The Mystery of the Missing Check
A deep-seated accounting discrepancy involving former City Treasurer W. L. Ames leads to calls for a formal investigation and legal action.
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.
Comptroller Parry was asked yesterday if any steps had been taken to secure from Krug, Gallaher and Ames the interests apparently due the city. He replied that he had called the attention of the council to an apparent discrepancy in ex-Treasurer W. L. Ames' accounts. Upon retiring from office, Mr. Ames disputed the correctness of this account and deposited with Mr. Krug, under protest, his check to cover the same. Mr. Ames' check has been presented to the bank upon which it was drawn, but payment was refused, as there were no funds thereto meet it. The city council has immediately taken action by the adoption of a resolution directing the corporation counsel to commence action against any and all persons who are indebted to the city on account of any defalcations arising out of the unlawful use of the public funds.
“Mr. Ames' check has been presented to the bank upon which it was drawn, but payment was refused, as there were no funds thereto meet it.”
Public corruption and the mishandling of municipal coffers have been a persistent theme in Seattle's political history. This incident reflects the era of loose accountability that eventually pushed the city toward more rigid bureaucratic controls.
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