Three Bullets, Then Silence
James J. Holt survived W.N. White's gunfire, but hospital staff sealed him off from questions while White's body was carried back to Olympia.
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.
James J. Holt, who was shot three times by W. N. White on Wednesday, is resting easily at Providence hospital, and it is believed that he will recover. He has a strong constitution, and unless something unexpected happens he will regain his strength and health rapidly. Holt's attending physician and the nurses at the hospital will allow no one to talk to him and will not permit him to talk. Since being taken to the hospital Holt has not breathed a word about his would-be slayer; in fact, he has not even mentioned his name nor inquired concerning his fate.
The remains of White were sent to Olympia yesterday for burial. Yesterday morning Mrs. E. O. Dunby, sister of the dead man, and Miss Ruth, a niece, came down from Olympia on the steamer Multnomah. At 1 o'clock they returned home, having in charge the remains of White.
“Since being taken to the hospital Holt has not breathed a word about his would-be slayer.”
Early Seattle crime stories often end at the hospital door: a victim alive, a shooter dead, and no public explanation. The paper's refusal to let Holt speak—or to explain White's death—leaves the case as a fragment, the kind of violence archives preserve without ever closing.
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