The Unraveling of J. B. Maling
A prominent local real estate dealer and former mayor finds himself on the run after allegedly bouncing checks and absconding with Fourth of July funds.
The Tacoma dispatch in Sunday's Post-Intelligencer will neither amuse nor surprise those who for some time have known that it was only a question of time when J. B. Maling, an extensive dealer in real estate, would be in the hands of justice or a fugitive. Maling is a man who combines ability with much weakness. He has been going headlong downhill until he seems to have taken the final plunge. According to the Wenatchee Graphic, Maling arrived in Wenatchee with a woman he introduced as his wife and a small girl. The article alleges that Maling's gambling proclivities and poor habits did not recommend him; that he issued numerous checks on banks where he had no money; that he helped collect Fourth of July funds and was $150 short in his accounts; and that he fled, securing in his haste a fresh team of horses at Stone's, midway between Wenatchee and Ellensburg, and tried to pay the driver with a bad check. A warrant for his arrest was issued.
“For some time he has been going headlong downhill until now he seems to have taken the final plunge.”
Public figures or local boosters falling from grace due to financial mismanagement is a recurring drama in small-town civic life. The skepticism of the press regarding Maling's sudden departure reflects the intense scrutiny placed on 'prominent' men in Aberdeen's early boom days.
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