The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1903-09-10
Many Business Men Of
.Colfaz Victims.
HOW She .WoSKED her GAME
The Woman Has Been Working tn.
PaIouse Country for Several
Years.

Colfax-Mrs. Clemishire, known as
the "Silver-haired Widow" who gain
ed considerable notoriety about a
year ago by beating S. T. Arthur Of
Spokane and T. T. Davis of the Palace
hotel of Pullman, out of big hotel
bills by a claim of rich mine in
Alaska and stuffed pocketbook, re-
spectively, has again made turn and
moved on. The story of Mrs. Clemi-
shire's former actions referred to was
printed in The Spokesman-Review at
the time. After her trick in giving
Landlord Davis purse stuffed with
tissue paper and sealed up neatly, 20
put in his safe for her, and boarding
with for As days, Mrs. Clemishire left;
the purse was opened and the trick
discovered.
The handsome widow with silver
locks came to Colfax from Pullman
and stopped at the Hotel Whitman.
Landlord Allen was notified by Mr..
Davis and refused to allow Mrs.
Clemishire to remain at his hotel. al
though she insisted on doing so. A
kind hearted Colfax woman took the
| widow to her house to stay until she
could get funds to go to Walla Walla,
| where she said she had friends. Mrs.
Clemishire is fine seamstress and
| did some sewing for the lady and her
| daughter and did SO well that she
built up quite reputation and went
! into number of the best homes in
Colfax, staying from 10 to 40 days
each and making many fine gowns,
which attracted much attention and
brought her much work She prosper
ed, and, apparently forgetting how
she had been elected from the Hotel
| Whitman, returned to that hostelry
and secured board, lodging and
! rooms, where she opened swell
dressmaking parlor and secured the
best trade of Colfax.
Silver Marked "Wkitman."
It is not known why she did so,
but Mrs Clemishire finally decided
keeping. She rented a neat cottage
| in the north end of town and moved
her dresmaking establishment there
and still her patronage continued,
She hired her homework done, and
thereby met her Waterloo. A German
| woman who did much Homework for
| her discovered that the stylish widow
had a fine lot of silverware branded
whitman Her suspicious were
aroused, and when Mrs. Clemishire
refused to pay for the work she had
done she informed Mr.. Allen Of the
Whitman hotel of her discovery. Mr..
Allen visited the comfortable home Of
his erstwhile boarder and demanded
the return of the silverware. Mrs.
Clemishire allowed to search the
premises, and he secured fine lot
of valuable silverware which had
been missing from his hotel since the
widow had quit boarding there.
Mr.. Allen refused to prosecute her,
but the story became public AMI Mrs.
Clemishire has gone. Mr. Allen says
he found lot of towels and valuable
linen which he thinks was taken from
the hotel, but as it was not branded
he could not claim it. The house was
we'll filled with fine linen, tapestry,
ETC., and it is generally believed that
most of it was pilferei from houses
where she had sewed, as many of the
families in whose homes she had
worked declared they missed numer-
GUS small articles after her depart
ure and they were never found. A
woman who worked in her house
says that Mrs Clemishire had hidden
| in her couch some fine bedspreads,
entirely new, with the cost mark still
attached, which this woman thought
had been pilfered from some store in
Colfax. Inquiry of the merchants
of Colfax shows that Mrs Clemishire
bought a large amount of goods on
credit and never paid for them. At
one store she owes a bill OF more
than 500.
Victims Kicked Themselves.
| It is difficult to ascertain who are
victims of the willy widow, as people
who lost from her populations or
smooth work are 10th to talk about it.
They all seem to feel that they de
serve to have been beaten for not hav-
| ing needed the warnings sent out by
her first victims.
Mrs. Clemishire Is a woman OF
striking appearance, being Of about