The Evening Statesman

Evolved Scheme to Beat State Out of Thousands

COLLECTED BOUNTIES ON FAKE SCALPS

SCHEME IS UNEARTHED AND HE IS ARRESTED AT SEATTLE BY OFFICERS.

OLYMPIA, Sept. 17.-A telephone message from Seattle announced the capture of George Wright, wanted here for an alleged attempt to secure illegally earned wild animal bounties.
A widespread conspiracy whereby the state has been fleeced out of several thousand dollars through different counties of the state Is said to have been unearthed. According to the reports, the crowd, of which Wright is only charged with being an understudy operated out of Seattle, where several hundred old wildcat scalps were obtained from dealers and foisted off on the county auditors as freshly killed animals.
Wright was arrested in this city a few weeks ago while endeavoring to collect bounty on old scalps. On two other occasions the county had been fleeced out of over $150, and it is believed that Wright himself took part in the former transactions.
Bought in St. Louis.
Through investigation it has been found that pelts which sell at wholesale in St. Louis at 30 cents each are being shipped into Washington in large quantities and the scalps sold to unsophisticated state and county officials at the rate of $1 for coyotes and $2.50 for wildcats. under the bounty law.
Game Warden Mossman has been working on the case for several weeks, and the exposal of the entire scheme is expected as the result of the arrest The arrest was made on the street upon a chance meeting while Warden Mossman was looking up an auto party that killed birds out of season. Wright laughed. and ventured it as his opinion that the state had bought the scalps according to the provisions of the bounty law. and that even if Mossman's contentions were true he had committed no crime.
Wright a Mighty Hunter.
According to the county records, Wright has slain 450 coyotes and wildcats in the last six months and received more than $1,000 in bounty money.
Each time he certified that the varmint had been killed in King county.
In the last thirty days it is stated that he has been paid $1 each for thirty-one coyote scalps and $2.50 each for sixty-three wildcat scalps.
The money is paid back to the county by the state each quarter, and the state will accordingly prosecute Wright for obtaining money under false pretenses. Mossman is now searching for other men believed to be associated with Wright in the scheme.