loss falls heavily on Mr. Record.
“Officer Small boarded the steamer, but feeling that he had no right to make a search of the passengers without a warrant, he went ashore, followed by all the passengers.”
This incident captures the vulnerability of transit and the limitations of police power in 1880s Seattle. The inability of the authorities to act without a warrant—despite the victim's clear loss—highlights the friction between personal privacy and public safety during the city's early, rough-and-tumble growth phase.
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