The Rival Reporters of Spokane
A bitter feud between rival newspapers in Spokane turns into a bizarre scheme involving fake telegrams, impersonated police, and a plot to drug a colleague.
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.
A warrant was sworn out this evening for the arrest of Charles A. Shafer, city editor of the Evening Chronicle, on a charge of sending false telegrams. The warrant is signed by Albert Hawkins, a reporter on the Morning Review. When Chief of Police Harbord was on his way to Spokane from Seattle, in charge of Lody Wirt and her abductors, Barney Brooks and wife, Hawkins was sent to Cheney to meet the party and interview the girl on the train on the way up, which he did. Shafer knew Hawkins was going, and in order to defeat his plans, sent telegrams to Chief Harbord and Mrs. Taylor, warning them that Hawkins had a job put up on them and instructing them not to allow him to see Miss Wirt. He signed the name of a well-known police officer to these telegrams. He also tried to hire a barkeeper to dope Hawkins before he took the train. Shafer came here from San Francisco where he claims to have worked on several leading papers.
“Shafer knew Hawkins was going, and in order to defeat his plans, sent telegrams to Chief Harbord... and also tried to hire a barkeeper to dope Hawkins before he took the train.”
While modern journalism battles 'fake news' online, this 1891 incident shows that the local press has long been a place of cutthroat competition. It is a reminder that the hyper-partisan and often dirty tactics of today's media cycle have deep, chaotic roots in Washington's pioneer history.
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