The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1917-01-19
Vernon Center Parties Were
Offered An Automobile
GAVE OWNERS ONCE OVER
Mankat0 Police Notified; Mems
Statements Not Borne Out
BY Developments
From SATURDAYS Daily.

From Saturdays Daily.
To net two men suspected OF haV-
ing stolen an automobile was the OBJ
ject of an attempt that was made for
several hours yesterday afternoon by
several citizens of Vernon Center and
the Mankato police. There was no
certainty that the auto in question
had been stolen, but it looked that
way.
Two strangers at 1870 yesterday
morning came to garage in Vernon
Center and one of them offered new
1917 Ford for sale. The machine APP
peared to be worth all of $500, and it
was offered for $3.50. A citizen Of
Vernon Center said he would buy the
auto, if he could satisfy himself by
investigation thata the seller really
owned it and had come by it hon
estly.
According to the story told by sew
eral men from Vernon Center, who
came to Mankato late in the after
noon the strangers were closely ques-
toned and the telephone was used
to verify their statements, but many
of the things that were said by them
were not borne out by what was
cleaned from the people who were
called up by long distance phone. The
men were reported to have said that
they had been working for a certain
firm at Jackson, and when Jackson
was called it was found thu there
was no such firm there. One of them
said the car had, be bought from
a certain man of Mayville, Mimi, and
when Mayville was called up it was
found that no such man resided there.
Later the information was given that
the seller was cattle-buyer of South
ST. Paul, but it was found by tele-
phone that no such cattle buyer was
generally known there. One of the
strangers said the man from whom
the car was bought had gotten it at
rattle.
Strangers Appeared Worried.
AS various items of information
were cleaned over the telephone, the
two strangers seemed to get worried
and after a time, without trying any
longer to sell the car, they got into
it and rode off towards Mankato
It was noticed that there was no
license tag on the back of the car,
but there was one on the front. The
her with other information about the
incident, was telephoned to the Man
kato police. If the car had been
netted in Mankato, it would have been
easy to hold the occupants for a time
on the charge of driving an auto
along public highway without two
license tags, one in front and the 9TH
er in back. as required by the law.
The police found out by telephone
that the car was driven through Rap
idan, and it was found that the men
had been in Mankato, and had driven
past the watering trough on Warren
street. After that track was lost but
the Mankato police notified the police
OF some neighboring towns, includ-
ing st. Peter, about the affair."
1t was found by the telephone cat
alogue that the number that was
seen on the tag on the front of that
Ford car was one that had been is
sued to man at Fairmont for a
Buick car. This man was called I'D
by Chief of Police Klugherz, and
stated that he sold that car about two
years ago. How the number tag got
on the Ford could only be conject-
ured. .-.
1t was noticed that this number
tag was carried on the windshield.
Several of the Vernon Center citi-
zenS, whose suspicious had been
aroused by the peculiar conduct and
statements of the strangers, came to
the Mankato police station in a car
late in the afternoon and had a con-
sultation with hthe police