The Ex-Mayor’s Long Road Back to the Courthouse
After three years on the run, former Seattle Mayor Thomas J. Burke has finally been apprehended in Port Townsend.
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.
Thomas J. Burke, ex-Mayor, who absconded three years ago and was traced to Prescott, Arizona, where he remained two months, then to San Francisco, thence to Old Mexico and New Mexico, thence to Whateom, W.T., and thence to Port Townsend, where he lived for one year, was arrested here today. An immense crowd gathered at the station, but the train was delayed at the Main street crossing and the officers took their charge to the county jail. Burks, although in good spirits, refused to say much about himself, his arrest or his adventures.
“An immense crowd gathered at the station... Burke, although in good spirits, refused to say much about himself.”
Local political corruption is a tale as old as the city itself. While Burke's long flight ended in a jail cell, his story serves as a reminder that the question of civic integrity—and who is held accountable for it—has haunted Seattle since its earliest days.
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