A Denial and a Threat: W. H. Evring Fires Back at Murder Plot Accusations
Accused of plotting to kill a ship captain, Whatcom businessman W. H. Evring writes a fiery letter denying everything—and warning his enemies he'll be back.
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.
W. H. Evring, who, with Nat B. Young, was accused of plotting to kill Capt. Fellows of the sloop Comet, is a humorous young man. He rushes into print to deny the story that he and his pal tried to murder Capt. Fellows in order to obtain possession of the yacht Comet. In the Island County Times, of Coupeville, of August 10, he publishes the following:
WHATCOM, Aug. 4. — To the Editor of the Times: In your issue of the 3d you tell the story of the plot to murder Capt. Fellows and to rob Mr. Crockett, which it is alleged I planned, but which honestly I knew nothing about until I saw it in the Post-Intelligencer of July 26. I am in business in Whatcom, and have been for the last three years and a half, doing business entirely in the name of a lawyer in that city. I chartered the sloop Comet, Capt. Fellows, to go and look at piling timber, which I can prove I did do, as I was to make contract to yard out piles for a San Francisco firm. I never knew that Mr. Crockett had a safe before the Post-Intelligencer said so. I utterly deny the whole story, and further state that it is the work of my enemies, of which I have a large number, composed of men of whom I may have taken advantage in a business way, and they have taken this cowardly means of revenge, namely, by ruining me. But W. H. Evring is too smart for them yet. I have a few bills about the country, some of which I will never pay, but always pay men who never bore or keep at me for their bills, or talk about me, as I can prove by business men of your town of Coupeville, in and around which I have a few friends, but do not care a snap of my fingers for their friendship. It is too much like the roses—it soon withers. But I have not done with your nice little island yet. I will be there again soon, and there will be a few who will have a great respect for me the next time I leave—some of those who at present think me a robber and a fool. I use no names in my writings, but can do so when the occasion demands. I again say that the story has no truth in it so far as I am concerned, not knowing of it myself until I read it in the Post-Intelligencer of July 26. Hoping you will print the foregoing, or what you deem best of it, in justice to myself, being well known by most of the readers of your paper. I remain, yours respectfully,
W. H. EVRING.
“But W. H. Evring is too smart for them yet. ... I will be there again soon, and there will be a few who will have a great respect for me the next time I leave—some of those who at present think me a robber and a fool.”
In an era of rough-and-tumble frontier justice, reputations were made and broken in print. Evring's letter is a classic example of the personal feud played out in newspapers, with threats barely veiled. Today, public accusations and denials still play out in the media, but the stakes—and the rhetoric—can be just as high.
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