The Sleek Scoundrel of Second Street

George D. Carlton, confidential bookkeeper for Smith Bros. & Co., the butchers, has disappeared, leaving behind a muddled set of books and a debt to the firm estimated between $5,000 and $10,000. On Tuesday, Carlton sent a note to the shop with the safe keys, claiming he was ill. When inquiry was made at his lodgings, it was learned he had fled. Experts brought in to examine his accounts discovered that Carlton had been collecting money for the firm and keeping it off the books, intentionally masking his trail. Carlton, who came to Seattle from the Coeur d'Alene mines a year and a half ago, was a well-dressed young man with a curled brown mustache, a three-inch high collar, and a reputation for having expensive tastes. He allegedly borrowed $100 from a saloonkeeper, $500 from a local butcher, and a diamond ring worth $100 from a female acquaintance. It is believed he has taken the steamer 'Premier' for Vancouver, a destination popular among local defaulters. George F. Smith, of the victimized firm, dismissed the loss with a laugh, calling Carlton a 'sleek rascal' who he never thought had sense enough to steal.