The Candy That Killed: A Postal Clerk’s Tragic Mistake in Seattle
In May 1904, Assistant Postmaster W. H. Metralfe died after eating candy given to him by a stranger at the Seattle station, sparking an investigation into motive and madness.
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.
ANOTHER CANDY POISONING CASE
CHESTER, B. D., May 27.—While H. Metralfe, assistant postmaster at the Bureau station in this city, was sitting alone in his office yesterday morning, Frank Calkins, a farmer, came to the counter and said that he had a message to send.
Metralfe offered to take the message and stood behind the counter waiting for him to produce it. Calkins reached into his pockets and brought out several pieces of candy.
"Take a few two-penny bits while you are working," remarked Calkins, he threw a handful on the counter.
Metralfe served several pieces and Calkins promptly departed, remarking that he could not find the message and must have left it up town.
Metralfe soon took violently ill with cramp-like pains and an examination showed that he had been poisoned. Calkins was arrested and placed in jail here, and will have his preliminary hearing here tomorrow. It is believed that he is insane as the two men were only slightly acquainted and no motive can be assigned for committing the crime. His victim is in a critical condition.
This bizarre 1904 incident highlights how public service roles like postal work were often solitary, low-security jobs where clerks interacted directly with the public without modern safeguards. Today, such an event would trigger immediate federal investigations by the USPS Inspector General and the FBI, whereas then it was a local police matter quickly dismissed as 'insanity.' It serves as a grim reminder of the vulnerability of early 20th-century civil servants.
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