The Scandal of the Police Commissioner and the Hotel Room
A sensational trial unfolds in Judge Humes' court where a husband and wife face blackmail charges against a Seattle Police Commissioner.
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.
The trial of Joe Young and his wife, the alleged blackmailers, on the charge of assault with intent to rob Police Commissioner W. S. Relfe occupied the whole of yesterday in Judge Humes' court. The woman appeared in court well dressed and attracted the gaze of the spectators. Young, speaking with a strong French accent, testified: 'On June 24 I went up to room 17 of the Russell House. I found my wife and Mr. Relfe in bed. Relfe said, "My name is not Jones; my name is so-and-so. If you will not get an officer I will give you a thousand dollar check." He was nearly naked.' Young claimed Relfe later offered to put him on the police force and pay them to keep quiet about the affair. Mrs. Young testified that Relfe had invited her to his office and later to the hotel, and that he had physically held her down during the incident. During the testimony, Mrs. Young famously challenged Mayor Ronald, who was called to the stand, asking: 'How can you, the mayor of the city, tell such a string of lies?'
“How can you, the mayor of the city, tell such a string of lies?”
This 1891 courtroom drama offers a glimpse into the murky intersection of municipal power and private vice in early Seattle. It highlights a period where 'police commissioners' were essentially political appointees often involved in the same illicit networks they were tasked with policing, a recurring tension in the city's civic history.
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