The Unintended Charity Case
A Ballard real estate agent's impulsive act of Thanksgiving kindness accidentally turns into a petty theft.
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.
W. H. Vernon, the Ballard real estate agent, found a fine Thanksgiving turkey roaming about the vicinity of his office on Wednesday and, with the help of Druggist V. W. Preston, captured it. Mr. Vernon afterwards presented the turkey to a poor but deserving family for a Thanksgiving dinner. The turkey was afterwards found to be one of a flock belonging to Peter Hesser, which he had been reserving for his own Thanksgiving dinner. Mr. Hesser takes the matter good-naturedly, but cannot be persuaded that Mr. Vernon was innocently charitable at his expense.
“Mr. Hesser takes the matter good-naturedly, but cannot be persuaded that Mr. Vernon was innocently charitable at his expense.”
This story highlights the informal, close-knit nature of Ballard before it was annexed by Seattle in 1907. Even then, the tension between neighborly charity and private property rights remained a classic local dispute.
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