A Cowardly Assault on Third Street
When a sick man defended his son from a neighbor's violence, the local justice system failed to provide justice.
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.
One of the most cowardly and unprovoked assaults that it has been our duty to chronicle since the foul murder of George B. Reynolds took place yesterday. There resides on Third Street a quiet, peaceable citizen by the name of Henry C. Haddocks, who is respected by his neighbors and recognized as a kind-hearted, upright man by all who know him. About 18 months ago he was stricken with inflammatory rheumatism, since which time he has been an invalid and unable to work. Mrs. Haddocks, his wife, a noble woman, has supported the family with her needle during the long illness of her husband like a true-hearted, Christian woman.
There also lives in Seattle another person, unworthy the name of man, who styles himself A. Thorndike. Yesterday afternoon, for some trivial or supposed offense, this Thorndike started after Mr. Haddocks's son. The boy in fear ran for his home, but failing to open the back gate in time, his pursuer pounced upon him and commenced to choke the child. The boy's father, who was on the porch, saw the affair, and as any true father would, he said to Thorndike: 'Let go of my boy; if he has done wrong I will punish him.' Possessing none of the instincts of a gentleman, the brute replied to the sick man: 'You go to hell, I'll choke the life out of him, and you, too, if you want some of it.' Failing to let the boy go, the father went to his relief, when he was brutally assaulted by Thorndike and knocked down. After the poor sick man had fallen his length on the ground from the blow received in the face, the human fiend attempted to pounce upon him and beat him, but was prevented by a passer-by. Thorndike, fearing arrest, hastened down to Justice Cann's office and told a garbled and improbable story, pleading guilty to an assault. That Justice, without hearing any testimony, let the fellow off on the payment of five dollars and costs. Considerable indignation is expressed over this matter by the better class of our citizens.
“Possessing none of the instincts of a gentleman, the brute replied to the sick man: 'You go to hell, I'll choke the life out of him, and you, too, if you want some of it.'”
This 1882 report reflects a recurring frustration with the perceived leniency of local courts, a sentiment that persists in contemporary debates about justice and accountability in Seattle. The description of the 'sick man' being victimized highlights the vulnerability of residents facing both chronic illness and the volatility of neighbors in a rapidly growing city.
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