The Tacoma Water Swindle Turns Ugly
A forged document leads to a heated confrontation between city officials and powerful local interests.
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.
Tacoma, Nov. 10.—Forgery and threats to eject a member of the city sinking fund commission from the office of C. R. Wright's are the latest sensations in the water works swindle. The sinking fund commission submitted its ultimatum to Mr. Wright's agent, Isaac W. Anderson. Subsequently, this proposition was changed by an alleged forged alteration. When the commission discovered the forgery, Mayor Huson, Controller Slaughter, and President Lee of the city council decided to repudiate it. There was a storm when Anderson learned what had been done. It is intimated that the forgery was made in the interest of Wright. President Lee got into a row with Anderson at the latter's office. Anderson's friends claim Lee was kicked out, while Lee's backers admit only that Anderson blocked the door and told him he could never leave with a copy of the forged document. Lee then tore the agreement into shreds before leaving.
“Anderson's friends claim that Lee was kicked out, while Lee's backers admit only that Anderson got between him and the door and coolly told him he could never get out with a copy of the forged document.”
Public utility privatization and the cronyism that often accompanied it were central points of civic tension in the 1890s. The struggle over who controls municipal assets—whether for public service or private profit—remains a core issue in modern Seattle politics.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.