A Sloop, a Mill Heist, and a Dump in the Bay
Eugene Kelly and Charles Amos were convicted in minutes after stolen iron and machinery from Vashon Island was traced to Seattle's waterfront and pulled from the bay.
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.
Eugene Kelly and Charles Amos were convicted in the superior court yesterday before Judge Humes of grand larceny. They stole a quantity of iron and machinery from H. N. Webber's mill at Vashon Island and brought it to this city in a sloop. Officer Beidus and Officer Pierce got track of the sloop and arrested Amos. In the meantime Kelly had the goods taken to North Seattle and dumped into the bay, where they were found through information given by Charles and William Watson, who had been asked to sell the goods to a second-hand dealer.
During the trial yesterday Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Haas introduced Josie Harbor, a sister of the Watson boys, with the intention of showing that an effort had been made to persuade her brothers to leave the city before the trial came up. The defense objected and was sustained. The jury came to an agreement in less than fifteen minutes. Kelly is supposed to be almost as great a smuggler as the notorious Larry Kelly.
“Kelly is supposed to be almost as great a smuggler as the notorious Larry Kelly.”
Scrap-metal theft and waterfront fencing are old Seattle stories; the case shows how quickly stolen goods moved between island mills and city dealers in the 1890s—and how informants closed the loop.
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