Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1917-11-04
STATE LAW SHOULD
STOP AUTO THEFTS
Provides Severe Penalties for
Possessors Of Disfigured
Motor Vehicles.
,CAM0UFLAGING RESTRICTED
Officers May Arrest Anyone
Driving Car With Oblit-
Grated Numbers.
,cAMOUFLAGING RESTRICTED

The question of protecting automo'
bile owners from the numerous auto
thieves who are operating with brazer
impunity all over the United States Is
a source of much annoyance to city
and county officers and State License
Inspector Carter of the highway COM
mission. who was In Tulsa recently on
a tour over the state, is advising sher-
iffs and chiefs of police to enforce a
new state latv which seems to have
either been overlooked or ignored
since its passage.
Senate Bill No. 9S. approved March
0. 1917. during the Sixth general as
sembly of the Oklahoma legislature
says;
Section 1. 1t shall be unlawful for
any person., firm or corporation to
remove. deface, cover, alter or destroy
or cause same to be done, for the pur-
pose of concealment or misrepresent-
ing the identity thereof, the manufac-
turer's serial number, or any other
distinguishing number or identified,
ton mark in any motor vehicle.
Section 2. 1t shall be unlawful fol
any person, firm or corporation TO
knowingly buy, sell, receive, dispose
of, conceal, or to have In his posses
sion, any motor vehicle from which
the distinguishing number or identifi-
cation mark has been removed, de-
faced, covered. altered or destroyed
for the purpose Of concealment or
misrepresenting the Identity of said
motor vehicle.
Section 3. Any person. firm or cor
poration who violates any OF the pro-
visions of this act shall be fined not
l.,,r mi
more than six months, or both such
fine and Imprisonment.
Inspector Carter says that the dis
, honest garage owner Is OF great as
sistance to auto thieves. as the garage
is a good hiding place for stolen autos
However, there are not many such
garages, and the thieves have resorted
to out t-of-the-way barns, sheds and
houses where they can run stolen cars
until the vehicles can be disfigured
beyond ordinary Identification.
Last week the police of Omaha
rounded up bunch of thieves who
had rented farm near that city and
had Q dozen autos which had been
stolen in Council Bluffs and South
Omaha stored away in a cattle shed
Five expert machinists were In the
crowd and they did the changing of
parts and obliterating the factory
numbers on the engines and other
working parts.
Tacoma, Wash, has passed an ordi-
nance preventing auto camouflage."
1t provides that every public garage
must make report to the police daily
Of cars left with them. including the
Identification numbers on the ma
chimes and full descriptions.
This Is similar to the pawnshop
restrictions and should be of aid to
the police in locating stolen cars II
the law Is strictly enforced.
Locks and insurance are Of little
benefit and 1t looks as II 1t would be
a good thing for the old drastic PEN
alties of five to fifteen years ago for
horse stealing would have to be
amended to read automobiles" or
"automotive vehicles" instead OF
horses, and enforced so that thieves
would learn to respect the ownership
of the machine which is SO rapidly
replacing the horse.