The Knife in the Overcoat: A Seattle Street Fight

Two footpads who attempted to hold up a Seattle business man last night between 7 and 8 o'clock almost came to grief. The man was walking along West Street, and at the corner of Battery, two men approached him—one in front and the other from behind—and ordered him to throw up his hands. He had his hand on a dirk knife in his overcoat pocket, and as he threw up his hands, he jerked the knife open and made a slash at the man in front of him who had already fastened onto his watch chain. He struck the assailant across the breast with the knife, cutting his coat clear across. The robber screamed, 'Oh! God! he has a knife,' dropped the watch which he had pulled out of his pocket, and the two ran away, pursued by the man they supposed a few seconds before to be at their mercy. He did not catch them, however. The case was reported to an officer, and he started out in search of the man with a cut in his coat. About 10 or 11 o'clock, two men—one of whom had a cut across the breast of his coat—entered a saloon across from the Bellevue House and started to play cards. They soon got into a row and left just a few minutes before the captain of the merchants' patrol came in. Those who saw them can identify them, and it is probable that they will not escape.