The Mena weekly star., 1907-09-26
VICTIM OF AN OLD,
 OLD BUNCO GAME
The Rev. John P. Baze Paid S1C for a Bogus Check and a Small Amount of Experience - Rarely Reads
 the Newspapers.

When the passenger train from ,he south pulled into Mena Thurs dav afternoon there were on hoard a number of preachers who vere headed for the meeting of ,be Rich Mountain Association of inc Primitive Baptist church, yhich convenes today at Salem church, eight miles east of Mena, Among their number was a typical pioneer preacher, a man with kindly face and snow white hair and beard. He was quite uneasy, for he had a check in his nocket for S750, and it didn't be- Ioug to him either. He was just holding it as security for a S10 hill he had loaned to nice, polite young man he had met on the train.
 The benevolent old man was still holding the check this morn- ing until, through loss of faith in his newly made friend and the value of the yellow piece of paper, he turned it over to Toney Munder, baggage agent. The old man did not want to see it again went but on to the preach ers' meeting, Sl0 wiser and with less faith in man.
 It was the same old story At Texarkana the old preacher, whose name is John F. Baze, and whose home is at Brookston, Tex, was approached in friend. ly manner by nicely dressed young man who was very kind to him and carried the old man, grip. After finding Mena was the old mans destination, he announced that he was coming to Mena also. He was in a little trouble, though. The baggage man was holding him up for S10 excess bage age and he was short of money, but had check for S750, which he would let the preacher hold if he would loan him the S10. About that time the train was nearing Mena and "baggage master" came along and demanded his money. The old man loaned the $l0 and re- ceived the check. It was drawn on the Mercantile Trust Com pany of Little Rock, in favor of Seaven w. Harris and signed by J. NJ. Bunk x Co. Seaven said hIs father was a prominent real estate man of fIena and that he would meet the MT. Baze at the National Bank of Mena this morning to receive back his big check and return the borrowed Sl0. Then the bunco man and his partner, the "baggage mas ter" left the old man. The train pulled into Mena, and with the check carefully put away MT. Blaze got off the train. He did not see anything of his young "friend" and although several officers were at the depot and the train was here nearly half hour, Baze said nothing. He went to a hotel, but before going to bed made some inquiries about the Harris family and when he failed to learn of any prominent real estate man by that name he told his story to the officers.
 The Rev. Mir. Baze was well known in this section some years ago. He used to live near Waldron and prior to his moving to Texas seven years ago was we'll known worker for the cause of religion, having often preached in Polk county. He said he was close reader of the Bible, but admitted that he seldom read 8 newspa per, and therefore was an an easy victim of this old bunco game.
 He says that he has always been very cautious man and they would not have beaten him out of his money if it had not been for the fact that he remem- bered there used to be man liv- ing in this section by the name of Harris.
 After so long a delay there was not much chance for the officers to catch the crooks.