The Con Man Who Taught the City a Lesson
A prolific swindler who posed as a businessman and senator-associate leaves a trail of bounced checks and broken promises across Seattle, Tacoma, and Fairhaven.
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.
E. M. Williams was arrested at Fairhaven on Monday night by Detective Cave, acting as a deputy sheriff, and brought to this city on a warrant based on a complaint sworn to by Frank J. Wilder, the ticket broker. Williams had been guilty of a number of fraudulent transactions and was 'wanted' here badly. During the past three months, the banks of this city have returned to their correspondents a number of worthless drafts drawn by Williams. He came to this city about four years ago and after working a short time as a reporter, went into the business of shipping salmon on ice to Chicago. Williams was in the swim now as a full-fledged confidence man, representing that he was the canning business manager of the Northwestern Salmon Canning Company. He got as far as Chicago on worthless tickets before being caught. A few days ago he was living high among the senator-makers at the state capital. About a week ago he got to the end of his rope in Tacoma and attempted to pay his board there by giving a draft on himself. He was eventually bagged by the detective and brought to the city jail.
“Williams was in the swim now as a full-fledged confidence man, and his nerve was sustained by falsely representing that he was the canning business manager.”
Williams' path through Seattle's hospitality and business circles highlights the enduring vulnerability of a boomtown where reputation is often easily faked. His story of using 'worthless paper' to fuel his lifestyle echoes modern tales of identity theft and financial fraud that continue to plague fast-growing tech hubs.
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