The Desperate Act of a Woman on Second Street
A mid-afternoon suicide attempt in a Seattle boarding house highlights the quiet, desperate struggles of a woman living on the margins.
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.
Mrs. Latham, a strong, healthy-looking woman about fifty years of age, with short grayish hair, residing on South Second street, caused quite a sensation in the neighborhood by taking an overdose of paregoric with suicidal intent. As soon as it was learned she had taken the drug, Dr. Smith was sent for, but before he arrived, Mr. Kellogg, the druggist, had administered an emetic. When the reporters entered the room, the woman lay across the bed, on the outside of the covering, with her clothes on, and was fast asleep. She was attended by her son, aged about 14 years, who, in answer to inquiries regarding his mother, said: 'I just returned from a trip to British Columbia. During the afternoon I called on my mother and found her despondent, and she told me she was tired of life, and thought she would take something to put her out of the way. I did not like to hear her talk like that, because it discourages me, and I tried to cheer her up, but I failed. I went away, and when I came back some time later, found she had taken something which put her to sleep. I sent for the doctor and I hope she will be all right.' An examination showed that she had purchased two ounces of paregoric and had drunk over half of it. She was suffering no pain, and when the reporter left, the doctor stated that she was out of danger and would probably wake up all right in the morning.
“I just returned from a trip to British Columbia. During the afternoon I called on my mother and found her despondent, and she told me she was tired of life.”
This 1885 report on the desperation of a woman living in a boarding house mirrors the modern crisis of housing and mental health in downtown Seattle, where precarious living conditions and isolation continue to push vulnerable residents to the brink.
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