Smooth Grafters
Box Elder News, 17 November 1910, page 1
Abraham Lincoln once said, “You can fool all the people part of the time, you can fool part of the people all the time, but you can't fool all the people all the time.” Mr. And Mrs. B. M. Neal the erstwhile manager and nightingale (?) of the Florence theatre have learned that lesson in part at least, and now they are in a peck of trouble because of their endeavors to prove the fallacy of the last part of Lincoln's famous epigram.
Last week, Max Florence, proprietor of the theatre, went onto the rocks of financial distress, and that let Mr. And Mrs. Neal out of a job. Knowing as they did of the many bills which they owed in the city, they quietly made arrangements for a hasty flight without calling on their “friends” to say adieu. Their belongings, what few they possessed, were packed into a trunk and shipped to Salt Lake City a few days ahead of the time when the proprietors contemplated taking French leave. Before the time arrived for them to depart Mr. H. N. Bowring learned of their intentions and immediately got out attachment proceedings with a view of intercepting the pair before they left. The depot was watched as the south-bound trains pulled out, but Neal and his “singing bird duckey” were not there. They got out of town however, the report being that they took a stroll around back streets, through fields, etc., finally getting back to the electric car line where they caught a south going car and were carried to Ogden.
Neal was arrested later and secured a bondsman in Chris Christensen, in the sum of $50 for his appearance Monday afternoon. When the trial was called, an attorney appeared for Neal who asked for and secured a continuance until Wednesday afternoon.
Among those whom the Neals have become indebted to are H. N. Bowring, S. E. Hinckley for life insurance policy, Joe Zimmerman for “sundries,” Pitt & Wilson, a hat for “duckey,” Erdmann & Son for meats and groceries, and the amounts aggregate considerable over $100.
The experience was a costly one for those who trusted neal and his wife, and should be a lesson to beware of such people in the future.