NEWS OF THE DAY

Among the surprising quantity of scrap wood buried in the insulation fluff in the attic, today I found folded and crumpled the brown and fragile page 12 of the Portland News Telegram for Thursday Sept. 1, 1938. It included this short piece which raises more questions than it answers. (It was common to call people who robbed or stole from others "bandits" in reportage of the time.)

Man Loses Pants and Money to Bold Bandit
Was Carl Hoberg, 1238 S. W. Sixth ave., embarrassed when he was robbed of $6.50 and personal papers, police reported Thursday.
The embarrassment was caused not by the loss of the $6.50 and personal papers, but because the robber used the ingenious method of making Hoburg take off his pants in getting his loot.
It all happened Wednesday night under the Steel Bridge shortly after Hoburg met the man and was invited to "go for a ride."
The bandit drove under the bridge and ordered Hoburg to take off his pants. This he did and the thug, pants under his arm, drove away while Hoburg shivered in his shorts.