The Postmaster’s Morality Purge
A Port Townsend postmaster suspends a Methodist minister and mail carrier, citing the moral tone of the department—while his own divorce scandal simmers.
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.
PORT TOWNSEND, Aug. 30. — [Special.] — A ludicrous incident occurred in the postoffice yesterday. Postmaster McNamara, whose wife recently secured a divorce in Seattle on sensational charges, dismissed from the service Ira P. Mills, a mail carrier, and gave as his reason that he wished 'to improve the morality of the department.' Mills is a regularly ordained minister of the Methodist church. McNamara declined to specify the nature of the charges against Mr. Mills and said that the matter had been sent to the postoffice department for investigation. Mills refused to resign and McNamara suspended him. Mills was a Republican holdover.
“He wished 'to improve the morality of the department.'”
The episode is a reminder that 'morality' has long been used as a workplace weapon, especially when a supervisor's own private life is under scrutiny. The clash between a Republican holdover and a postmaster flexing new authority also sounds like a familiar story of patronage and public employment.
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