The Clumsy Forgery of a Political Appointment
Dr. Alfred N. Marion was amused to receive a fake appointment letter as deputy collector of customs, a prank aimed at Seattle's political circles.
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.
Some of the Democratic office seekers are so desperate in their efforts to secure the appointment of deputy collector at this port that they have taken to cooking appointments for those who they think is hostile to them. Last night Dr. A. N. Marion received a letter purporting to appoint him to the office, which at examination proves to be a clumsy forgery. The letter was on one of the blanks of the office, headed 'Office of the Collector of Customs, Port Townsend' and read: 'Dr. Alfred N. Marion, Seattle, Wash. Dear Sir: I herewith appoint you deputy collector for the port of Seattle and desire you to take possession at once. Confer with me immediately upon your assuming the office. Yours truly, J. C. Saunders, per P.' The letter was enclosed in an ordinary white envelope without the card of the office on the corner. On it were a special delivery stamp and an ordinary two-cent stamp, which would not be necessary on an official letter. The postmark conclusively proved the letter never left Seattle. The signature was also a poor imitation of Saunders' own hand. Dr. Marion was at first deceived, but readily saw the matter in its true light when his attention was called to it by a Post-Intelligencer reporter, and laughed heartily over it as a joke.
“Dr. Marion was at first deceived, but readily saw the matter in its true light when his attention was called to it by a Post-Intelligencer reporter, and laughed heartily over it as a joke.”
Political theater and patronage appointments were the lifeblood of 1890s Seattle civic life. While the 'deputy collector' position is no longer a political prize, the local tradition of bureaucratic pranks and anonymous leaks remains a staple of the city's political culture.
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