Violent Saloon Brawl on Jackson Street
A physical altercation in a Rainier saloon leaves one man dangerously wounded after being struck with a heavy poker.
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.
Harry Brooks struck Mike Costello on the head with a heavy poker early this morning in the Rainier saloon on Jackson street, knocking him clear through a window and inflicting a dangerous wound. Officer Hubbard placed Brooks under arrest and took him to the police station, while another officer took Costello to a doctor for treatment. Costello drives an express wagon, and he and Brooks became engaged in a row in the saloon. Brooks claims that Costello had been imposing on him in order to work up a fight. Costello rooms in room 3, Everett house, on Fourth street, near Yesler avenue.
“Harry Brooks struck Mike Costello on the head with a heavy poker... knocking him clear through a window.”
This incident occurred in the heart of what was then Seattle’s bustling downtown core, near the present-day Pioneer Square. Conflicts in saloons were a common fixture of late 19th-century urban life, reflecting the often volatile intersection of labor, social atmosphere, and the unregulated environment of early Seattle.
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