The Bakery Betrayal
A local baker is swindled out of his life savings in a classic confidence game at the edge of Wright Park.
That time-worn confidence game of 'I'll hold your money while you go up to the corner to buy some cigars' was worked again yesterday, and Silver Mathew, a baker living at 1725 South D, responded to the scheme by dropping his wad of $500 into the con man's pocket. Mathew is still so dazed at the simplicity of the scheme that he cannot tell much about the manner in which he was 'done.' He says that a man whom he has known for several months came to his bakery yesterday with the announcement that a friend of his wanted to make a real estate investment and would like to be shown about the city. The friend also hinted that cash was scarce and that he would like to borrow a bit from Mathew, so the baker drew $500 from the bank. The trio sauntered about the city and finally found themselves at the north entrance of Wright Park. By unaffected conversation the 'friend' asked Mathew to go to the corner for some cigars and said that he would 'hold' the wad until the other had returned. Of course the friend had gone when Mathew returned.
“Mathew is still so dazed at the simplicity of the scheme that he cannot tell much about the manner in which he was 'done.'”
Financial scams targeting the vulnerable are a timeless urban blight. While the setting is the historic entrance to Wright Park, the sense of shock experienced by a victim who trusted a supposed acquaintance remains a painfully common experience in Tacoma today.
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