The Flour-Trail Burglar of Montesano
A clumsy thief’s attempt to pilfer supplies ended in a very literal trail of evidence.
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.
Undbeck broke into the store of L. Price in Montesano last Saturday night and made away with a sack of flour, but in climbing through the broken window the sack was cut by the glass and the culprit was easily tracked home by the spilled flour on the sidewalk. At last accounts, the gentleman was taking up his abode at Hotel de Graham.
“The sack was cut by the glass and the culprit was easily tracked home by the spilled flour on the sidewalk.”
While modern forensics rely on DNA and high-definition surveillance, this 1894 incident highlights that even in a 'hard times' economy, a simple lapse in stealth can lead to immediate local infamy. The 'Hotel de Graham' is a sardonic reference to the local jail, a naming convention that persists in police scanner culture today.
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