The Great Queen Anne Poultry Mystery
A rash of bizarre chicken thefts on Queen Anne Hill leaves residents bewildered as to why the perpetrators are leaving so many dead birds behind.
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.
Queen Anne Hill and its neighborhood is infested with chicken thieves and the residents are becoming tired of raising poultry for their benefit. The last victim of misplaced confidence is Mrs. L. H. Harnett, whose henhouse was entered Tuesday evening and despoiled of twenty-eight chickens; thirteen were carried away and fifteen left dead on the floor. C. E. Bowman, a few days earlier, lost thirty the same way, fifteen being carried off and the same number left. Why so many dead hens were left behind is as much of a mystery as who the marauders are. Detective Cudthee yesterday arrested a smooth-faced young man giving the name of W. S. Thomas, whom he found trying to dispose of thirteen chickens. The justice granted his request for a defense witness and allowed Mrs. Harnett to take away the dead chickens that covered the justice's desk.
“Why so many dead hens were left behind is as much of a mystery as who the marauders are.”
While chicken theft feels like a quaint historical problem, this story serves as a reminder of the hyper-local, domestic crime reporting that once defined Seattle's neighborhood news cycles before the growth of modern urban policing.
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