The Piano Tuner and the Three-Week Manhunt
A well-dressed man accused of indecent conduct near Seattle schools is arrested at Front and Battery after a detective finds a telltale satchel.
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.
After a hunt of about three weeks, marked by many disappointments, Detective Sam Corbett, with the assistance of Officer Milliken, has landed in jail a man who is alleged to have caused consternation in many homes in this city. Reports have been received at police headquarters time and time again that a well-dressed, apparently respectable man had acted indecently before children in the vicinity of the Denny, Pacific, Mercer and other schools.
Detective Corbett was detailed on the case and got track of a man he thought to be the same one in a jewelry store, where he shocked the modesty of several women. Finally an exact description of the man was obtained from a little girl. It resulted in the arrest of George Bailey, a piano tuner who lives in South Seattle. Two young girls positively identified Bailey yesterday afternoon and in addition Detective Corbett found a satchel in his house which corresponds exactly to the one he was always reported as carrying. Bailey, when arrested at the corner of Front and Battery streets, gave his name as Frasier but later gave his true name. He has a wife who called at the city jail yesterday afternoon to see him.
“After a hunt of about three weeks, marked by many disappointments, Detective Sam Corbett, with the assistance of Officer Milliken, has landed in jail a man who is alleged to have caused consternation in many homes in this city.”
The case shows how much crime news once depended on schoolyard witnesses and shoe-leather detective work—and how quickly a suspect’s name and family could be dragged into print. Modern Seattle still wrestles with how to report accusations against people who have not been tried, especially when children are involved.
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