Hanford Postmaster Fired After Audit Reveals Shortage
A postal inspection in Hanford leads to the sudden removal of M. W. Gross and the appointment of a successor.
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 Postoffice Inspector T. G. Rowan checked the Hanford office the first of the week, he found that the postmaster, M. W. Gross, was more than $1,164 short in his accounts. Inspector Rowan had Mr. Gross’s commission cancelled and secured the appointment of T. E. Kamerer as postmaster by telegraph with the Post Office Department at Washington, D. C. Mr. Kamerer took charge of the office on Friday. Mr. Gross’s father in Walla Walla has already made good the shortage. Inspector Rowan said that he would report the case to District Attorney F. R. Jeffrey to take such action as he sees fit.
“Inspector Rowan had Mr. Gross’s commission cancelled and secured the appointment of T. E. Kamerer as postmaster by telegraph.”
This incident highlights the gravity of public trust in small-town institutions, a reality that persists in the administration of rural infrastructure. The Hanford site later underwent a radical, permanent transformation during the Manhattan Project, effectively erasing the physical landscape where this audit occurred.
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