The Butter Bandits of West Street
A bold group of petty thieves used a sophisticated 'sampling' scheme to systematically loot Seattle merchants.
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.
J. Kelley, an old offender, was arrested yesterday afternoon for stealing a sixty-pound keg of butter from H. W. Baker & Co. on West Street. Three other hobos were connected with the steal, but they got away. Kelley is an old offender and has served terms for similar offenses on the chain-gang. West Street and Railroad Avenue seem to be a favorite camping ground for roughs and thieves. The petty larceny acts are very bold and at times police officers are not able to cope with their shrewdness. The Baker Company has now lost four kegs of butter by thieves. The hobos will go to the commission houses, get samples of the butter and then go to some retail place and ask what they can get for a quantity of the article. If the price suits them, they go back and with the assistance of confederates carry the butter off. If they meet an officer, they take pains to stop him and ask concerning a certain steamer and the time she leaves. The officer is thus thrown off his guard and he allows the thief to pass without suspecting him.
“The hobos will go to the commission houses, get samples of the butter and then go to some retail place and ask what they can get for a quantity of the article.”
This 1891 account of organized 'loss' targeting West Street commission houses mirrors the modern retail theft challenges in the same historic Pioneer Square/Waterfront corridor, though the 'sampling' technique described reflects the specific logistics of turn-of-the-century bulk commodities trade.
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