Ashland weekly tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1919-1924, 1920-09-01
MANY SCHEMES TO
DISPOSE OF FRAUDULENTLY
SECURED CARS

SECURED CARS
Joe Keller, Investigator OF the
Pacific Coast Automobile Under
writer's conference, was in Ash
land today on a business errand,
incident to tracing stolen automo-
biles the loss of which have. been
reported to his company. While
here Mr.. Keller ran down an au-
tomobile which had passed thru
the hands of three strictly honor
able buyers in this city, but which
was secured in the first place by
fraudulent means. and which
means a loss of several hundred
dollars to the first purchaser.
According to Mr.. Keller the
disposal of cars secured by fraud
ulent means has become quite a
business in the large cities. The
plan usually is effected by man
buying a car on time. paying, say
500 down. That will be the last
the dealer sees of the purchaser
His next scheme is to visit one OF
the smaller cities where he will
cali on an automobile dealer with
hard luck story and ask him TO
take a perfectly good $500 car
for $500. II is a good buy and
the dealer frequently falls for IT,
He in turn will sell 1t to a patron
who congratulates himself on Sc
curing a good car at reasona-
BILE price. But the sorrowful pagt
Of the story comes in when the
investigator finds out where this
car has been disposed OF and
some one must pay.
Mr.. Keller has struck so many
cases like this in lis position as
invespi gator for the automobile
underwriters conference that he
always makes it as easy as posi-
hle for the innocent man who has
been fleeced in this man
ner. He states that there are men
who travel from one end of the
coast to the other working this
scheme of securing automobiles
There IS one man, Pole" Mr.
Keller related this morning. "who
is notorious from Los Angeles to
Seattle for securing cars fraudu-
lentlr He is to the police just
what the mosquito is flying about
your face. You think you are 60
ing to get him when you hear him
buzzing about, but he is gone be
fore you can grab him.
"This man is accompanied by a
woman and child, and he uses
them to dispose of his cars. He
will get ear on Il time payment,
in Los Angeles, then strike out
for Cottage Grove, perhaps. be-
fore he tries to dispose of it. On
landing there he will visit an au-
tomobile dealer and tell of the
illness of his wife and his short
age of money, and ask the dealer
to take the car for S500. Perhaps
the car is actually worth $1,000
or $1,000, and the dealer sees it
is a good buy. The Pole gets the
money and is not heard of again
until he strikes Sacramento or
some other place far away when
he goes over the same means of
securing and disposing of a car,
"These excellent highways going
through here, while they are of
benefit to the cities
through which they pass, are go
ing to be of danger also" Mr..
Keller went on to say. "The time
will come when an automobile can
leave Sacramento reach Ashland
by 3 a. M, crack safe in an
Ashland bank and be back in Sac
before the police will be
of the affair. RObberies
Of this sort are going on right
now in the towns surrounding
Portland and other large cities,
and the farther away from the
big centers the robberies are
committed the better for the yegg- !
men. For the protection of these !
cities much publicity must
De made in connection with the To-
,al police force to watch out for
he many schemes INSCRIPTIONS
people are working and involving
innocent people in big expense"
During his stop in Ashland Mr.. Z
Keller visited the public garages Z
md advised them about keeping
IN indexed record of all automo-
)iles stored in their places OF
BUSINESS, so the police may be u
BILE to put their hands on a miss u
ng car Immediately if it should U
how up in Ashland.
iEW SCAFFOLD il
WILL BIZ BUILT b
SALEM. - The new execution u