Tragedy at the Star Clothing House
A lonely tradesman takes his own life in a downtown Seattle retail shop, leaving behind a note of despair and a request to reach out to his estranged wife.
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.
At the retail establishment of O. G. Hunt, situated in the upstairs of the building, lay the body of Mark B. Alberte, a tailor by trade, who took a large dose of strychnine with suicidal intent. His residence on Jefferson Street, where he had lived for about four weeks, was searched on Friday, after the unfortunate man failed to appear at his work. The investigators found him suffering great tortures. A physician was sent for, but before he arrived the poison had done its dreadful work, and the spirit of Mark B. Alberte had taken its flight. In the pocket of his coat was found a note addressed to his landlady, Mrs. Lane, stating that for four weeks he had been unemployed; he was a hard drinker, and was under the influence of whiskey when he committed his terrible deed of self-destruction. It is said he leaves a wife in Los Angeles, California.
“In the pocket of his coat was found a note addressed to his landlady... stating that for four weeks he had been unemployed.”
This story highlights the stark isolation and lack of social safety nets for laborers in 1880s Seattle—a sharp contrast to today's struggles with housing insecurity and mental health services in the same downtown corridor. The proximity of the tragedy to commercial storefronts mirrors how public spaces in Seattle continue to be the site where private personal crises play out.
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