The Disappearing Lay Reader of Tacoma
A Minnesota man and church treasurer leaves his bride and his creditors behind in a cloud of financial scandal.
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.
Howard Cameron, a Minnesota man who brought his bride, Miss Schumacher of St. Paul, to Tacoma a little over a year ago, has left the city. Dr. Henry C. Bostwick, to whom he owed $100 for rent, says he has skipped town. Cameron was an expert accountant and taught classes in bookkeeping and shorthand. He was a lay reader in Trinity Episcopal church and was studying for the ministry under Rev. Dean Richmond Babbitt, the rector of the parish. He was also the treasurer of church funds, and an inquiry was made yesterday regarding the whereabouts of the funds. It is claimed Cameron recently collected about $700. During a meeting of parishioners, it was stated that funds were needed, and $350 was raised in donations. The finance committee insists Cameron settled before leaving. Cameron's wife had returned to St. Paul to live with her parents over a month ago. Mrs. Bostwick, at whose hotel the couple stayed, remarked, 'The story that Mr. Cameron beat or ill-treated his wife is untrue. He was kind to her, but he was in desperate states. Until the Merchants' National Bank closed, he was doing fairly well, but lost all he had and it seemed to worry him very much. He left his wife shortly before their baby came, and that was the only thing he did for which he ought to be horsewhipped.'
“He was in desperate straits... sometimes he acted wild, and I do not think he knew what he was doing.”
Financial ruin often led to sudden 'disappearances' in the 1890s, much like the modern-day phenomenon of individuals disappearing under the weight of crushing personal debt in a high-cost city.
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