The '$11,000 Gold' Sack That Held Only Tire Chains
A suffrage lobbyist carried a bank sack labeled with a fortune through Spokane and Olympia, letting fellow passengers believe she was transporting the campaign fund. It was full of automobile chains.
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.
OLYMPIA, Feb. 2. — Carrying a canvas sack which clinked and jingled, upon which was printed in red letters “$11,000 Gold,” Mrs. La Reine Baker rejoined the woman suffrage lobby in Olympia today. On the train from Spokane passengers gazed at the mysterious sack and whispered busily. If Mrs. Baker was conscious of the attention which the clinking caused, she gave no evidence of it, and was greatly amused at the exhibition of curiosity. When Mrs. Baker returned home last week, Mrs. May Arkwright Hutton, whose automobile has been in constant use by the suffragists, sent a telegram which read as follows:
“Mrs. Baker—Streets are muddy here and we need chains for automobile tires. Chains are in garage in box just beside the door as you enter. Fetch them when you come.”
Mrs. Baker did as requested, and the most available receptacle for the chains was the coin sack which she obtained from a Spokane bank.
When the chains were stowed away in the canvas bag they jingled like $11,000 in gold, and because Mrs. Baker did not choose to take her fellow passengers into her confidence, they were much mystified.
“She’s taking the woman suffrage campaign fund to Olympia,” said one knowing passenger loud enough to be heard all over the car.
“I wonder why she is so careless of the money,” observed another. “She went into the dining car an hour ago and left it lying in her seat. When she came back she put it under the seat and it clinked something marvelously. I suppose there must be a guard on the train somewhere to see that it is not stolen.”
When Mrs. Baker arrived in Olympia the woman suffrage lobby met her at the station with the automobile.
“Did you bring the wheel chains?” asked Mrs. Hutton.
“Yes, here they are,” replied Mrs. Baker.
“Oh, shucks!” exclaimed the mystified passengers, who had been watching the sack.
““She’s taking the woman suffrage campaign fund to Olympia,” said one knowing passenger loud enough to be heard all over the car.”
Washington women were still a year from winning the vote when this stunt played out in Olympia; the sack gag made campaign finance and lobbying visible in a way that still feels familiar. Today the state’s suffrage history is often reduced to a single amendment, but it was built by networks of women like May Arkwright Hutton who moved money, messages and machines across the state.
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