The Cross-Border Jewelry Heist
A Canadian merchant travels to Seattle to reclaim stolen goods from two men arrested in a bold jewelry store robbery.
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.
Chief of Police Stewart and W. H. Currie, of Vancouver, British Columbia, arrived here yesterday and identified George Atkins and Howard McMillan, who were arrested Thursday night with about $500 worth of jewelry stolen from Currie’s jewelry store on the night of April 27, in their possession. They examined the jewelry found on the men, and Mr. Currie identified every piece as his own property, part of the $800 stolen from him. They failed to bring extradition papers from the British Columbian government and will have to obtain them before they can apply to the United States president for permission to take the men back to British Columbia for trial. It will take at least two weeks and probably more for the necessary papers to be obtained, and it is thought that an attempt will be made to release the boys on a writ of habeas corpus in the meantime. No complaint has yet been filed against them in the courts here; but charges of bringing stolen goods into the territory will be made today to hold them while extradition papers are being prepared. They can also be held for as they paid no duty on the diamonds.
“It will take at least two weeks and probably more for the necessary papers to be obtained, and it is thought that an attempt will be made to release the boys on a writ of habeas corpus in the meantime.”
This 1889 report illustrates the long history of cross-border jurisdictional friction between Seattle and Vancouver. While extradition logistics have modernized, the challenge of managing multi-state or international legal disputes regarding stolen property remains a constant in Pacific Northwest civic administration.
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