A Young Lawyer's Lesson in the 'Great American Game'
A visiting English lawyer is conned in Tacoma by an elaborate 'customs officer' scam; the suspect is arrested after a quick police coordination.
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.
Thomas Ross was arrested last evening by Detective Culhane as one of two men who bunkoed a young Englishman out of money in Tacoma yesterday. A young English lawyer named H. P. Castle, who was traveling for information, landed from the steamer North Pacific yesterday morning and explained how badly he had been treated by a young fellow who represented himself as a commercial traveler from Victoria. The two were about to leave together on the steamer for Victoria when the self-styled traveling man was stopped by an alleged customs officer, who told him that his baggage could not be put upon the steamer unless money was put up to guarantee payment of duty. He protested against this, but finally released a check for $50 drawn by H. O. Evans & Co. on J. W. Morgan at the National Bank of Commerce, of Tacoma. The obdurate customs officer replied that he could not handle a check, and the Englishman swallowed the bait and advanced the $50. The customs man had fairly started when the trustful young man found that his quondam friend had likewise disappeared.
“The Englishman swallowed the bait and advanced the $50.”
Con artists targeting newcomers at transit hubs is a historical trope that has moved from the waterfront to the internet. This story illustrates the vulnerability of travelers to 'official' scams, a concern that persists in the digital age.
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