Jim Kershner’s This day in history

From our archives, 100 years ago

Two Spokane bunco men conned a 65-year-old Oakesdale bachelor farmer out of $6,800 in cash.

The two men, well-known racetrack touts, told the old gentlemen that they had a foolproof proposition. They had fixed a race in Seattle. All he had to do was take out a mortgage on his farm, hand them the cash and accompany them to Seattle, where he would rake in his $50,000 windfall.

Somewhere on the way to Seattle, one con man slipped off the train with the money. The other stayed with the farmer all the way to Seattle, so as not to arouse the old man’s suspicions.

However, his conduct did arouse the suspicion of a fellow train passenger, who called ahead to Seattle police, who were waiting at the station.

They arrested the one man and issued a bulletin for the arrest of the other. Meanwhile, the farmer’s cash was long gone.

The fugitive was described as a longtime Spokane racetrack habitué who was always, for some reason, flashing plenty of cash.

Also on this date

(From the Associated Press)

1816: James Monroe of Virginia was elected the fifth president of the United States. … 1942: President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered the dismantling of the Works Progress Administration, which had been created to provide jobs during the Depression.