The Bunko Men Who Got Away
A rare conviction for 'bunko' card-trick swindling hits a dead end as the culprits flee the state and the extradition fund runs dry.
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.
The only bunko case in the annals of this city wherein a conviction has been secured will be argued before the state supreme court next Thursday. Matt Ries and Ranschman, the convicted bunko men, have been at liberty on bonds since 1892. Now that the case is active, it is noted that neither party is within the state. It is current talk among residents of the lower end of the city that the accession of Bolton Rogers to the position of chief of police had a great deal to do with Ries' sudden departure from the city. Rogers has implied in his acts that bunko men cannot work in Seattle. The original case involved a farmer from Falls City, Oregon, who was swindled of $102 on the steamer Sehome while traveling to Seattle. Should the supreme court sustain the verdict, it would be a difficult matter to recover from the bondsmen, and in case the men are found outside the state, they would be secure, as the extradition fund is exhausted.
“It is current talk among residents of the lower end of the city that the accession of Bolton Rogers to the position of chief of police had a great deal to do with Ries' sudden departure.”
Seattle’s struggle with 'bunko' men—con artists operating in the shadows of the waterfront—was a major civic preoccupation in the 1890s. The mention of the 'extradition fund' being empty is a striking reminder of how constrained municipal budgets often dictated the reach of justice.
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