A clever con was reported from Grand Forks on this day in 1910. Months earlier, a man arrived in the city claiming to be an automobile expert. The man, going by the name of Lewis, possessed such knowledge concerning the vehicles as to gain the confidence of a great majority of the city’s businessmen, despite the fact that his place of origin switched daily between Seattle and New York. Lewis proposed to start a taxi-service in Grand Forks, which would greatly benefit the merchants of the city. He advertised his venture extensively, even attending the city’s automobile show, and began hiring drivers, placing each under a five-dollar bond. The city’s businessmen were so optimistic as to the operation’s success that many invested several hundred dollars worth of merchandise into his venture, including a valuable watch and several suits of clothing. Therefore, the merchants were “very much concerned regarding the [man’s] whereabouts” after his mysterious disappearance from the city.

Source:
The Fargo Forum and Daily Republican (Evening ed.). February 17, 1910: p. 2.

--Jayme L. Job

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