The Great Wheat Heist
Spokane elevator manager S.F. Sherman and aide E.C. Loveridge were arrested for stealing 27,290 bushels of wheat.
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.
Spokane, Aug 13 — The grain shortage case has taken a new turn. Manager S.F. Sherman of the associated elevators and E.C. Loveridge, his assistant, were arrested last night, charged with grand larceny. It was nearly noon when the case of Stephen Sherman was reached in the police court, on a charge of grand larceny in the first degree in having stolen and converted to his own use 27,290 bushels of wheat, valued at $19,000, from the Lake Shore Elevating Company. He pleaded not guilty and waived examination. From official sources, it was learned that the total shortage at the different elevators amounts to 807,380 bushels. The value of the elevator stock recovered is $20,000, so that the loss to be met by the elevator owners is $175,000.
“He was then arraigned on the charge of having sold and delivered to unknown parties 2,270 bushels of wheat, for which warehouse receipts had been issued.”
Agricultural embezzlement was a frequent scandal in the territory's early economic history, as grain elevators functioned as the 'banks' of the inland empire. This case highlights the volatility and lack of oversight in the regional commodity markets that powered Washington's growth.
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