A Woman's Defiance on Third Street
After being accosted by a stranger, a Seattle woman fought back and demanded his arrest.
Mrs. Ernest C. Boyles, of 304 South Tenth street, was a very indignant woman when she walked into the police station last night about 9:40 o'clock and demanded the arrest of E. H. Facey, a pressman, for assault and battery. She said she was walking down Third street, near Cherry, on the way to meet her husband, who is employed by the Seattle Transfer Company, on night work, when a man who is a total stranger, grabbed her by the arm. She drew away, when he grabbed her by both arms, telling her to have a little sense. Then she spat in his face and he slapped her. She returned the slap and then went to the police station for an officer. Capt. Hogle accompanied the woman and arrested E. H. Facey, who was slightly under the influence of liquor.
“Then she spat in his face and he slapped her. She returned the slap and then went to the police station for an officer.”
This incident highlights the persistent danger women faced while navigating public spaces alone at night in late 19th-century Seattle, and the agency Mrs. Boyles exercised in seeking justice despite the social norms of the time.
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