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Monday, August 2, 2021

Authorities Looking for Charlatan "Doc" Burns, Aug. 1, 1921

Many in Search of “Doc” Burns. . . Man Claiming to Have Hospital Here is Touring State as “Specialist”

A lot of people in a lot of North Carolina towns would like to know who is the traveling eye doctor giving his name as J.W. burns and claiming to own a large hospital in Charlotte.

Blue-sky schemes are tame methods of getting money compared to the practices of the said Dr. Burns, who is supporting himself, another white man, a negro driver and an Essex automobile by selling the kind of glasses that can be bought in the five and 10-cent store for a dime to eye-sufferers for several dollars per pair.

The Charlotte police department has been swamped with letters for the last several days from city officials and individuals in a dozen or more towns seeking information as to the hospital Dr. Burns owns here, his place of abode and his reputation as a reliable eye-doctor. The local police have never heard of him.

According to the complaint to the local police, Dr. Burns arrives in a town, does a lot of advertising about his long years of experience in eye-doctoring, about the miracles he has performed, and then sets out to collect funds for services rendered. Thus far, Dr. Burns has always managed to get out of town before the local citizens discovered that the glasses cost the doctor a dime each and that what he known about healing the blind could be crowded into the bed room of a modern apartment.

Dr. Burns is carrying away from $1 to $500 from every town he visits, the letters stated. Information as to his whereabouts would greatly please a lot of people in towns over the State, according to the letters.

From The Charlotte News, Monday, August 1, 1921

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