An Empty Cage: Sheriff McGraw’s ‘Ghost’ Jail
In a turn of fortune for the Seattle jail, the cells have emptied out, leaving the Sheriff with little to do but manage a single remaining debtor.
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.
‘Early in the cage, the birds have flown,’ said Sheriff McGraw yesterday to a Post-Intelligencer reporter. On further inquiry it was learned that there had not been a jail delivery, but that one by one the prisoners confined in the county jail had served out their sentences and departed. The only occupant of the jail now is a poor fellow held on a civil action for debt, but it is understood he will be released in a day or so, when the Sheriff’s occupation, so far as the care and custody of prisoners is concerned, will be gone for the time being at least.
“The only occupant of the jail now is a poor fellow held on a civil action for debt, but it is understood he will be released in a day or so.”
In 1884, Seattle’s jail population was small enough to be emptied by the simple passage of time. Today, the struggle to manage jail populations remains, though it is now centered on overcrowding and the chronic cycle of homelessness and incarceration, highlighting how far the city has moved from the modest scale of the late 19th century.
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