The Ghost of a Forger
A clever swindler slips out of Walla Walla after passing forged postal money orders, leaving authorities empty-handed.
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.
J. C. Coggins is the name of the smooth forger who flim-flammed local business men out of an aggregate sum of $140 by means of forged money orders a few days ago. No trace of him has been found since he left the city, though postal authorities have hopes of sooner or later locating him. The man is said to be a noted crook and traveling under many aliases. The original money orders raised to larger amounts and passed in Walla Walla were issued at The Dalles and were for amounts of 25 cents each.
“J. C. Coggins is the name of the smooth forger who flim-flammed local business men.”
Financial fraud was just as precarious in 1903 as it is in the digital age. While the 'money order' has been replaced by wire transfers and digital banking, the local impact of a transient 'flim-flam' artist remains a recurring feature of small-city police blotters.
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