The Circus Impostor
A grifter posing as a Ringling Brothers advance man is caught in Astoria after swindling local meat merchants.
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.
Harry Day, alias Kane, who represented himself as an advance agent for Ringling Brothers circus and entered into a meat contract with the Walla Walla Meat Company, is under arrest at Astoria. Chief Kauffman received word of his arrest this morning. Day is wanted in several cities of the Northwest for representing himself as an agent of the circus and obtaining money under false pretenses. While in Walla Walla, he visited different meat companies and entered into a contract, though Manager Henry was suspicious of the man. Day, being very affable, evidently understood circus requirements, which allowed him to convincingly play the part until he was finally caught by police in Astoria.
“Day is very affable and at some period in his life has evidently been in the employ of a circus as he seems to understand all the requirements of a circus in making his contracts.”
This story highlights the vulnerability of local business owners to confidence men who exploited the prestige of traveling entertainment like the Ringling Brothers, a common occurrence in the transient economy of the era.
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