The Times Takes on a Traveling Carnival
When a traveling Mardi Gras show arrived in Tacoma with false promises, the local newspaper launched a crusade to protect the public’s wallet.
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.
When the fake Mardi Gras first came to Tacoma, The Times alone, of the daily newspapers of the city, exposed the false pretenses of the aggregation. It roasted the money-grabbers to a brown turn. Other papers praised the show, claiming that it was one of the best things that had ever struck the town. They were willing that the people should be separated from their money, for they had been paid in advance for advertising. But The Times knew what it should do, and it did it. Having found out from Seattle sources what kind of an outfit the Mardi Gras was, after unwittingly printing one advertisement for it, this paper refused to take any more of its ads and resolutely set to work to let the public know the truth. The first night's attendance, before The Times appeared with its expose, was over 5,000. The receipts were encouraging to the management. The next night, after the people had found out through The Times just what sort of an atrocious scheme was being operated, they gave it the cold shoulder and the attendance fell to less than 1,000. On the following day the management abandoned the afternoon performance because there were not enough people on the grounds to make it worth while. And all this time other dailies of Tacoma were telling the people what a great good thing the Mardi Gras was for them! It came to an ignominious end. The venture ended in deserved disaster. Instead of getting out of town with a fat wad of money, the Mardi Gras people confessed to a loss of over $2,000.
“It is well for the public to recollect. The Times is the only daily in Tacoma that dares to print THE NEWS.”
This reflects an early 20th-century media landscape where papers were often bought-and-paid-for shills for local attractions, contrasted against 'The Times' framing itself as the sole guardian of the public interest. It mirrors modern debates about media accountability and the dangers of sponsored content masquerading as legitimate reporting.
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