The Water Works Cash Scandal
A former water superintendent admits to using bill funds to cover mysterious cash shortages, triggering an explosive office row.
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.
A short time before W. E. Wilson ceased to be superintendent of the water works, he declined to approve the account of P. Coggins because he had charged too high a price. Wilson enlivened the meeting by his presence and succeeded in evoking from Commissioner Van Brocklin some very lurid flashes of forked profanity. Wilson explained that on two occasions the cashier was short. 'I took $10 out of it and made up the shortage by putting it in the cash drawer,' he stated. He added, 'I do not accuse any man, but I have kept a watch, and I have an idea where the money went.' After a sharp rattle of expletive artillery, Van Brocklin roared that the suggestion he had tried to color the books was an 'infernal lie.'
“After a sharp rattle of expletive artillery, Van Brocklin roared that the suggestion he had tried to color the books was an 'infernal lie.'”
Bureaucratic corruption and the 'covering' of petty cash shortages feel strikingly modern. It captures the chaotic, informal nature of early Seattle city governance before professional standards took full hold.
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