The Bustle Bandit of Front Street
A routine shopping trip in Seattle took a chaotic turn when a startled store rat sought refuge in the most unlikely place imaginable.
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.
A party of ladies were in a Front street store Monday when a rat darted out from behind the counter and scurried about among them, creating no little alarm and excitement. The animal suddenly disappeared and the event was forgotten for a time. The ladies were about the city for two hours or more and then returned to their homes. One of the party, a young lady whose home is on North Front street, complained of fatigue on reaching her room, and in the presence of two of her lady friends, who had been with her during the afternoon, proceeded to change her street costume for a house dress. The operation, however, had scarcely begun when there was a reproduction of the scene in the store down town, for snugly ensconced in the young lady's wire dress form—that is to say, bustle—was the missing rodent. The rat was caught in his narrow quarters and turned over to the dog, who dispatched him speedily. The story is almost incredible, but the Post-Intelligencer reporter was told of the occurrence by a gentleman whose veracity is above question.
“The operation, however, had scarcely begun when there was a reproduction of the scene in the store down town, for snugly ensconced in the young lady's wire dress form—that is to say, bustle—was the missing rodent.”
While fashion trends like the Victorian bustle have long since vanished from the streets of Seattle, the city's ongoing struggle with rodent populations remains a persistent, albeit less scandalous, urban reality. The story offers a whimsical, if startling, look at how the intimate architecture of 19th-century clothing occasionally intersected with the gritty environment of a developing pioneer city.
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