The Electric Quack of the Arlington Hotel
An elderly traveler narrowly escapes a predatory ‘doctor’ who attempted to encase her in ‘electric’ metal shields under the guise of a miracle cure.
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.
On Thursday afternoon, before the steamer Olympia left for Tacoma, Mrs. Eddy and her daughter were accosted by a man and a woman. The woman, acting in a frantic manner, insisted Mrs. Eddy see Dr. Thatcher, promising he could cure her in 24 hours. The ‘doctor’ arrived, examined the elderly woman, and proceeded to ‘treat’ her by wrapping her in salt-soaked sheets and applying a heavy, cumbersome suit of metal plates. He placed a metal mask on her head and shields on her feet and limbs. Mrs. Eddy, suffering from the discomfort and weight of this ‘electric’ apparatus, eventually tore it off, which resulted in patches of her skin being ripped away. The next morning, Dr. Thatcher appeared and demanded payment for the ‘treatment’ and a small box of salve. When Mrs. Eddy refused, citing the harm he had caused, he turned violent and threatened her. They attempted to flee to Tacoma, but were met on the steamer by an officer serving a lawsuit initiated by the woman who had initially forced the doctor upon them. The case was scheduled for trial in Justice Boda’s court.
“The woman told me he would give me the most wonderful baths, and I had a natural curiosity to know what they were... he wrapped them around my limbs, leaving my feet unprotected and cold.”
Medical fraud and predatory wellness schemes have long plagued Seattle, often preying on the vulnerable and the elderly. This 1888 account of a ‘miracle’ electric cure highlights a persistent tension between legitimate medicine and the unregulated, often harmful, snake-oil industries that mirror modern digital-age supplement scams.
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