The Shoe-Polish Salesman Who Vanished Before the Tacoma Deputy Arrived
F. L. Schaefer posted bond, promised to move his family across the line, and then disappeared — leaving Newport's marshal and a Tacoma deputy empty-handed.
F. L. Schaefer, of this city, was arrested Tuesday by Marshal Jenne on orders from Tacoma, stating that a warrant had been issued for his arrest on the charge of obtaining $500 under false pretenses. Schaefer put up a cash bond of $100 for his appearance, and was given his liberty to assist in moving his family from the Idaho side to the Washington side.
Deputy Sheriff Wiley, of Tacoma, arrived Wednesday afternoon, but when he and Marshal Jenne went to take the man into custody he was missing and has not yet been found. Failing to get his man the Tacoma officer departed this morning.
Schaefer has lived in Newport for a year or more. He made periodic trips to coast cities and to cities of the middle west, where he placed agencies or sold territory rights to manufacture a shoe polish. He recently returned from a similar trip to Tacoma, and it is evidently as a result of a deal on this trip that the warrant for his arrest issued. His family is still in town.
“Deputy Sheriff Wiley, of Tacoma, arrived Wednesday afternoon, but when he and Marshal Jenne went to take the man into custody he was missing and has not yet been found.”
The shoe-polish con man is a familiar figure in American life — the traveling salesman who sells territory rights to a product that may never materialize. Newport's brief role in Schaefer's story is a reminder that small border towns have always been convenient places to disappear from, especially when the law is a day behind.
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