The Laundry Woman's Stolen Underwear
A trio of burglars was rounded up after they were identified for stealing from a South Seattle laundry worker and local bachelor shacks.
A nest of burglars and thieves was unearthed yesterday by Policeman M. Powers, resulting in the arrest of Sam Murphy, George Hayes, and W. R. Rush. The men are charged with burglary, specifically breaking into a shack on the Grant street bridge Saturday night. Saturday evening, two men walked into the residence of Mrs. Frank Granstrom, at the corner of Seventh and Dearborn, and stole five suits of underwear she was laundering for patrons. An hour later, the men offered the still-wet clothes for sale; a witness purchased them for fifty cents, then immediately turned them over to police with a description of the thieves. Upon raiding the Mutual lodging house on Main Street, officers found the men, including Murphy, who replied 'It's no surprise party. I knew we'd have bad luck.'
“All right, son. It's no surprise party. I knew we'd have bad luck.”
The mention of the 'Grant street bridge' and the 'laundry woman' provides a window into the precarious living conditions of 1890s Seattle. Petty property crime and the immediate sale of stolen goods at local saloons remain a recurring theme in the city's police blotters.
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