Counterfeit Case Ends in Ink-Stained Chaos
A woman facing counterfeit charges turns a Tacoma courtroom into a battlefield, pelting the Secret Service chief with office supplies.
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.
T. B. Foster, chief of the secret service in this district, was put to flight by a woman yesterday at the office of United States Commissioner McMillin. Lottie Jeffries and Earl Jeffries were arraigned for a hearing on a charge of passing counterfeit money. When the case was over, the woman, Lottie Jeffries, was angered at Foster's role in the investigation. As she and her companion were being led away, she grabbed everything in reach and unleashed a fusilade of paste pots, ink wells, and paperweights at Foster. The Secret Service chief beat a hasty retreat to the back office, while the stenographer hid under a desk to avoid flying glass and ink. Deputy Marshal Statter eventually secured the prisoner, but not before she managed to leave Foster covered in paste and ink.
“There was a fusilade of paste pots, ink wells, paper weights and other office paraphernalia around the head of Foster.”
Courtroom disruptions are rare, but this vivid scene captures the desperation and friction of a federal crackdown in early 20th-century Tacoma. It serves as a reminder of the raw human cost—and volatile reactions—behind routine financial crimes.
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