The Deadly Dispute at the Arcade
A long-standing property feud between members of the Dashaway Association erupts into a shooting in the heart of Seattle’s business district.
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.
A shooting occurred this afternoon at the Arcade, in which a Mr. Ashton, a writer, boarded one of the stalls and, as an assistant to him came to open the door, he found his own associate, Mr. Evan, waiting with a revolver. Mr. Evan fired, hitting Ashton in the breast and killing him instantly. Evan then shot himself in the head. Both men were taken to a nearby office where the police officers took charge. The condition of the latter's wounds has not yet been ascertained. Evan is completely unconscious. This grew out of what is known as the Dashaway controversy. A number of the members of the Dashaway Association, about a year ago, sold the property belonging to that institution and divided the proceeds among themselves. Ashton, a member, opposed this proceeding, claiming that the property was held by the association only as a public trust. He had brought several suits for an injunction against the other members, not each time was successful. His continued opposition enraged Evan, who participated in the division of the Dashaway property. In an interview, Evan said, 'I could not stand it any longer. I had to shoot him.'
“I could not stand it any longer. I had to shoot him.”
This 1885 dispute over whether property should be treated as a private windfall or a community trust echoes contemporary battles in Seattle over housing affordability and development. Just as the Dashaway Association members clashed over the commodification of their assets, modern Seattleites continue to fight over the loss of collective stability to private gain.
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