The Professor’s High-Rolling Farewell
A lodge trustee embezzles thousands and leaves the local treasury empty for a life of excess on Washington Street.
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.
Mystic Lodge, No. 51, I.O.O.F., was informed at a special meeting last night that Prof. Thomas H. Dinning, chairman of the board of trustees, had absconded with the funds of the lodge, and that the treasury was depleted save for the $100 reserve. Figures place the loss between $1,500 and $1,800. Dinning, who had absolute control over lodge investments, did not buy the interest-bearing warrants he reported; instead, he was having gay times on Washington Street. He made no secret of his high-rolling propensities, and not long ago remarked that he had a fine time making the wine disappear at the house of ill-fame known as The Club.
“Dinning took care of the money in the most improved manner, and instead of buying interest-bearing warrants, as he reported, was having gay times on Washington Street.”
Embezzlement cases involving trusted local officials remain a staple of civic scandal. Washington Street, once the heart of the city's red-light district, has evolved drastically since the days when 'The Club' was a known landmark for illicit nightlife.
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