Lou’s View

By Lou Bernard

There’s something intriguing about these small, everyday crimes that happened in the past. Back in the days of railroading, the Great Depression, rabies outbreaks, etc., there were a lot of little swindles and crimes that happened practically daily.

Somehow, throughout all these, both the criminals and the cops managed to pull it off with a sense of style and suspense. These things are highly entertaining, at least to me. Then again, I am also entertained by watching our dog fall off the couch while sleeping, so draw your own conclusions.

One of the biggest reporters of these things was the Clinton County Times, which adds to my enjoyment. The Clinton County Times had a flair for the bizarre, often reporting some of the wildest stuff that happened, or giving their own wild opinion on it. Which brings me to their front-page headline on April 1, 1920: “Fugitive From Justice Is Caught At Danville.”

Based on that headline alone, you’d think that it was some sort of Cagney-style shootout thing, with tommy guns and sedans and fedoras all over. Also in black and white. But no; it was much more mundane than that. It began a few days earlier, with a low-level scammer named Paul Frederick.

Frederick began by visiting a clothing store at 111 East Main Street, Wilson and Shaffer, about where the Salvation Army is now. He purchased some clothing and other supplies there, and wrote out a check. Then he strolled down the street, looking respectable in his new outfit, and visited Klewans Shoe Store at 21 East Main, site of our present-day radio station. He wrote out a check for some shoes, too.

Can you tell what is going to happen next? Want to take a guess? If you’re sitting there guessing that the checks were bad, then congratulations. You saw this coming faster than Harry Wilson and Barnhart S. Klewans.

Both of those respectable business owners went to John P. Anthony, the local alderman who used to bring his dog to work with him. (“Alderman” means “Some sort of government official.”) Anthony took their statements and then turned them over to Omit D. Beck, chief of police. Beck went looking for Frederick at the home of Christopher Meckley, who was renting an apartment to Frederick. And, completely unpredictably, Frederick wasn’t there and had left without paying the rent, so Beck took a statement from Meckley while he was in the neighborhood.

Then Beck sent a telegram to the police department in Danville. It’s unclear, based on the article, just how Beck knew Frederick would show up in Danville. The Times just says that Beck “had reason to think” that Frederick would head over there. Maybe Beck knew that Frederick had realitves there or something. Maybe he was just a really, really good guesser.

So, on the afternoon of April 1, Beck got a telegram back. They’d captured and arrested Frederick in Danville, and were holding him. Beck took the warrants from the defrauding of Wilson, Klewans, and Meckley, and gave them to County Detective William H. Myers, who headed to Danville by train.

And Myers returned that evening, again by train, but this time hauling a handcuffed Paul Frederick along with him.

Meckley, Klewans, and Wilson all pressed charges, and Beck took Frederick into custody. He was locked in the local jail, where he got some meals, clothing, and a place to stay….All for free.