Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
On this date ...
1932: A man accused of “city slicking” had been arrested in Hot Springs, Ark., after a Clovis cafe owner reported he’d been tricked out of $95.
George Johnson of Clovis told police the stranger had approached him with a story claiming he had found $1,500 worth of gold dust in Alaska. The stranger wanted to send the gold to a mint in San Francisco where it could be converted into gold coin. But the man did not have the money to pay for shipping.
Johnson told police he borrowed $95 and gave it to the stranger with a promise of receiving $115 when the coins were returned.
Instead the stranger skipped town and the heavy box he and Johnson had wrapped and shipped to San Francisco contained only nails and pieces of iron.
Clovis law officers told the Clovis Evening News-Journal it was the “cleanest ‘city slicking’ deal ever pulled here.”
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