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Established in May of 1889, the San Mateo Leader newspaper reported on worldwide news and local happenings until December of 1918. A weekly newspaper, it would occasionally report on crime news from various locations around the county.
A sample of items from 1906 gives a hint of the reportable criminal occurrences in our county.
One item from October described the problem of juvenile crimes:
“The practice of a number of small boys of this city in the use of small-caliber rifles almost resulted last week in the serious injury of Mrs. Walter Hobart and children. It appears of late El Cerrito Park has been fairly overrun with the 22-caliber rifle… One afternoon last week Mrs. Hobart and her children were enjoying a walk about the park when a bullet from one of the rifles whistled within a few inches of her head… The aid of the law will be invoked.”
Three articles from August highlighted crimes with a varying degree of seriousness.
Following an arson event of a “bungalow” near the Burlingame train station, the following week a similar attempt in the same general location seemed to indicate the presence of a serial arsonist:
“An attempt was made by some persons, who it is thought will soon be apprehended, to destroy the Burlingame Cafe building at the Burlingame station Sunday morning… A resident…noticed the blaze in the rear of the structure and…found a large quantity of sacks and papers, saturated with oil, burning fiercely…”
That same month an exclusive boys school witnessed a violent crime:
“…a waiter employed at St. Matthew’s School ran amok last Friday and as a result, he languished in the county jail (in Redwood City) with a charge of assault with a deadly weapon against his name.” The man wanted his wages immediately so he could leave his employment. His direct supervisor tried to convince him to stay until a replacement could be hired. At this point, the waiter beat the supervisor around the head with a frying pan and then slashed another employee with a kitchen knife. He then ran all the way to Burlingame before he was apprehended and there was a subsequent hearing at the Redwood City courthouse.
Not all criminal activity was quite so dramatic. A news item reported in the August 15th edition of the newspaper told of a crime that was much lighter:
“While returning to her home in the Heights Sunday night an elderly lady was badly injured by being collided with by a lady cyclist who was indulging in the (illegal) renegade practice of riding her bicycle on the sidewalk…” The Leader reported that the names of both women were provided to the newspaper but they decided not to print that information to avoid embarrassment to the principals involved.
Microfilm editions of the San Mateo Leader are available, along with many other historical treasures, in the Archives Reading Room of the San Mateo County History Museum.
