The Seattle star. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, 1908-08-06

After the prosecuting attorneys
office had prepared document GOV.
ering the lease o. the west hall Of
the county block ~ Third av. be
tween James and jefferson sts., the
county commissioner and George
Q. Lampine. formerly county audi.
tor. prepared and executed 'dum.
my" lease, and this substituted
lease lt now on file In the county
auditors office. carrying the names
and seals Of the respective officials.
and o. James p. Agnew, county
auditor.
a copy Of the original lease 10 on
fife IN the office Of the county's
legal adviser. This lease was never
flied az the court house. The orig
lnai copy written for the county
commissioners was taken from the
prosecuting attorneys office, pre-
sumahly 20 be executed and placed
on record. Instead, the dummy"
lease Was recorded. What hap
peneo TO the original isasef
n George y Lamplng did not
actually write the dummy lease.
some one with his interests very
much ~ heart peuned g. OF dictated
g. as the document b. written With
a typewriter In this respect. al
least " can be said 10 compare
slightly with the original
Gives Perpetual Lease.
The dummy lease gives Lampine
what o. commonly known a. a per.
petual lease until the property Is
Immediately" required for county
purposes The word immediate
cannot be found In the original
document
Practically the only portion Of
the original lease which was "a
serted Ia the dummy paper Is the
formal opening aud closing clauses
Entire paragraphs are left out. or
inserted always with the idea Of
giving Lamplng better hold on
the property.
All OF the essential clauses IN.
serted by the prosecuting attorneys
office TO protect the countys In.
forests are missing in the dummy
u Is equally apparent that every
possible clause which could have
been inserted 10 strengthen Lamp
ings "framed-up" bargain has been
embodied sn the dummy document.
Discovered BY Accident.
The fact that there had been a
substitution effected between the
time the copy 81 the lease had left
the prosecuting attorneys office
and the time Il reached the office
of the county auditor was not dis
covered until yesterday. and then
by accident
A comparison OF the lease actual.
M filed and the lease which had
been prepared BY the prosecuting
attorney Immediately developed the
fact that someone had been guilty
OF crooked work.
The prosecuting attorneys Office
had no knowledge Of the existence
OF the dummy lease until yester
day. The copy OF the original lease
IL on file In that office. With other
valuable papers pertaining 20 coun-
~ affairs. and the substitution was
accomplished after the original
from which the copy was made had
left the hands Of the eountys legal
adviser
Filed and Recorded.
The dummy lease 81 filed and re-
corded, both in the index book GOV.
ering the execution of leases and
ha4 hsn A..
siOncrs. and in the regular receipt
and filing books Of the county audi
tor Il passed through the hands Of
the county commissioners. the chief
deputy clerk of that department
County Auditor Agnew. and the
receiving aud filing clerks In the
latter department
This worthless lease has snug
~ geposed in the vaults of the
county auditor since April 1906.
when IA was filled ont and anthem
Heated by the signatures and seals
of y J Smith. chairman OF the
board OF county commissioners
County Auditor James 2. Agnew.
r. r French. deputy. and Geo. a.
lamping, lessee
Date Of Filing.
That Il was actually filed az
that time Us shown by the dates
left 10y the filing clerk and al
tached To the seals and signatures.
This proves conclusivey that tht
change In documents was effected
prior to the time the dummy lease
was signed and filed and while
Il was either in the hands Of the
county commissioners Or Lamplnr.
The dummy lease iB such rank
imposition that the moment IL was
compared with the original the dc.
ccption became apparent The
Stars story published several days
ago. calling attention TO some OF
the ridiculous features of the lease
made by the commissioners to
LampinE led TO q complaint that
this paper had been In error. For