The Arsonist Who Burned the Books: A Tacoma Cover-Up?
An attempt to torch the U.S. Custom House in Port Townsend raises eyebrows as officials fear a whistleblower’s evidence of corruption was destroyed.
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, March 15.—An attempt was made about 1:30 this morning to burn the United States Custom House here. It is a two-story frame building on Water Street, next to the harbor. Fire was set in a room about 20 feet on the lower floor, in the center of the building, used for storing old records.
K. Humfrics, one of the clerks, who was operating a steam wharf, returned to his lodgings in the Custom House at the hour mentioned, smelled smoke and aroused the watchman. They beat out the blaze, but many of the records were destroyed. There is little doubt the fire was of incendiary origin.
The only reasonable theory as to the motive of the act is the destruction of the records. Mr. Lupton, first auditor of the customs department, has been here for the last three months overhauling the books and notes; there has been crookedness alleged, and, indeed, indirectly confirmed by the summary removals about four months ago. Mr. Lupton has probably seen some proof, though on this subject he, as well as other officials, maintains a strict silence.
If the fire had spread very few records would have been saved. There is not a single sprinkler in the building, which is a ramshackle affair, a monument to the poor treatment of the territories by the last administration. Fortunately at the last moment was appropriated for a Custom House, and work will commence as soon as the Treasury Department has go of the appropriation.
This 1906 incident highlights the fragility of public trust in government institutions. Just as today’s debates rage over data privacy, transparency, and the destruction of evidence in political scandals, this arson attempt suggests that powerful figures were willing to burn down a building—and potentially lives—to hide financial malfeasance.
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