The Mysterious Government Inspector
A Tacoma man claimed a high-level federal appointment in the Department of the Interior, shaking down friends for cash before federal officials exposed the scheme as a total fabrication.
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.
Mystery still surrounds the claims made by John C. Mcintosh to an appointment as timber inspector for a new district to be composed of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Alaska. Mcintosh's wife was announced as a relative of Mrs. Dan Lamont, and 'Mac' himself was talked about as one of Dan's old playmates back at Cortland, N. Y. Letters and telegrams alleged to have been sent from Washington City and Montana have been potent in fetching money out of the pockets of 'Mac's' friends here, who desired to be 'consulted' if he was to be at the head of the land department. The government has taken the matter up and it will appear in a few days just where 'Mac' and his following are at. Chief J. W. Holcombe, of the appointment division, wrote to the West Coast Lumberman: 'Your letter is respectfully returned with the information that John C. Mcintosh is not a special agent of the general land office and is not in any capacity an appointee of the secretary of the interior.' Mcintosh's rented rooms in the Chamber of Commerce building remain unoccupied.
“Letters purporting to have been written by Mr. Lamont... have been potent in fetching money out of the pockets of 'Mac's' friends here.”
This grift mirrors contemporary scams involving political access and 'exclusive' government favors. It highlights how, even in the 1890s, the prestige of proximity to power—or even the performance of it—was a lucrative, if dangerous, trade.
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