Chief Willard Smashes the 'Black Jack' Tables
Police Chief Willard ended a South Third Street gambling operation by raiding the game and tossing the furniture off a high fence.
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.
The black jack game which has been running in the rear of Pinker & Shaw's billiard hall on South Third street near Washington, came to a disastrous end last night owing to Chief Willard's decisive action. He not only stopped the game but took the furniture and dropped it about fifteen feet into the prison yard, where it was considerably broken up. The dealer and the furniture, four tables, were taken to headquarters. The former was locked up, but the tables were thrown over the high fence that runs along Yesler avenue and landed fifteen feet below on the brick walk. So far as could be seen there was not a leg left. When asked what the owners of the gambling tables would say, the chief replied that he did not care.
“He not only stopped the game, but took the furniture and dropped it about fifteen feet into the prison yard, where it was considerably broken up.”
Public theater and performative justice were hallmarks of early Seattle policing. While the 'billiard hall' front is a historical relic, the tension between authorities and illegal gambling dens remains a recurring theme in urban law enforcement.
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