The Final Preparation at the Grand Pacific Hotel
A Kentucky native obsessed with order cleanses himself and meticulously arranges his affairs before ending his life.
C. T. Moore, 48 years old, a native of Green County, Kentucky, was found dead in his room at the Grand Pacific Hotel this morning. A bottle partially filled with morphine on the bureau, along with several letters, indicated that Moore had taken his own life. Moore had washed himself thoroughly, using carbolic acid to ensure cleanliness, then robed himself in a clean nightgown and laid himself on the bed to die. He had gone to work deliberately. All his clothes were arranged in perfect order, and letters were left for his brother, his former landlady, and the hotel manager. To the manager, he simply wrote: 'Deliver these letters and oblige.' He had previously lodged at the Yarington House and reportedly moved to the Grand Pacific specifically to avoid dying in his landlady's house. Moore had been working as an agent for a Chicago clothing house and a shirt company. His brother from Carbonado arrived to take charge of the remains, noting that a letter he had mailed to Moore suggesting a change of scenery arrived too late.
“He had washed himself all over, using carbolic acid to add to the purity of the bath. Then he robed himself in a clean night gown and laid himself on the bed and died.”
The Grand Pacific Hotel and the meticulous, private struggles of its guests have long since vanished from Tacoma's skyline. This account captures a specific era's anxiety regarding the 'improvident man'—a recurring theme in the 1890s as the economic depression deepened and personal failures were often met with both pity and harsh judgment.
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