The Miser of Komo
A local man who distrusted banks is robbed of his hidden savings, highlighting the precarious nature of wealth in a frontier town.
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 bold robbery took place here Tuesday. Weasel Mumm, a miserly German, was robbed of $121 in gold and Jurgen Sierk, another German, was arrested for the crime. Mumm is an old bachelor and is reputed to be quite wealthy. He lives in a little cabin in the extreme western part of town, and invited Sierk home to dinner with him. The latter accepted, and after his departure Mumm counted his gold and found that $121, which he had hidden in his cabin, was gone. Mumm was one of the original owners of the townsite and is known to have large sums of money hidden as he has no faith in banks. A few years ago he was persuaded to place a part of his money in a bank. He selected the Spokane National, and a little later that bank failed and Mumm got 90 cents on the dollar. He had $2,500 in the bank, and the loss of $250 was a severe blow to him. He has since kept his money buried and hid in various places.
“He has no faith in banks.”
Distrust of banking institutions is a recurring theme during economic downturns. Mumm’s reliance on physical cash after a bank failure reflects the anxiety of the 1890s, much like modern fears surrounding financial stability.
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