Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1901-06-28
The Seattle Tragedy.


The police department troubles at
Seattle, eliminated, Tuesday, about
} o'clock 7. NJ, on the corner of Second
avenue and Iesler way, by a passage
at aims, in which W. l.. Meredith,
late Chief Of Police, was killed and
John w. Considine, variety theatcr
manager aud gambler, was injured.
The accounts OF the affair detailed
by Policeman Meilord and Sheriff Cud-
ihee. eye-witncsses Of the tragedy, are
the most in detail of half q dozen
narratives of the sad affair which APP
pear in the P.-I, and are as follows:
Metford says that Meredith appeared
suddenly and thrust the shotgun over
his right shoulder and fired point blank
at John Considine's face. The fact that
the bullets went wide OF their mark is
accounted for by the fact that the shot
gun was loosely wrapped in paper.
which, it is thought, prevented Mere
dith from taking good aim. No sooner,
Meiiurd SAYS, had the shot been fired
than John Considine wheeled and ran
through the screen doors into the drug
store followed closely by Meredith, who,
after he entered the store, aimed his gun
and discharged the second barrel at
Considine, who, by this time, had
reached the rear OF the storeroom
After Meredith had exhausted the
contents Of the shotgun he threw it to
the floor and drew a revolver. Then he
was seized by Tom Considine, who with
Meifor1, had followed the men into the
store. The former Melford and other
witnesses say, seized Meredith about the
waist, and John Considine also returned
to the spot and grappled with Meredith.
He, however, was dragged away and
held by Police Clerk Kennedy before
they had struggled long. Tom Considine
then wrenched the weapon from Mere
dith's hand. which was a 32-caliber
Colts revolver in As frame, and struck
Meredith over the head with it several
heavy blows.
At this point Sheriff Cudihee, who was
at the police station when the first shot
was fired by Meredith outside the store,
arrived. He Immediately seized Tom
Considine and threw him aside.
Sheriff Cudihee said:
arrived in the room while Mere
dith and Tom Considine were graphing.
Considine had Merediths revolver in
his hand and was striking him over the
head with it. ! seized Tom and threw
him TO one side. | saw some one, whom
l think was Detective Lane, holding
John a few feet from where Meredith
stood. Before l could move again John
Considine had freed himself from Lane
and opened fire on Meredith. He shot
three times in quick succession, After
the second shot was fred Meredith sank
to the floor. The men were a few feet
apart when Considine shot Meredith.
Considine ran to me, handed me his re-
volyyer. and placed him and his brother
under arrest"
John w. Considine was visited in
Jail the succeeding morning and said:
"My attorney wrote Meredith he must
retract the statements he had made
which reflected on my character, or /
would sue for libel. 1t was that letter
which made him attack me-"
1t seems to an .unprejudiced OBJ
server, and viewed from this distance,
that no matter what may be the
character OF the Considines or have
been the provocation offered by them,
that the murderous assault was begun
by Meredith and that they acted in
self-defense. 1t is apparent, however,
that some of the victims friends look |
at the matter quite differently, for on
the night of the tragedy there was
considerable talk of lynching the |
Considines, who seem equally impli- |
Gated in the killing, for the blows in
dicted by the one, surgeons say would
have resulted in death had the shots
not FASTENED that result. The BROTH
ers have retained James Hamilton |
Lewis for their defense