Class. 
Book 



■\JCk9 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 





f A K E S, 

^EXPOSED. 




rt 



FAKES, 

Grafts t Swindles 
exposed. 



Showing Many Different Methods of the Confidence Man, 
Bunco Steerer, Tout, Shilber, Dips, Gamblers, Mail- 
order Sharks and Fakirs to Do the Unwary. 



ALSO 

Many of the World's Best Recipes. Formulas, Money- 
Making Secrets, and Legitimate Schemes to Do 
a Good Business on Small Capital. 






THE UJS [SOPHISTICATED 

Will Find this an Educator "In the Ways of the W^orld' 

Second Only to Personal Experience, and the "Wise 

Guy" Will Find Many Pointers and Much 

Good Reading. 



By COL. J. ALFRED McCURRY, 

THE EMINENT AUCTIONEER, 

MOBERLY, MO. 



PRICE 75 CENTS 



Sent Pre-Paid to Any Postoffice in the World on Receipt of Price. 



PUBLISHED BY THE 

MAGIC CITY BOOK AND NOVELTY COMPANY. 

MOBERLY, MISSOURI. 
U. S. A. 






'J*N 8- 1900 

Beglstar of C' 



51055 

COPYRIGHT, 1899 
BY 

J. Alfred McCurry 



ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 



86C0ND COPY, 






i 



1fntrobuctor\>, 



P. T. Barnum, once said the American people wanted 
to be humbugged and the more you skinned them the 
better they liked it. But my thirty years of experience 
among them, as a public salesman, from the Pacific to the 
Atlantic coast, and from the orange groves of the South 
to the snow-capped mountains of the North, has convinced 
me he was wrong. They have no desire to be "done," but 
their great greed for the almighty dollar, and the way to 
get it fast, and without hard work, makes them an easy 
prey for the sharpers, who offer them something for com- 
paratively nothing, by many different methods, the metro- 
politan newspapers, farmers' journals, and cheap story 
papers, being the principal mediums used by the mail 
order, or "light fakirs," who are largely in the majority, 
and a person outside of the profession has no idea of the 
vast army of this class alone, who live sumptuously on the 
ignorance of their fellowmen. Their graft is from postage 
stamps to dollars, and they are the most disreputable of 
the profession, as their victims are generally the poorest 
class of people, who can ill afford to lose such paltry sums. 
This class is not recognized by the green goods, confidence 
or heavy workers, who depend principally on their "front," 
personality, conversational powers, and experience in the 
ways of the world, to do business, and confine their opera- 
tions exclusively to the moneyed class, who can well afford 
to pay for their experience. 

This work consists of the best of the many schemes to 
"do" the unsophisticated which have come to my notice in 
my many years of experience as a soldier of fortune. Also 



6 FAKES, GRAFTS ATND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

a collection of receipts for making various articles, which 
are in constant use in every household in the land. They 
are for the most part articles of necessity, upon which very 
large profits are made, both by the manufacturer and 
dealer; some things which cost but a few cents to make, 
retailing for a dollar. I have used many of these formulas 
in my time, and made a decided success in selling them, 
and I have been to a great deal of trouble and expense in 
securing them, as the formulas of the best and leading 
medicines in this country are very carefully guarded, for 
on the secret depends their success to a great extent, and 
there is no law requiring them to divulge it. But it is 
different in Germany, and while it is not known by many 
outside of medicine manufacturers in this country, it is, 
nevertheless, a fact that no patent (or bottled) medicine 
can be sold, or exposed for sale there, without the govern- 
ment and druggists have the formula of the same. It was 
by this means I secured the formulas of Warner's Safe 
Cure, Perry Daver's Pain Killer, Hamlin's Wizard Oil, 
Ayer's Sarsaparilla, and many other of the leading patent 
medicines in this country, and which I do now make public 
for the first time. And as I have this book copyrighted in 
this country and Canada, I warn every one from infringing 
on same, but if you want a good selling article and prefer 
handling this book to any of the many different schemes 
given within, write me, and I will job them to you right, 
in any quantity, and in any style of binding, and with 
your name printed thereon as agent. I now point out to 
you the proper method to be pursued in the manufacture of 
these various articles and expect you to use your own judg- 
ment and discretion in the matter of putting them up for the 
market, and exposing them for sale. The goods, when 
ready for market, may be sold either direct to consumers 
at retail, or to storekeepers at wholesale, or both. Those 
who adopt the former method may canvass from house to 
house or establish a store and sell them. The various 
ingredients to compound all the different articles for which 
receipts are given herein may be purchased at any whole- 
sale grocery store, drug, or hardware store in any city. 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

Large fortunes have been made upon the manufa : 
of single articles for which receipts are given herein 
there is no reason why any one with average intelligent, ,«. 
little push and sagacity, may not acquire a competency in 
the same way, for you have the opportunity to be your own 
manufacturer, your own wholesaler and own retailer, and to 
make the combined and total profit that is ordinarily made 
by all three. Given those advantages, you may undersell 
those in the ordinary channels of trade, and still make 
handsome profits. Do not be ashamed of a small beginning; 
any business that is legitimate is honest, and false pride 
has prevented many a person from laying the foundation 
of a fortune, and landed them in the poor house in their 
old age. Hoping that this -little book, which has cost you 
but a few cents, may be the means of making or saving you 
many dollars, aches or pains, or perchance starting some 
poor, discouraged person upon the road to prosperity, 
health and wealth, I am, 

Respectfully yours, in P., L. and T., 

J. A. McCURHY, 

Moberly, Missouri. 



^ 



Mariar ate pie, and Mariar ate jelly; 

Mariar went home with a pain in her 

Now don't get excited, or don't be misled, - 
Mariar went home with a pain in her head. 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

A True Story. 

If you listen unto me, 
I will tell you, do you see, 
Of many a different fake 
Grafters use to make a stake. 
And a tale I will unfold, 
Of a youth, who was so bold, 
That he did even dare 
To see the tiger in its lair. 

Ere he read this little book, 

For at it he would not look, 

For he was very, very fly, 

And would show he was no "Gruy." 

They couldn' t take him in — 

These old rackets were too thin — 

For he had clerked in a store, 

And he couldn- 1 learn no more. 

So to a city he did go, 

Where he even didn't know, 

The inns, and the outs, 

And the very many "Touts," 

Who to get his dollars few, 

Told him all they knew, 

And much more, too, 

As they took him through 

The tl Strictly Private" doors, 

And our marble floors, 

To the big pool room 

Where suckers meet their doom. 

And when the ticker places 

The result of the races, 

On the blackened wall, 

In the sight of all 

W ho may be there 

To at it stare, 

And bet their dough 

On the horse they know. 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

AVill lead the bunch, 
For they got a "lunch," 
And he got a tip, 
Which he couldn't let slip, 

For he was out for mini 
As well as fun, 
And he thought it straight. 
Until 'twas too late. 

So he placed his tin, 
And expected to win, 
But the ticker in a minute 
Showed his horse wasn't in it 

And then the poor dummy 
Showed he was a rummey, 
By betting once agin, 
When he never could win. 

For the tips he got, 
Was to aid him not, 
But only to skin 
Him out of his tin. 

And then he got sore, 
For he had no more. 
But he could not kick, 
It was done so slick. 

They would throw him out, 
If he made a shout. 
But determined was he, 
Not a "Knocker" to be. 

But went and raised a plunk, 
Which showed he had spunk, 
And tried to regain his loss, 
By going in the double cross. 

And when he lost again, 
And was once more out of tin, 
To get even with the Sharks, 
Goes out and hocks his sparks. 



10 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

This the Bookies get as quick. 
It made him heart sick, 
But even he must be, 
Ere his people he could see. 

So out again he goes, 

To a place he now well knows, 

Where the big gilt ball, 

Is a standing sign for all. 

That almost any old thing, 
Will the "Kino" bring; 
Up goes the watch and chain, 
To back the game again. 

But 'twas the same as before, 
And as he sought the door, 
He began to realize 
He was one of the common guys. 

And he saw his sad mistake, 
From the agents, who so nice — 
When this book he failed to take, 
Offered it at such a low price. 

For this little book tells 

All about such sells, 

And many more, too, 

You will find on looking through. 




FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 



...FAKES... 



The Broken Wagon Wheel Fake. 

B GREAT many different tricks are resorted to to get 
the notes of the honest well-to-do farmers. Here 
is one that has been worked quite extensively in the 
middle states recently: "A wagon with an organ or piano 
in it, stops in front of a farmer's house about dusk, the 
driver asking for the use of a wrench, or other tools, as 
a wheel or axle is broken, and some repairs are necessary 
ere further progress can be made. After much delay and 
apparent tinkering the effort to repair is given up, and the 
farmer, (who by this time has become an interested specta- 
tor, or willing assistant), is asked if the instrument can 
be left there until a different wagon can be secured. The 
request is usually granted, and the instrument is placed in 
the house, and as a matter of course, the weary traveler 
usually takes a lunch, or, perchance, stays all night, as by 
this time it is getting late, and he has wormed his way into 
the confidence of the farmer by his frankness of manner, 
and splendid music. A traveling salesman has many 
trials, etc., and the farmer also knows by this time that he 

represents the great organ or piano factory, which 

makes the best instruments on earth, or anywhere else, 
and is their general agent. Ere leaving next morning, 
more playing is indulged in, and he insists that the instru- 
ment be used until his return, as it will not hurt it a 
particle, etc. However, as he is about to depart, he 
happens to think, as a matter of form, and owing to the 
fact that he may not get back for a day or two, and he may 
have to send one of his men instead, the farmer can just 
sign a receipt for the instrument. It is needless to say that 
he or his men do not return, and in the course of ninety or 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

sixty clays this "matter-of-form," receipt turns up, from 
the local bank, in shape of a note of hand for collection, 
re it had been "shaved" as soon as possible. 'The 
farmer has nothing to show for his $90.00 or $290.00, 
[ac ording to the instrument), but a common, gaily painted 
"thump box" or organ. As a matter of course, all sharks, 
are well posted by a confederate who has probably thor- 
oughly canvassed their territory a short time previously, 
and thus learned who was responsible and who were 
contemplating the purchase of an organ or piano. 

Outwits a Sharper — A Traveling Man Beats Him 
In a Poker Game. 

Not long ago I was a passenger on a cross-country 
railway train that wound its romantic way among the lakes 
of Wisconsin. The day was so soft, the scenery so picture- 
like, that it was hard to conceive that in this blithe world 
there was such a thing as the wicked scheming of man. 
But there was. D. E. Kerr, of the Illinois College of 
Osteopathy of Chicago, and I were sitting together, talking 
about fishing, when along came an oldish, intelligent-look- 
ing chap and grabbed hold of Kerr. They shook each 
other warmly, having in years gone by done the road for 
the same commercial house. I was introduced to Mr. 
Winter, and found him bright and snappy, w T ith the 
advanced shrewdness of the day, a man of the hustling 
world. But it is said that a sucker is born ever y minute. 
While we were talking, along came three men. They 
wanted to get up a harmless game of cards. I didn't care 
to play. Neither did Kerr. But Winter said that he 
didn't mind taking a hand. To me the men looked like 
shakers, and so they must have looked to Kerr, for he 
said to his friend: 

"Never mind the card game. Let's talk about old 
times." 



13 

"Yes, pretty soon; but I will play a while 

One of the men had a deck of cards, 1 iter 

insisted upon buying a new deck from the new? aey 

began to play, and their game was without in > us 

until something was said about turning it into poker. 

"Winter can't be caught by that old chaff," said Kerr 
to me. 

"No," I replied, "but you see he has agreed." 

"What ! That's a fact. Say, Winter, I've got a story 
to tell you. Leave off your game a minute." 

"I'll see you after a while." 

"He must have quit the road a long time ago," said I. 

"No," Kerr replied; "he is still travelingfor a Chicago 
house." 

Winter began to win. He knew that it was a bait. 
Why didn't he have sense enough to see it? He became 
excited. He got up and went to the water cooler, stox>ping 
for a moment to talk to the newsboy. Then, with his back 
toward us he appeared to be taking medicine. 

"He is a morphine eater, I think," I said to Kerr. 

"I'm afraid there's something wrong with him." 

Winter returned to the game. Pretty soon there came 
a new excitement. He began to search his clothes for 
money. "Raise you," he said repeatedly. We knew that 
the decisive moment had come, and stood near to see the 
result. He was not too old to learn a lesson. "That 
scoundrel has dealt him four aces," Kerr whispered to me. 

"But let him pay for it," said I. "He ought to be 
punished." 

"Look; they are ravenous." 

The betting was fierce. There were but two battling 
for the pot — Winter and the evil-eyed man. 

"Well, I've got more money in my pocket, but it 
doesn't belong to me. A man sent it by me to pay a debt." 

"But if you think you've got the best hand, bet it. 
You ought to be entitled to the use of the money as long 
as its in your possession." "Well," continued the evil- 
eyed man, "I'll raise you a hundred/ 






14 AXES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 



me see/' said Winter, squirming about in his 
se: living down into his pockets, "you drew two 

ea rt you? Well, I'll have to raise you a hundred." 

much more goes?" 
fifty," said Winter. 
rhen I raise you two-fifty." 

Winter called him. "Well," said the evil-eyed, "to 
tell the truth, I started out on a bluff, but I've made a 
straight flush." 

"How high?" Winter quietly asked. 

"How high? king high." 

"Mine's ace high," said Winter, and he spread a royal 
flush. 

Then there was a roar; and there would have been a 
fight, but the sharpers saw that it would have been useless, 
not to say disastrous. Winter raked in the money and at 
the next stop the sharper got off. 

"Beautiful weather," said Winter, resuming his seat 
with us. 

"Say, how in the world did you work that?" 

"Oh, it was simple enough. Of course I knew what 
was coming. You know I went to the water cooler. Well, 
I got a deck of cards from the newsboy exactly like the 
deck we were playing with, and I took out a royal flush 
and slipped it into my pocket. I thought he would select 
spades, a mere guess, you know, and I took clubs. Shortly 
after I got back, down came three aces, I opened and he 
raised. I raised back, so did he, and then we drew. H 
fixed it so that I would catch my other ace in a one card 
draw. I knew this, so I drew one. The best I could have 
sized him for in a straight game would have been four kings. 
In squirming about for my money I hid my fours and got 
out my royal. Kerr, I hear you're doing well in Chicago 
since you quit the road. Yes, beautiful weather." — Opie 
Read in Chicago Inter Ocean. 

Never let mistimed modesty mar honest mirth. — The 
Pirate. 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 15 

Hoch, der Kaiser. 

The piece recited by Captain Joseph R. Coghlan of the 
United States cruiser, Raleigh, at the Army and Navy 
club reception in New Tork, which caused much criticism. 

Der Kaiser von das Faterland, 

Und Gott und I all dings command; 

We two, ach, don't you understand? 
Meinself — und Gott. 

yile some men sing der bower divine, 
Mein soldiers sing "Die Wacht am Rhein," 
Und drink der health in Rhenish wine — 
Of me — und Gott. 

There's France, she svaggers all around; 
She's augspeil, she's no agground; 
To much, we dinks, she don'd amound — 
Meinself — und Gott. 

She will not dare to fight again, 
But if she should I'll show her blain 
Dat Elsass (und in French) Loraine — 
Are mein — by Gott. 

Dere's Grandma, dinks she's nicht schmall bier, 
Mit Boers und such she interfere; 
She'll learn none owns dis hemisphere — 
But me — und Gott. 

She dinks, good frau, some ships she's got, 
Und soldiers mit der scarlet goat, 
Ach ! We could knock 'em — poof— like dot — 
Meinself — mitt Gott. 

In dimes of peace brebare for wars, 
I bear der helm and shpear of Mars, 
Und care not for den dousand Czars — 
Meinself — und Gott. 

In fact, I humor every vhim, 
Mit aspect dark und visage grim — 
Gott pulls mit me — und I mit Him — 
Meinself — und Gott. 



16 FAKES, GBAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED, 

Originator of Three-Card Monte, Now Dead. 
Considered the Greatest Card Sharp on Earth. 
Arrested But Once, and Then Pardoned 
Through the Influeuce of Noted People. 

Lew Houck, the originator of three-card monte, and 
an adept in every skin game known to gamblers or police, 
is dead. At least, a telegram to that effect was received 
today by his wife, who has lived in a retired manner in this 
city for years. He is said to have dropped dead in Durango, 
Mexico, where he had been posing as an agent for a firm of 
American manufacturers. 

Lew Houck' s life story reads like a novel. He was 
born in the little Ohio city of Sandusky, and spent most of 
his boyhood days there. Just when he was born he would 
not say, but it could not have been less than fifty years 
ago. At an early age he learned the fascination of 
gambling, and found that he had the ability to manipulate 
the pasteboards to suit himself. 

BECAME A PROFESSIONAL. 

He became a professional., gambler, and was well 
known in this part of the country, not only as a man of 
exceptional ability in his profession, as well as unfailing 
industry, but also as a man who so thoroughly under- 
stood the art of disguising that he was able to fleece the 
same victim several times over. 

His only term of imprisonment was in 1883, when he 
was canght in Texas by Detective John T. Norris, of 
Springfield. Houck had fleeced a traveling man named 
Paul Lohman, on a Hocking Valley train, near Delaware, 
and was called down by his victim. 

In the quarrel which followed Houck drew a revolver. 
The gun was discharged and Lohman was killed. Houck 
fled the country, bat was caught in Galveston, Texas, 
where he was posing as a wealthy man and w r as rapidly 
decimating the cash accounts of an exclusive social club of 
that city, to which he had been admitted. He was 
brought back to Ohio and sentenced to 16 years for the 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 17 

crime. After serving seven years he was pardoned, such 
men as ex-Governors Bishop, Young, Foster and a host of 
other prominent men of the state signing his petition of 

release. 

TRUE TO FRIENDS. 

He then disappeared from the country and little was 
heard of him. Not long ago he returned to this city, 
however, preliminary to leaving for the winter in the City 
of Mexico, and renewed his acquaintance with his friends. 
Friends he had in plenty, for with all his faults he had a 
fidelity to his friends that was admirable. No man ever- 
lost by putting faith in Lew Houck, except in a card game. 

While in this city he showed letters from Secretary 
Olney, Secretary Carlisle and others equally as prominent, 
which recommended him in the highest terms, not only to 
the American representatives abroad, but to any friends of 
the writers who might meet him. These letters were 
genuine, too. Their authenticity could not be doubted. 
Evidently in his capacity as a gentleman of leisure he had 
so imposed on them that they thought him a thorough 
gentleman. He showed credentials from three clubs, 
entitling him to all the privileges of a member and enjoin- 
ing all members to treat him as one of themselves. The 
clubs mentioned are the most aristocratic in their respec- 
tive towns. 

SKINNED WALES. 

During his residence abroad he had beaten the Prince 
of Wales, at baccarat. He skinned royal Dukes out of 
their jacket money in ways peculiarly his own. He 
relieved more members of the English aristocracy of 
wealth than any highway robber since the days of Turpin. 
And at all times he moved in the best society. He pro- 
duced papers to show that while he was in London he was 
feted and dined by some of the upper crust of England. 
He always posed as a wealthy American traveler, and as 
such was received into the best society. 

A few weeks ago he left for the City of Mexico, where 



18 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

he was to remain during the winter, ostensibly as an agent 
for an American manufacturer, really as one of the best 
men with the nimble pasteboard or the elusive shell that 
ever picked up a bet. 

An Easy Game.— Train Buncoers Take All the 
Money Frank Schleffin Had. — A Warning to 
the Unsophisticated. 

All the German's newly made acquaintance wanted 
was the use of his money while he turned a sure-thing 
trick — turned it and quit the train, leaving Schleffin to 
wonder. 

The bunco men are not all dead yet. They are not 
doing much in the city of Denver, but they operate on 
nearly all of the trains leaving this city. Their latest 
victim is Frank Schleffin, a German miner, who has been 
working in Russell Gulch. 

Schleffin has lived in this country for nine years, but 
speaks very little English. He went to police headquarters 
this morning and said he had been buncoed to the tune of 
$70.00. He had been to Pueblo, he said, through an inter- 
preter, and last night boarded a train for Central City. 
Soon after he got on the train a man sat down beside him 
and engaged him in conversation. The stranger invited 
him to go back into the smoking room and have a drink. 

In the smoking room the strange man met another 
man and they got to playing dice. They wanted Schleffin 
to "come in" to make the game more interesting, but the 
German said "auber nit" and smiled. Finally the men 
proposed to throw for $200 and the friend of the German 
did not have that amount with him. but said he had it in 
his g'ip on the seat in the car. The German wanted to go 
for i e grip, but his friend would not let him. The friend 
s'lio he had a sure thing and for the German to loan him 
+ he amount and he would give it back to him "in a minute." 



» j 



"Vade a minude and you vont need id," said the Ger- 
man, but that would not do and Schleffin was induced to 



pull $70 from his pocket, all the money he had, and 
it over to his friend. 

Of course the friend lost, and he and the German 
started forward to get the money out of the grip. Just 
then the conductor came in and called out "Palmer Lake." 

''Well," said the friend of the German, "I did not 
know w T e were running so fast. Here's my station. I'll 
write to you and send that money by the first mail." 

He grabbed his grip, ran to the door and swung off the 
train, while the buncoed German sank into his seat and 
wondered how it all happened. 

"Dey dole me graps vas a gude game and vas a sure 
ting winner, bad I dink so not, neither. I doan dink dot 
fellow had no money in dod grip an mapy he vas friend ov 
de odder man already. He shump ov de train and says 
gude by my friends, I'll send you dot moneys by mail bud 
he vont, and I am loose my moneys." 

The police think they know who it was that buncoed 
Schleffin and have notified the authorities at Colorado 
Springs and Pueblo to arrest the suspect.— Denver Post. 

The Mexican Bean Clock, — Exceptionally Clever 
Fraud Perpetrated by an Ingenious Jeweler, 

A few years ago public curiosity was excited by the 
curious beans called the "devil beans of Mexico," which 
shopkeepers placed in their windows. They somewhat 
resembled roasted coffee beans in shape and color. They 
w T ere also known as the "jumping beans," owing to the 
fact that from time to time they made spasmodic move- 
ments which TJropelled them quite a little distance 
beans grow on a little bush in the Mexican mountain 
it is conjectured that they belong to the order EupJ 
ceae. The bean really consisted of three similar 
which formed a single bean. It is usually a third 
bean which is exhibited as a curiosity. On openii 
pod it w r as found that it contained a small larva, somi 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

that frequently found in chestnuts. It is this little 
>ant which gives motion to the bean by its jerks and 
thumps against the side of its home. If the bean is slightly 
warmed it begins to turn from side to side, and perhaps 
with a sudden jump turns completely over and stands on 
one end, and then by successive jumps moves quite a dis- 
tance. 

Those who are not in the secret are often greatly puz- 
zled by this strange bean. An enterprising jeweler devised 
a scheme of utilizing them to make a magic clock. He 
accomplished this by imitating the shape of two of the 
beans, making the dummy beans one of soft iron. One he 
gilded and the other he silvered. The prepared iron beans 
were placed with the ordinary jumping beans on a thin 
white piece of pasteboard, outlined and numbered like the 
dial of a clock, but devoid of the hands. This dial was 
located over the works of a large clock which was placed 
face upward on the floor of the store window. He fastened 
small magnets to the ends of the hands. The works were 
of course carefully hidden from view. All that was in 
evidence was the cardboard clock dial and the jumping 
beans, among which were the gold and silver painted iron 
beans. These were placed on' the cardboard over the con- 
cealed hands with the magnets attached. The magnets 
were moved by the hands of the clock so that they were 
almost in contact with the cardboard. As they moved 
around they carried the iron beans with them, thus telling 
the time of day, and the public was greatly interested by 
the intelligence shown by the two beans, which dis- 
tinguished them from their lively associates. — Scientific 
American. 

How's This. 

An examination was made of an electric belt recently 

soid by a street fakir in Wichita, Kansas, and it was found 

>eneath a strip of gauze was a layer of dry mustard. 

When the wearer perspired a little the mustard was moist- 

and set up a burning sensation and the deluded 

ed a current of electricity was passing through him. 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 21 

Wolf in Sheep's Garb. — Posed as Minister and 
Made Money. Retained Money Collected for 
Flood Sufferers and Borrowed from Charitable 
People. 

In Canon City he was known as the Rev. Charles F. 
Leslie, president of the Union League of New Orleans; in 
Castle Rock, Douglas county, he said he was Dr. F. A. 
Ellsworth; in Rawlins, Wyo., he insisted his right name 
was the Rev. Lee Lyle; in the Denver city jail he refuses 
to say what his name is, or to say anything else. But 
Sheriff Michael Blythe, of Fremont county, who has him 
in tow, says he is a gilt-edged crook. The sheriff is taking 
him back to Canon City to answer to the charge of obtain- 
ing money under false pretenses. 

Where the prisoner originally hails from and what his 
past acts and associations have been are matters to Sheriff 
Blythe unknown. He appeared in Canon City about the 
first of last April and introduced himself to the good 
people of that town as Rev. Charles F. Leslie. He had a 
distinguished air about him, despite the fact that he is 
only 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighed only 117 pounds. 
His silver gray hair gave him the appearance of a man 
of years and experience; his w ell-modulated voice and 
low-toned words easily gained him the respectful attention 
of those persons he talked to, and his frank blue eyes 
favorably impressed all who met him. He had a beautiful 
buxom young woman with him, whom he introduced as 
his wife and whose refined and modest bearing was well in 
keeping with the sober and sedate carriage of her com- 
panion. 

THE GLAD HAND. 

Accordingly, when the stranger announced that he 
was a Methodist divine and that he was in Colorado as the 
representative of the Union Leaugue of New Orleans, there 
was no hesitancy on the part of the Canon Cityites in 
receiving him into their homes and confidence. To be sure 
few of them, if any, had ever heard of the existence or 
mission of the Uuion League of New Orleans, but when 



22 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

the Rev. Charles F. Leslie explained to them they said: 
"Ah. to be sure!" and were satisfied. He explained that 
the Union League of New Orleans was a charitable organi- 
zation, formed with the godly purpose of relieving the 
sufferers of the Mississippi valley floods. 

"Ah, a noble work!" exclaimed the Canon City 
philanthropists. 

And when in the course of time, the Rev. Charles F. 
Leslie, laying aside, like the truly good man that he w T as, 
the claims of Methodism and the tint of sectarianism in 
any form, began to appear impartially in Baptist, Meth- 
odist, Campbellite, Episcopal, Lutheran, Cumberland and 
other pulpits, and to explain the grandeur of the cause he 
represented and to paint in glowing, but never vulgarly 
overdrawn terms, the blessedness of giving in charity to 
the oppressed and the unfortunate, contributions came 
rolling in in a golden stream, like to burst the bulging 
sides of the collection boxes. All the time the beauteous 
Mrs. Leslie smiled benignly and bestowed cheering words 
on the Canon Cityites. They liked her. 

This sort of thing kept up for six weeks, time enough 
to enable the Rev. and Mrs. Leslie to make the rounds of 
all the Canon churches and to gather in a charity fund of 
such proportions as to relieve a whole county of flood suf- 
ferers, had it ever reached them. But on May 18 the end 
came. That day the Rev. Charles F. Leslie appeared at 
the residence, of the Rev. Rufus Chase, one of the city's 
best known preachers, and said: 

"Brother, my salary as president of the Union League 
of New Orleans is unexplainably delayed. I get $100 a 
month and my expenses as the unworthy occupant of this 
position, and my remittance should have arrived yesterday. 
It hasn't come; perhaps the Hoods have delayed it, and 
inasmuch as I have forwarded the offerings of your good 
people to League Headquarters in New Orleans as fast as 
they were made, I am penniless. Would you kindly 
advance me a small loan, say $25 or $30, until my check 
arrives ? 

Of course, the Rev. Rufus Chase would advance Bro. 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 23 

Leslie a small loan; and he did, making it $30. The next 
day Brother and Sister Leslie disappeared from Canon 
City. Inquiries were set on foot as to who they were and 
what the Union League of New Orleans was, and in time it 
developed, says Sheriff Blythe, that they were all impos- 
tors. The Rev. Rufus Chase thereupon swore out a 
warrant for Brother Leslie on false pretenses. 

But, as said, Brother Leslie and the buxom Sister 
Leslie were both gone. They next appeared at Castle 
Rock, Douglas county, as Dr. and Mrs. F. A. Ellsworth. 
What they did there is not yet known, but it must have 
been something bad, for Sheriff Priest issued a reward 
card for their arrest after they had departed. The card 
did not explain what they were wanted for, but it said 
they were wanted mighty quick. Sheriff Blythe ingenu- 
ously asserts that Mrs. Ellsworth posed at Castle Rock as 
a "graduated wet nurse." He says she has many "alices;" 
and the doctor, too. 

The Rev. Charles F. Leslie, alias Dr. F. A. Ellsworth, 
was arrested at Rawlins, Wyo., last Sunday, under the 
name of the Rev. Lee Lyle. Sister Leslie was Sister Lyle, 
but as there was no warrant for her, she was not taken 
into custody. There are doubts, says Sheriff Blythe, 
about whether she is in reality the preacher-doctor's wife 
or not. Anyway the Sheriff left her there, and, presuma- 
bly she is there yet. Sheriff Blythe' s prisoner will proceed 
on his journey to Canon City tonight. How much 
"business" he did in Rawlins is not stated. He is fifty 
years old and says he has no statement to make to the 
newspapers. 

Longing. 

I'm tired building and toiling 

In the crowded hives of men; 
Heartsick of rising and falling, 

And rising and falling again — 
And I sigh for the dear old river, 

Where I whiled my youth away, 
Where oft I'd go in swimmin' 

And get licked for it every day ! 



24 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

Doping Horses A Popular Practice. — Much in 

Favor at Outlaw Tracks, where Even Racing 

Officials Make Use of "The Needier 

"The doping of racehorses," said Louis Cella, of St. 
Louis, who has made book on the Western tracks since 
sheet writing became an industrial art, "has gone on for a 
good many years. I remember the very first time a horse 
had the needle used on him. It was in a race at Sheeps- 
head Bay, in which Aretino was a red hot favorite, while 
a horse called Corsair, trained by George Bryson, was a 
rank outsider in the betting until some Western people 
went down the line on him and burnt up the ring with 
Corsair money, cutting the price from 20 to 1 to even 
money, and then 4 to 5. 

CORSAIR WAS LAME. 

"Corsair, according to his trainer's report, had been 
afflicted for some time with navicular lameness, had 'oselets' 
on his ankles, and had been disgracefully beaten in his 
last two races by the same horses with whom he was entered 
in this race, so to the bettors it looked queer in the first 
place that any 'wise money' should be placed on him. 

"When they came to the post Corsair cantered to the 
judges' stand, and his jockey had trouble in holding him. 

"He delayed the start at the post by his antics, and 
finally, when the starter got them off, Corsair was in front, 
and he made Aretino and the bunch look like a lot of dogs. 

"He won by several lengths, and, although the bets 
were paid on him, it was found afterward that he had been 
'doped' with enough cocaine and brandy to make an ele- 
phant run like a gazelle. Corsair was never raced again. 

FIRST CASE OF DOPE. 

"This was the first known case of 'doping,' and all 
old timers remember the race. 

"Then in Chicago, where I raced a stable for a good 
many years, cases of 'doping' were plentiful. 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSE 

"In 1895, a horse named Fred Wooley rai 
Louis Fair Grounds, and won a purse or two. 

'•One night his trainers took him over to inv South 
Side, the little electric light track, and entered him in a 
race for the next night. 

"The pool rooms were in full blast down town, and 
the night of the race a good deal of money was bet on him, 
on the track and in the pool rooms, and several thousand 
dollars were won by persons who owned the horse. 

"He had been 'doped' this night or he would never 
have beaten his field as he did. 

"In his next race they again shot the stuff into him, 
and, as before, he won by a block. 

"The judges declared all bets off and ordered the horse 
examined. 

NEEDLE PRICKS CONVICTED. 

"Plenty of evidence was found in the various spots 
that plainly showed' on his forelegs and neck, where the 
needle had been used. 

"Later on, he was reinstated, and won seven straight 
races, and his owner told me afterward that the 'dope' was 
in him every tiiOe he started. 

"In 1896 a crowd of Texas people brought some horses 
to St. Louis and started them at the Fair Grounds. 

"Gustave Cook and Bob White were the best of a 
bunch of cheap selling platers, but one fine day Bob White 
came out and beat a field of good horses at 50 to 1, and the 
Texans made a barrel of money. Before the race, Woods, 
one of the owners, went to several reputable trainers to 
borrow a hyperdermic syringe and failed. 

"He got one somewhere, however, for the horse was 
'doped,' and it was proven to be true when it was too late 
to protect the money of the public. 

BARLEYCORN LOOKED QUEER, 

"The case of King Barleycorn, whose entry was refused 
at Gravesend on account of his erratic running, has a queer 
look, and many turfmen do not hesitate to say that the 
d'>p°' is accountable for his in and out races, as his 



tvvm i rrmtfmir- , „ . ,. , . , _ 



.KES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

, of form are altogether too striking to be over- 
bed. 

"Lao. winter, in New Orleans, Jimmy McVeigh had 
him and both horse and trainer barely escaped getting 
under the ban of the Turf Congress then. 

"He beat a field of good horses one day in 1.40 1-2 on 
a slow track, with heavyweight up, then came out two or 
three days later and was badly beaten with lightweight up 
by a lot of cheap selling platers in 1.42 3-4. 

"Many of his races caused unfavorable comment. 
"On September 7, at Sheepshead, King Barleycorn, 
ridden as usual, by Keenan, with 114 pounds up, ran 
away from such horses as May Hempstead, Maid of Harlem 7 
Hurly Burly and Galahad, in a five and a half furlong race, 
and won as he pleased in 1.08, after having been badly 
beaten by the same horses a few days before. 

"He was heavily played and a lot of money was taken 
out of the ring on his race. 

ROLLER COASTER RACING. 

"In his next race, September 12, at Gravesend, which 
was at five and a half furlongs, he was next to last, with 
117 up, in a field of horses including Lady Lindsay, Miss 
Marion, Heliobas, and Blarneystone, Miss Marion winning 
in 1.08 3-5. 

"The next day, September 13, this horse was entered 
at 114 pounds, for a mile and a furlong, with Bon Ino, 
Azucena, Leo Planter and Lackland, with Arbaces the 
favorite. His jockey, Keenan, kept the others waiting at 
the post fully five minutes on account of some mysterious 
delay in the paddock. When he appeared, the horse was 
as full of 'ginger' as a yearling, and the starter had diffi- 
culty in subduing him enough to make him break with 
the rest. 

"King Barleycorn won all the- way, with plenty to 
spare, having the race to himself in 1.54 2-5. 

"After this race his entry was refused, and since then 
ugly rumors have been afloat among the horsemen. 

"I do not say he was 'doped,' but if he was not he is 
a strange horse, and has astonishing reversals, of form. 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 27 

POPULAR ''PRESCRIPTIONS." 

"The most common method of 'doping' a horse is to 
inject with a hyperdermic syringe, a quantity of nitro- 
glycerine and rose water, but cocaine injections, morphine 
and several other preparations are also used. 

"They formerly put the needle into the soft skin of 
the neck, or on the forelegs of a horse, where, by casual 
examination by one familiar with the 'doping' of horses, 
it could be easily found out. 

"The injection will always raise a small knot on the 
outside of the skin. 

"The crooked people have grown careful now, and 
generally put the needle in the mane, where the little knot 
will never be noticed in the thick hair. 

"The outlaw tracks were golcondas for the man who 
'doped 5 his horses, for on them the practice flourished. 

OFFICIALS HAD THEM. 

"In St. Louis the story is told that one night at South 
Side, when a certain owner wanted to do a little 'doping,' 
he went to an official, asking where he could borrow a 
'needle' to fix up his horse. He was referred to another 
officer, who ran a stable of his own horses there in con- 
nection with his other business, and loaned the ambitious 
owner his own 'needle' with the warning that it must be 
soon returned, as he had one of his own horses in a race 
that night and would need it. 

"The 'electric saddle,' or rather a saddle with a small 
but powerful battery inside it, helped in the old days, as 
many cheap selling platers to beat good horses as the 'dope' 
itself, but so many examples were made of guilty owners 
and jockeys that at the present time the 'electric saddle' 
has fallen into disuse, but cases of 'doping' are still alto- 
gether too frequent, both on the Eastern and Western 
tracks, and some means should be taken to put a stop to it 
forever." 



28 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

A New York Man Wagers $100,000 Against 

Fifty Cents. 

A man in New York, who has evidently studied well 
the science of probabilities, has invented a most fascinating- 
game of chance whereby he is largely profiting. He 
deposited in the Chemical National bank $500 and made a 
check against it which was duly certified. This check he 
offered to the man who would throw five sixes with dice 
"one flop*' out of the box, having paid fifty cents for the 
privilege of throwing. 

That the dice might not be handled or juggled they 
were placed inside a thick bell glass resting on a base, the 
top of which was over a heavy spring operated by a lever. 
The dice and machine were examined by a committee of 
reputable men and the whole securely sealed. When a 
man wanted to throw against the check he paid fifty cents, 
pulled down the lever, released it and the dice sprang into 
Wr against the top of the glass and fell back again. The 
game has been in operation almost a year and no one has 
won the check. In that time 360,000 throws have been 
made. As the fund has grown the check has been 
increased until now it calls for $100,000, and the man who 
operates the check has pocketed $80,000. There is no 
restriction against his withdrawing the check and closing 
the game any time he desires, but it is so profitable that he 
will hardly do so. The sum of money to be won is so 
large that the dice machine is kept busy all the time. It 
is located in a bar room on lower Broadway near Wall 
street, and is patronized by brokers and their clerks. 

A traveling man from New York, who was in Kansas 
City last week, speaking, of it said: 

' *Tt is a very fascinating pursuit, trying to shake five 
sixes for $100,000. I have spent almost $160 in the game 
myself, and some of those Wall street men have spent 
thousands of dollars against it. One afternoon I was in 
there and a young fellow from the clearing house monopo- 
lized the machine until the place closed up at night. As 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 29 

fast as he could pull down the lever and the dice fall he 
pulled it again and the man in charge kept books on him. 
I don't know how many times he threw, but it must have 
been thousands, and I was told that he hadn't thrown five 
of any number in all that time." 

What are the probabilities of five sixes being thrown 
at dice % 

Prof. J. M. Greenwood, superintendent of public 
schools, has figured this out. To a reporter of The Star 
he said yesterday: 

"The problem as I understand it is: If five dice be 
thrown, what is the probability that the five sixes will 
turn up ? The probability that the first will turn up a 6 
is one-sixth, and so on for each of the other four dice; 
hence the compound probability that the event will happen 
as required in the problem is 1-6x1-6x1-6x1-6x1-6, equals 
1-7,776. This result shows that the event is likely to 
happen once in 7,776 throws; it may happen oftener, or 
not at all. 

' 'To show. the principle upon which the solution is 
based, suppose two dice be used, and it be required to find 
the probability that the two sixes will turn up, it 
is evident that the ace on the first can be combined 
in six ways with the faces of the second, thus: Ace and 
ace, ace and 2, ace and 3, ace and 4, ace and 5, ace and 6; 
take 2 next, then 2 and ace, 2 and 2, 2 and 3, 2 and 4, 2 and 
5, 2 and 6; then 3„ 3 and ace, 3 and 2, 3 and 3, 3 and 4, 3 
and 5, 3 and 6; 4 and ace, 4 and 2, 4 and 3, 4 and 4, 4 and 5, 
4 and 6; 5 and ace, 5 and 2, 5 and 3, 5 and 4, 5 and 5, 5 and 
6; and lastly 6, then 6 and ace, 6 and 2, 6 and 3, 6 and 4, 6 
and 5, 6 and 6. That is one chance in 36, or 1-36. 

The choice of chance and the theory of probability 
began to be a science two centuries or more ago when 
Pascal solved the first question in it. The principles of 
the science are not complicated and are worked out by 
mathematics. Choice is the measure of circumstance; that 
is, it implies how many ways a certain thing may, or may 
not be done, or the number of ways open to choose from. 
Chance or probability shows the likelihood for the occur- 



30 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

ence of any number of events under given conditions. It 
is simple for the happening of a single event, and com- 
pound for the concurrent happening of two or more events. 
The probability of the occurence of an event may be 
represented by a fraction, the denominator being the 
whole number of cases favorable and unfavorable, and the 
numerator the favorable cases. The sum of the probabil- 
ities of several events is equal to the probability that one 
of these events will occur. The compound probability of 
the occurence of several events is equal to the product of 
the several probabilities. A selection or combination of 
any number of articles is a group of that number of articles 
classes together, but not regarded as having any particular 
order among themselves. An arrangement or permutation 
of any number of articles is a group of that number of 
articles, not only classed together, but regarded as having 
a particular order among themselves. 

"There are any number of simple problems to illustrate 
these principles. For instance, suppose there are four 
roads leading to Westport from Kansas City. How many 
ways may I go and return from Kansas City to West- 
port'^ Evidently there are four ways of going and four 
ways of returning, that is, sixteen ways in all. I can go or 
return on the same road or return by any one of the other 
three, aud since there are four ways of coming back, there 
are sixteen ways in all. But if we wish to exclude the way 
of coming back by the same road we went, there are only 
twelve ways, and twelve ways are found by excluding the 
ineligible ways, which are four. 

"If a nickel and a dime be tossed up, in how many 
ways can they fall? In four ways, since each can fall in 
two ways. The four ways — first, both heads; second, both 
tails; third the nickle head and the dime tail; fourth the 
nickel tail and the dime head. Suppose a person should 
bet on any one of these combinations, what is the chance 
of winning? Simply one-fourth; three chances are unfavor- 
able and one favorable. Again, if two dice be thrown 
together, in how many ways can they fall? The first can 
fall in six ways, the second can fall in six ways, hence 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 31 

both can fall in thirty-six ways, which is easily shown by 
arranging the numbers corresponding to the faces of the 
dice: 

"Two persons get into a street car in which there are 
six vacant seats. In how many ways can they seat them- 
selves? The first person can take any of the vacant seats, 
but after he is seated the second is obliged to take one of 
the five vacant seats, hence there are thirty ways of seating 
themselves. 

"Here is an interesting problem for young people. 
There are ten girls and eight young men at a party. Three 
of the girls and two of the men are brothers and sisters; 
the others are unrelated. In how many ways might a 
marriage be effected? The answer is: If all were unrelated, 
there would be eighty ways of marriage, but since there 
are some brothers and sisters, these must be excluded, and 
since there are three of one sex and two of the other, there 
are six eligible matches which must be excluded, therefore 
there are seventy fair chances of marriage. In explanation, 
if the chance that an event will happen is 1-4, the chance 
of it not happening is 3-4; so if the chance of hitting a 
target is 29-60, the chance of missing it is 31-60. If the 
chance of Brown's winning a race is 1-7, the chance that 
neither will win it is 23-25. 

"When two dice are thrown, what is the chance the 
throw will be greater than eight % Out of the thirty-six 
ways in which the dice may be thrown, there are six possi- 
ble combinations which give results greater than 8, namely 
5 and 4, 4 and 5, 5 and 6, 6 and 5, 5 and 5 and 6 and 6. 
Therefore, the chance is 6-36, equals 1-6." 

There is no better antidote against entertaining too 
high an opinion of others than having an excellent one of 
ourselves at the very same time. — Waverly. 

We know what we are, we know not what we may be. 
—St. Ronan's Well. 



82 FAKES, GEAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

Joe Irish Was a Gambler — Adventuers of a Tender- 
foot About to be Vagged. 

"A man's never broke until he's broke. Also, all 
sheep herders are surely crazy." 

The man who gave utterance to these two gems of 
wisdom, or experience, used to run a newspaper at Buffalo, 
Wyoming. He took two long draws at his cigar and gazed 
around him blandly. The other men at the cafe table 
regarded him with interest. They did not perceive the 
connection between the two remarks. 

"No, siree," he continued, "no man's ever broke until 
he's flat cleaned out and busted down to the last piece of 
metal with the U. S. stamp on it. And although there's 
not a particle of doubt that Joe Irish was, and probably is 
yet, the craziest sheep herder that ever threw a rock at a 
Snake River magpie, that don' t say that all sheep herders 
aren't more or less loony. Now, after the chance Joe 
Irish had to quit a big winner that time, of course, like the 
crazy sheep herder he was, he wasn't satisfied, but he 
wanted to put all the layouts oat of business, and of course 
he went broke down to his last two bits. And if, after 
getting down to the last two bits, he hopped in again and 
fooled me up by quitting a bigger winner than he had been 
before, why. that didn't prove that he wasn't plumb blind, 
staggering crazy, not by a dickens of a lot, did it? 

"Joe, you know," went on the returned exile, "couldn't 
spend his pay on the range, and so, when he came into 
Pocatello (which is in Idaho, as I suppose I must say for 
the benefit of the Uitlanders by whom I am surrounded), 
he had $300 waiting for him. That $300 bundle was an 
awful affliction to Joe. He knew that he couldn't hope to 
blow it all in on sage-brush whisky within the space of ten 
days, which was to be the period of his knock-off after 
nine solid months on the range — but he made the attempt. 
After three days of it he still had $250 left. Now, whisky 
and inborn insanity naturally make toward melancholia. 
I was up against it at Pocatella, but I had a front. That 



33 

Is, I had a collar and necktie. That's probably why Joe 
Irish picked me out for somebody when he saw me standing 
near the entrance to the Grand Palace bar and asked me. 
We had two or three and then Joe unfolded to me his tale 
of woe. Only six and a half days remaining of his vaca- 
tion from the sheep range and $250 left. 

" 'An 1 th' best I kin do,' said Joe, 'is t' drink three 
gallons o' booze a day, an' there ain't no one around here 
to stan' me up an' take th' bundle off me, or work th* 
shells on me, or do me out o' th' wad. Podner,' wound up 
Joe, plaintively, Tm afeard I'm a-goin' If hev fully $12 
left out o 7 this bunch when th' time comes for me t' hit th' 
range agin.' 

k 'I really felt sorry for Joe, and so suggested Shag 
Shaughnessy. You see, when I struck Pocatello I had 
gone against Shag Shaughnessy's layout myself. My 
ticket ran out at Pocatello, and I had only $8 left. I 
wanted to go to some old place, either backward or for- 
ward, and $8 wasn't much. Shag got the $8. That was 
why I was anchored at Pocatello. 

"I had practically to lift Joe into Shag's, for the mes- 
quite whisky had told on him already on this fourth morn- 
ing of his vacation from the range, although he hadn't 
taken more than eighty-seven drinks ot it since he had got 
out of bed at 9 o'clock in the morning. ] lifted him into 
Shag's from purely philanthropic motives. I didn't pur- 
pose permitting any poor sheep herder to go back to his 
range with money if I could help it. And Shag looked 
jjleased when I brought Joe in. Shag was dealing himself, 
and the four men in front of the table were inkers. 

" 'Here's a poor man,' said I to Shag, 'that's got to go 
to work on his range next week, and he don't see his way 
clear to getting rid of his pile between now and then unless 
he has assistance. I can't help him any because I'm only 
waiting here to be vagged. Fix him out. Shag, and earn 
his eternal gratitude.' 

" Todner,' said Joe to me gratefully, 'you're all right 
Much obliged.' 

"Then Joe fell into one of the side seats just when 



34 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

Shag was starting a new boxful, and by the time the box 
was out Joe had won $1,850 of Shag's coin just by letting 
his money stand eight times on the double, because he had 
no more sense, between his natural craziness and the 
whisky. Joe plunked his first hunk of gilt, $20, on a 
queen. It came out. Then he slapped the winning and 
the original $20 over on an eight. It came out. And so on. 
Eight times he did this. The box was kind to him every 
time. After the eighth come out, when, besides his original 
$20, $1,850 worth of Shag's chips were piled up on the 
jack, the eighth card, Joe suddenly came to, like a man 
who has been hypnotized. It was a durned uncomfortable 
lucid interval for Shag. 

" 'Podner,' said Joe, addressing me, Tm jest a bit 
dizzy. We'll git out in the air an' whirl aroun' some. 
Jest cash in this bunch for me, will you?' 

"Shag looked very much disappointed. In fact, I've 
rarely seen such a disappointed looking man as Shag was 
when he turned that $1,850 worth of chips into gold and 
currency. 

" 'Are you going to bring him back?' Shag asked me. 

" 'My boy,' said I to Shag, 'I'm waiting to get vagged 
here, but I am not yet a runner for your institution. From 
motives of the purest philanthropy I brought our sheep- 
herding son of fortune here, to assuage his premature grief 
at the prospect of being compelled to return to his range 
with negotiable paper and metal. The task seems to have 
been too difficult, but it let's me out. For the future 
movements of Mr. Irish' — Joe had already gone out the 
front door — 'I am not responsible.' 

"Shaughnessey cashed the chips, and I walked out 
with $1,870, which included Joe's original venture of $20, 
and, nailing the wandering Jew about a block up the street, 
I handed it out to him, You may be surprised that he 
trusted me, a stranger, so completely, but then you are 
measureably familiar with my winning ways. 

"Joe didn't seem to be particularly pleased with the 
amount of his winnings. 

"It's one thing or th' other, Podner, with me,' said he, 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 35 

'Either 1 go back to th' range broke, or I go a-travelin', 
an' I keep on a-travelin 1 until Fra broke. It looks as if I 
don't get broke here. So, how about a-travelin' an' right 
now ?' 

"Irelared unto the crazy man several tales of quite 
sensible persons who hadn't been able to let well enough 
alone, and I told him he'd better hang on to his winnings 
and take a brace. 

" 'Brace nothin', ' he replied. I'm braced, huddlin' a 
onery bunch o' sheep ten months in th' year, an' I'm just 
unbracin' now an' lettiir out. When's th' nex' train 
West comin' along ? 

"The next Union Pacific train for the West was about 
due then, and I told him so. 

"Well, we'll just take it," said Joe. 

"It was humiliating, but I was compelled to tell him 
my circumstances, but he wasn't up to moralizing just 
then. He dug into the pocket wherein he had deposited 
his winnings, drew out a handful of gold and notes, and 
as I placed both hands on my back dreprecatingly, he put 
it all into the rim of my hat. 

" 'I'm stakin' you,' he said. 'Don't be a coyote.' 

"I reached for the money and counted it. It amounted 
to $235. 

" 'As a loan, then,' says I, 'all right' for I reflected 
that if we were to go traveling, a stake would be necessary, 
very likely before long. 

"We went over to the Grand Palace four-room hotel 
and I paid up and got my grip. Joe had entered Poca- 
tello unincumbered with luggage, and my solicitude over 
mine bored him a good deal. When the Union Pacific- 
train came along we took palace-car seats for the length of 
the division. I thought that 'ud be far enough to sober 
Joe up. The end of the division was Glenn's Fairy, Idaho. 
When we got there— and neither of us suffered for nour- 
ishment on the way— it was about 11 o'clock at night. I 
I put up across from the station, at a hotel kept by a 
locomotive engineer's wife. I intended to get Joe to bed 
there, lock him up, and when he was measurably sober 



If.. ' ■ 



36 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

the next morning, beat sense , into his head. The plan 
didn't go, though. Joe was just sober enough before I 
got him to bed to be contrary, He had seen a wide-open 
game on his way to the hotel. He wanted some of it. I \ 
had to go along with him. 

*'Joe didn't have a nickle in the world when we left 
that game at 2 o'clock in the morning. I had about $220 
but Joe had forgotten all about that, and I didn't inten N d 
to tell him anything about it until some of the corners 
of his jag had been effaced. We turned in and slept like 
a pair of tops. When we woke up the next morning Joe 
didn't exhibit the customary gloom made , and provided 
for the broke man with the big head. He was chipper and 
cheerful. 

" 'I guess I kin stand in with one o' th' brakies t' git 
a ride back t' my range,' said he. 'What's more, I've 
had my money's worth. We'll stand 'em up fur break- 
fast here, hey ?' 

"I nodded. As we were entering the eating room of 
the hotel shack, Joe kicked something metallic with the 
toe of his boot, and the metallic thing went clinking 
around the room until it hit the wall. Joe followed it 
up. It was a quarter. There was a far deeper expression 
of pleasure on his face when he picked up that quarter 
than there had been during any part of the time when he 
was slugging Shag Shaughnessey's faro layout. 

" 'I ain't broke yit,' said Joe, stuffing the quarter 
into his pocket. 

"After we had breakfast we went out for a walk 
around. 1 pretended to have found a stray dollar in my 
vest pocket, and I asked Joe into a weather-boarded 
saloon for a drink. In the back room of the saloon there 
w T as a roulette wheel and a red and black table, both of 
them already in operation for the benefit of the railroad 
men who were soon to go out on their trains. The quarter 
in Joe's pocket itched. He played the 00 on the wheel 
layout. It won. Then he did another amateurish thing. 
He played the 33. It won. Joe was crazy, as I say, and 
therefore a bet doubler from away back. He doubled on 



37 



the wheel, and losing only nine times in twenty-seven 
plays, and just keeping under the $20 limit — the game 
ranging from a quarter to that figure — he had $268 when 
I plucked him by the sleeve. He was sensible enough to 
quit the wheel at my whispered suggestion. But w T hen 
we got outside: 

"We'll now head for the main tent,' repeated Joe, 
and there was nothing for it but to accompany him to 
Glenn's Ferrry's chief faro layout. 

"Joe took seven drinks of whisky and started play. 
He got down to his last $10 gold bit, and I w T as just about 
to dig up my hold-out pile and begin to play myself, 
when he played the high card with his $10 and won. He 
couldn't lose from that moment. At 3 o'clock in the 
afternoon, when the east-bound express from Portland, 
Ore., was due, Joe was $2,225 wunner. I tugged at him 
and invited him to the station to see me off. 

" 'Where you goin' 3 he asked me. 

" 'East, To Omaha,' I told him. 

"He cashed in and handed me five $100 bills. 

" 'You kin return that, if you're speamish about it, 
when you git back where you b'long.' 

"I smiled in Joe's teeth and produced the $219 that I 
had left. 

" 'I am already your beneficiary to this extent,' I 
said to him, 'and if you insist on it I'll hang on to this, 
although I meant to return it to you when you took a 
brace, and be much obliged to you in the bargain.' 

"He studied me for a moment. 

" 'Well, Podner,' he said finally, "if a tenderfoot like 
you kin come out t' this country an' hold such a level 
head on his shoulders there ain't no reason that I kin see 
why I shouldn't profit by th' example, sot' speak. I'll 
just hold out on myself and carry out this whole bunch 
with me back t' th' range.' 

"He took the east-bound train with me, and got off 
with about $2,100 in his pocket when we reached the 
station nearest his range. All of which is why I wasn't 



38 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

vagged at. Pocatello. All of which also goes to show 
that a man's never broke until he's broke." 

"But how about all the sheep herders being crazy?" 
one of the men at the cafe table inquired. 

"Didn't Joe Irish let me, a broke and about-to-be 
vagged tenderfoot, from the East, handle his winnings?" 
inquired the man who used to run a newspaper at Buffalo, 
Wyo.— New York Sun. 



Bidwell, King of Forgers, is Dead, 

Chicago, III., March 11. 

Special Correspondent of Sunday Post-Dispatch. 

Austin Bidwell is dead. The man who 25 years ago 
startled the police of both continents by his daring and 
skillful swindle on the Bank of England, by which that 
institution was defrauded in the first instance of $1,000,- 
000, and who, when captured, was enabled to -withstand 
the effects of 18 years' penal servitude, succumbed to the 
grip at Butte, Mont., Tuesday night. 

To one man in Chicago the passing of Bidwell recalls 
memories which are connected with his active police work. 
This morning William A Pinkerton, of Pinkerton' s 
National Detective Agency related the salient points in 
Bidwell' s life prior to his conviction on the charge of 
swindling "the old lady of Threadneedle st." as the Bank 
of England is commonly called. Mr. Pinkerton made the 
arrest. 

During the beginning of the Civil War in this country 
and while but a schoolboy, Mr. Pinkerton remembers how 
he used to delight in purchasing "home-made" candy 
from George and Austin Bidwell, who occupied the store 
at Madison and Dearborn sts., in which Lipman's pawn- 
shop now is. Afterward they engaged in the commission 
business and failed. Going East they engaged in what is 
known to the police as "business swindling," or a bogus 
commission trade. 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 39 

They ultimately joined a gang of forgers then operat- 
ing under the direction of George Ingles, alias "Dutch 
George," George Wilkes and Phil Hargraves, and became 
known as the presenters of forged paper. While thus 
engaged the brothers made one or two trips to Europe, 
and there passed several worthless drafts. The ease with 
which this was accomplished resulted in the formulation of 
a scheme which but for the failure to properly date a bill 
of exchange would have almost wrecked the Bank of 
England. 

In 1872 William Pinkerton was called to England 
regarding the robbery of the Third National Bank of Bal- 
timore, Md., and was greatly surprised, when tracing his 
suspects, to meet the Bidwell brothers. He informed the 
English police of the character of the men and that they 
would bear watching, but the members of the Scotland 
Yard ridiculed the idea that an American crook could 
fool them. 

Within a few weeks they had succeeded in obtaining 
$1,000,000 of English money. 

In company with Edwin Noyes Hills and George Mac- 
Donald, then known as Capt. George E. Mathews, and 
operating under the name of Horton, Austin Bidwell 
succeeded in obtaining the confidence of the bank officials 
by representing he was engaged in the manufacture of 
sleeping cars, with a factory at Birmingham. He secured 
the introduction through a ruse. The swindlers had been 
living in a most expensive manner and patronized a tailor 
named Green, who had a store adjoining the bank. One 
day Bidwell asked the tailor to keep $50,000 for him and 
when asked why he did not place it in the bank said he 
could not, as he did not have an account. Green at once 
vouched for him, and the first step in the contemplated 
swindle was taken. For a time they presented authentic 
bills of exchange which they had purchased, and their 
rule was invariably to present a small draft before 
attempting to realize on the large one. 

They were detected, owing to the fact that in forging 
a draft for 2700 pounds they neglected to fill in the day of 



40 FAKES, GRAFTS A1SD SWINDLES EXPOSED. 



the month. The bank sent the draft to the man supposed to 
have drawn it to have this filled in, and at once learned 
that he had been swindled. Mr. Pinkerton had, while in 
England, left the picture of the Bidwells with Inspector 
Shore, and they were at once identified by the bank officers. 

Chagrined over the failure to take Mr. Pinkerton s 
advice in the matter, the English police now employed the 
agency of which he was a principal. The Task of locating 
Bidwell was intrusted to Mr. Pinkerton. 

Learning the route taken by the fugitive from San 
Tandare, in Spain, to Yera Cruz, Mr. Pinkerton made an 
overland voyage, and, reaching Havana on a cattle ship, 
entered the harbor at the identical moment that Bidwell' s 
ship cast anchor. The Chicago man at once placed Bid- 
well under arrest. On the night of Holy Thursday Bid- 
well escaped, but was carjtured two days later sixteen 
miles away. While awaiting extradition, or rather the 
forcing of the Spanish Government to give up his prisoner, 
Mr. Pinkerton secured letters directed to Bidwell at 
Havana. One was from his brother, George, in Aberdeen, 
Scotland, and resulted in his arrest, the other contained 
a cipher which showed that in a trunk in Morris' express 
office in ]S T ew York was $250,000 worth of $1000 United 
States Government bonds, purchased with the proceeds 
of the swindle. These were recovered, and so the actual 
loss to the Bank of England aggregated only $200,000. 

George Bidwell served eighteen years in prison and 
was pardoned. He then wrote a book entitled, "Forging 
His Chains," and with the proceeds of its sale secured the 
liberation of Austin one year later. 

Among the romantic features of Bidwell' s life is that, 
while in England, he married the daughter of an English 
officer, who, owing to her father's death was compelled to 
work as a governess. He settled 820,000 on her, and she, 
when it became known what her husband really was, 
returned this sum to the bank. She secured a divorce and 
it is said has since married one of the bank officials. 

Bidwell was born in Grand Rapids, Mich., and his 
relatives still reside there and in Adrian, Mich Accord- 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. ■ 41 

ing to Mr. Pinkerton, he was a man of great ideas, and, 
had he directed his talents in a legitimate way, would 
have been successful. Since their release the brothers 
lived on the proceeds of their first book, and of a second, 
entitled, "From Wall Street to Newgate." 

BIDWELL IN ST. LOUIS. 

Austin Bidwell was in St. Louis for a month or more 
during the latter part of 1897. When he reached the city 
he was well-dressed and prosperous in appearance. He 
registered at the Planters', but remained there for only a 
few days. 

Bidwell' s mission in St. Louis was to introduce and 
sell hisioook, a history of the crime which made him 
famous. He was not successful to any degree, and in a 
few days he moved to cheaper quarters. 

Bidwell visited the Four Courts frequently during his 
brief stay here, and passed much of his time conversing 
with the officials. 

"Bidwell was what one would call a 'windy' fellow," 
said Chief of Detectives Desmond. "He seemed proud 
of the fact that he had been a notorious criminal, and 
wanted to impress everybody that he met with the fact 
that he was the Austin Bidwell who robbed the Bank of 
England of §5,000,000. 

"He always impressed me as a man who could not be 
trusted. I thought when he was here that it was only a 
question of time when he would return to crime. If he 
had lived long enough I firmly believe he would have 
committed some overt act. Bidwell was an intelligent 
fellow, and a shrewd criminal. It was his boast that he 
could loot the Bank of England as easily now as he did 
more than twenty years ago." 

Vows are but breath, and breath a vapor is. — Love' s 
Labor's Lost, iv. 3. / 



42 FAKES, GRAFTS AXD SWINDLES EXPOSED. 



Famous Bunco King, Tom O'Brien Dying in a 
French Prison. 

Tom O'Brien, the once notorious "king of bunco men" 
is dying of Bright 1 s disease in New Caledonia, the French 
penal colony, to which he was transported for life for the 
murder of "Kid" Waddell in Paris, March 27, 1895. A 
Chicago friend of the "king" received a letter from him a 
few days ago. O'Brien writes: 

«* * # * ;gy £h e time you receive this letter I may 
have cashed in my chips, as I am suffering from Bright' s 
disease. You know when that gets hold of a man it is all 
up with him. I haven't been able to do any work for 
some time. The climate here is terrible and I am sur- 
prised that I have been able to stand it as long as I have. 
What has kept me alive, I believe, is the faint hope that 
some day my American friends would get me out, but I 
have given up all hope of ever again being a free man. 

"I'm sore on a whole lot of people, who should have 
raised any amount of money in order to secure my release. 
When I had the long green I was a good*fellow and never 
refused to give up, no matter how big the ante, when a 
friend was in trouble. 

"The guards have been very kind to me, but as I 
always perform my task (that is when I am able to work) 
they never had occasion to treat me bad. They have 
shown me many little courtesies, for which I am very 
thankful. 

"How I should like to see Chicago once more before I 
die ! I suppose she has passed New York by this time in 
population. Years ago when I was a kid, we used to 
think the bull's head was away West. I'd like to see the 
old town just once more and then cash in. But the 
privilege will never be granted me. Death is the only 
thing that will rescue me from this far-away island, and 
I don't think I will have long to wait. 



43 

"Say, Jim, I wish you'd do me a little favor. The 
last time I was in Chicago I had to get out in a hurry, as 
Jack Shea was after me, and I left an unpaid bill at Billy 
Boyle's, in the alley. It was something like $7 or $8 — 
supper for two, with a cold bottle. If Boyle is still living 
I wish you'd pay him. He's the only man in the world 
that I owe a dollar." 

John O'Brien, whose picture is in the rogues' gallery 
of almost every city in the world, is perhaps the most 
celebrated criminal in his line that America ever produced. 
His special line of work was the gold brick game and he 
followed it with such success as to swindle his confiding 
countrymen out of more than $200,000 in ten years. There 
are victims of O'Brien's suave manner and oily tongue in 
nearly every state in the union. The title of "King" was 
bestowed on him many years ago by his companions in 
crime, and until he was banished for life he weilded the 

scepter with dignity and grace. 

•* * * # , * 

O'Brien was born on the west side of Chicago, near 
Madison and Green streets. He is about forty-six years 
old. His parents were poor but respectable, and with the 
family he was given a fair education. Many of Chicago's 
prominent business men remember O'Brien as a school- 
mate, and, strange to say, he was known as one of the best 
boys in St. Patrick's school. 

During the closing days of the Civil War O'Brien, 
who was still a lad of tender years, started out to make 
his own living by selling newspapers. From this he was 
graduated to be a "candy butcher" or news agent on a 
railway train. Those were the days when three-card 
monte men used to ride the train in and out of Chicago 
and fleece the guileless countrymen. O'Brien was not 
long in forming a close friendship with the different gangs 
of monte men, and in going through the train with his 
apples and candies he used to pick out likely victims for 
the swindlers. 

As he grew older O'Brien developed a taste for fine 
clothes which the money he earned as a "candy butcher" 



44 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

could not supply. He had practiced the three-card monte 
game himself when off the road and had become an adept 
in throwing the pasteboards. When he showed the old- 
timers at the trick his proficiency he was taken in as a 
partner. 

For a few years he came in and out of Chicago on the 
different railways plying the vocation of a monte shark 
and was more than ordinarily successful. While in from 
the road he could be found at some gambling house play- 
ing faro. 

It was not until 1880, however, that O'Brien was 
picked out among those of his class as possessing unusual 
talent in his field of crime. He is credited with being the 
originator of the gold brick game, which in a few years 
brought him in hundreds of thousands of dollars. For 
the twenty-five years that he was a confidence man it is 
estimated that he got at least $500,000. Of course he had 
partners who received a share of the money, but O'Brien 
always kept the bigges.t part, for it was he who did the 
smooth work. Contrary to the general belief, farmers 
were not the only men who fell victims to the wily Tom. 
Merchants, bankers and professional men were the kind 
of game that O'Brien usually sought, and he had a con- 
vincing way about him which is now called hypnotism. 

John T. Norris, the veteran detective of Springfield, 
O., compiled a list a few years ago of O'Brien's victims at 
the gold brick game. It does not include the names of 
those who were swindled of less than $1,000 nor of his 
numerous victims who were beaten at other games before 
he became a gold brick man. The list is as follows: 
Rufus W. Peck, Albany, N. Y. ... $10,000 

James McCullough, Pittsburg .... 10,000 

John K. Lemon, Pittsburg 10,000 

Joseph Shannon, Beaver Falls .... 9,500 
Vincent Richardson, Jacksonville, 111. . . 7,000 
Joseph Thompson, Hillsdale, Mich. . . . 2,150 
Clark Adams, Covington, O. .... 5 500 
Wilson Andover, Salem, Mass 5,000 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 



45 



Eli Warsath, Kankakee, 111. 

Win. McClintoek, Columbus, Ind. 

Tuley Herzog, New Albany, Ind. 

Hamilton Heil, Omaha 

David Gibson, London, Pa. 

Luke Palmer, Burlington, la. 

Thos. Stewart, Martinsville, O. 

Alonzo Lee, Ashbury Park, N. J. 

James MeGuire, Lima, O. 

George Reid, Greene, la. 

J 61m Rockafeller, South Bend, Ind. 

Thos. Carp, La Harpe . . 

J. A. Bradeau, Kingston, N. Y. 

Willis Hoffman, Fairfield, Iowa 

George Svvartz, Amity, Pa. 

Sidney J. Ward, Cleveland, Ohio 

James Baird, Wooster, Ohio 

Fred Glenn, Streator, Illinois 

Charles Wright, Sycamore, Illinois 

William Speers, Columbus City, Indiana 

William Batoff, Jeffersonville, Indiana 

Samuel Coffman, Washington, D. C. 

Henry Harriman, Sharon, Ohio 

William Ordway, Concord 

William Jones, Londonville, Ohio 

Philip Reiff, Clyde, Ohio 

Jacob Sellers, Springfield, Illinois 

Joseph Shelby, Lexington, Ohio . 

Jacob Abdell, Danville, Illinois 

R. R. George, Carthage, Mo., 

Wm. Trafford, Mount Vernon, Indiana 

Wm. McKellops, Lansing, Michigan 

Abel McDuffs Kalamazoo, Michigan 

Wm. Kendig, Gettysburg, Pa., 

Wm. Kelsey, Lyons, New York 

Ed. Van Sickle, Deckertown, N. J. 

A. C. Barrow, Winchester, Ky. 

O'Brien always had the reputation of "being 
with his gun." He used to carry his revolver in a 



$1,500 
5,000 
2,000 
5,000 
2,000 
5,000 
1,000 
5,000 
3,000 
1,000 
2,000 
3,000 
3,500 
1,000 
5,000. 
5,000 
3,000 
6,000 
5,000 
1,000 
5,000 
6,000 
2,500 
9,500 
2,800 
2,500 
1,500 
1.100 
2,500 
2,500 
5,000 
7,000 
1,200 
3,000 
3,000 
3,500 
4,800 
handy 
pocket 



46 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

made especially for it in his vest. It was handy to get at 
in an emergency. All he had to do was to thrust his hand 
against his shirt bosom and the weapon was always in 
place. 

In his quiet moments O'Brien was a "gentleman," at 
least that is what the men of his class used to say of him 
But when drunk he was like an uncaged lion. He was a 
participant in more than a dozen shooting scrapes, three 
of which took place in this city. In 1878 O'Brien and Jim 
Crowell, a gambler, fought a pistol duel in a gambling 
house at 77 Halstead street. 0' Brien was shot in the arm 
Another time he and Mark Davis peppered aw T ay at each 
other at Madison and Clark streets. "Gambler's alley," 
or Calhoun place, as it is now called, was the scene of an- 
other shooting scrape between Bill Minaker, a horseman, 
and O'Brien. 

In person O'Brien was short and thick set. with long, 
powerful arms. He used to wear a short, black beard 
parted in the middle and brushed into bristling prominence 
on each side. His nose was broad and strong and divided 
a pair of piercing black eyes, ever alert and watchful. 

A fact which the Chicago police do not like to admit 
is that they were never able to take a photograph of the 
"king." 

* * * * * 

He was a man of such strength that no half dozen 
detectives could hold him in front of a camera. Years 
ago, when the police department had a gallery for photo- 
graphing criminals on the top floor of the city hall, O'Brien 
was arrested on general principles. John D. Shea, wdio 
w r as then lieutenant of detectives, was anxious to have 
O'Brien's picture, and the "king" was taken upstairs to the 
gallery. Andy Rohan and Charley Amstein, two of the 
huskiest men on Shea's staff, tried to take his picture, but 
were forced to abandon the effort after four hours' work. 
Not until his arrest in Liverpool, many years ago, w T as the 
"king's" picture taken, and it was sent to every big police 
department in the world. 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 47 



The most famous swindle with which O'Brien was ever 
connected was the Rufus W. Peck case at Albany, N. Y. 
Peck was an old retired business man of Albany and was 
worth upward of $100,000. O'Brien and his partner, 
George W. Post, beat the old man out of $10,000 with the 
gold brick game. This was in 189 L. Post was arrested 
and sentenced to ten years in Clinton prison. O'Brien 
was not captured until several months after, when the 
Cincinnati police got him. He secured bail, made his 
way to New York and in disguise left America for England 
on a Cunarder. Some one of O'Brien's pals, who knew of 
his departure for England informed the New 7 York police, 
and the Scotland Yard detectives were notified by cable. 
When the vessel on which O'Brien was a passenger reached 
Liverpool it was boarded by the men from Scotland Yard, 
and they found no difficulty in picking out the "king." 
His arrest was cabled to this country and immediately the 
district attorney of Albany and Mr. Peck, O'Brien's victim, 
left for England with requisition papers. He was brought 
back to America and convicted of the Peck swindle, 
receiving a ten-year sentence in Clinton. This was his first 
conviction, and more than twenty years ot his life had 
been spent in crime. 

At that time O'Brien had plenty of money and so did 
his friends. With the use of it he proved that, although 
sentenced to prison, he still wore the crowm of "king." 
He obtained the best legal talent in New York and a writ 
of habeas corpus w 7 as secured. He was taken to Utica, 
N. Y.j to appear before the United States Court. A deputy 
sheriff from Albany had charge of him. The party, which 
included O'Brien's attorneys and several friends of the 
"king," arrived in Utica in the evening. Instead of taking 
his prisoner to the jail for safe keeping, the sheriff was 
induced to let O'Brien remain with him over night at the 
Baggs hotel. In the morning wdien the sheriff awoke, 
O'Brien was gone. 

O'Brien was met by friends outside the hotel, who fur- 
nished him with a disguise, and he went to New Orleans as 
fast as the fastest roilroad train could carry him. There 



48 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

lie took passage on the French steamer, Marseilles, which 
was about to sail for Havre. O'Brien was again betrayed 
by some one of his pals, who knew of his departure for 
France, and James G. Blaine, who was then secretary of 
state, cabled the French authorities to arrest O'Brien upon 
the arrival of the Marseilles at Havre. He was arrested 
and he looked so meek and submissive that the French 
police thought they would be no in danger of his attempt to 
escape. His request to take a walk around the city was 
complied with and two gendarmes were sent with him as 
a guard. O'Brien could speak hardly any French, but by 
admiring everything he saw and uttering exclamations of 
delight over France and the French people he soon won 
the good will of the gendarmes. O'Brien took them into 
a cafe and ordered wine in that liberal way which was an 
art of the ''king's," until the gendarmes went to sleep at 
the table, with Tom singing the few words he knew of a 
French drinking song. 

Through the aid of his money O'Brien was secreted in 
a house at Havre for several clays, until the French 
authorities relaxed their vigilance in the watch for him. 
In the meantime he had studied up the extradition laws 
and found one place of refuge for him — the Argentine 
Republic. From Havre he made his way to Lisbon, his 
disguise being so perfect that no keen-eyed detective could 
penetrate it. The next heard of him was at Buenos 
Ayres, where, in a short time, he cleaned up $50,000 in 
confidence games. Fear of detection and arrest prompted 
him to join the Haytian army, where for two years his 
identity was buried, 

¥r # # ■* X 

An uncontrollable desire to return to the gay life of 
old took hold of him, and, quitting the army, he went to 
Paris, where he met his old-time partner in crime, "Kid" 
Waddell. This was in the winter of 1895. O'Brien, who 
was known as "the greatest spender on earth," had gone 
through his fortune and was almost penniless when he 
met Waddell. Years before this O'Brien and Waddell 
had quarreled over a woman, and there was some of the 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 49 

old bitterness still in the breast of each. O'Brien was 
almost destitute, and Waddell had "money to burn" — 
which he took to Paris with him from this country. The 
"king" humbled himself to the "Kid," and asked for a 
loan. Waddell complied, but the money was given with 
such bad grace that O'Brien threw it in the "Kid's" face. 
Blows followed, and O'Brien broke a wine bottle over 
Waddell' s head. 

The next day O'Brien met Waddell at the Northern 
railway depot. Waddell was going to London. They 
were twenty paces apart, walking toward each other, on 
the depot platform, when O'Brien drew his revolver, and 
advancing fired five shots at Waddell. O'Brien was 
arrested, and Waddell was taked to a hospital. Three of 
the bullets had pierced Waddell' s body. His life was 
ebbing when the police brought O'Brien to the hospital 
for identification. The "Kid's" dying words were: 

"I don't know that man. I never saw him before in 
my life. He is not the man who shot me." 

Waddell lived, but three hours after being shot. Letters 
found on him written by his mother, who lived at Spring- 
field, 111., disclosed his identity. The Paris police notified 
Mrs. Waddell, and her son's body was brought back to 
Illinois for burial. 

Annie Gray, the woman over whom O'Brien and Wad- 
dell quarreled years before the murder, mortgaged her 
home at 152 West Forty-sixth street, New York City, and 
with $20,000 thus raised she went to Paris to save the 
"king" from the guillotine. She employed counsel and it 
has been said that bribery was resorted to in order for the 
jury to find "extenuating circumstances," thereby sparing 
O'Brien's life. 

In April, 1896, he was given a life sentence at New 
Caledonia, an island in the south Pacific ocean, which since 
1872, has been used by France as a penal settlement. Annie 
Gray returned to New York and died a few month ago of 
a broken heart. She loved the "king" to the last. Only 
a few days ago the house which Annie Gray mortgaged to 

6 



50 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

save O'Brien's life was sold under the hammer to satisfy 
the mortgage. 

In that distant isle where Tom O'Brien will soon end 
his days, the convicts are made to work the year round if* 
the tobacco and sugar cane fields. The island is 240 miles 
long and has an average width of about twenty-five miles. 
It lies midway between the Fiji islands and the east coast 
of Queensland. Coral reefs surround the entire island. 
The blazing southern sun beats down mercilessly on the 
malefactors who are banished there, and it is indeed as 
wonder that a man like O' Brien should be able to stand 
the climate this long. 

Her New Swindling Scheme Didn't Work. 

Two or three days ago the police had as a prisoner a 
young woman who attempted to work a novel but 
awkward game in fleecing a storekeeper. She entered the 
store and asked to be shown some underwear. She made 
selections from among the garments that were placed 
before her for inspection, and then made the unusual 
request to be allowed to try on her purchases, which was 
acceded to. When she re-appeared from one of the dress- 
rooms she calmly announced that she had no money to pay 
for her purchases, evidently thinking that she would be 
allowed to walk away unmolested. A policeman was 
called in, however, and was about to ring for a patrol 
wagon, when the woman's nerve failed and she consented 
to pay for the garments. 

Let us devise some entertainment, 
Revels, dances, masks and merry hours. 

— Love's Labor Lost. 

Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some 
have greatness thrust upon them.— Twelfth Night. 



FAKES, GTCAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 51 



A Rare One. — Karl Becker Was the Premier in 
His Branch of Villainy.— A Mighty "Jim y the 
Penman." 

He has gone the way of all of his class— in the peniten- 
tiary, and his gang is scattered; bat for thirty years he 
baffled the police and robbed banks of large sums of money. 

"Of all the rare birds that ever fluttered into jail, that 
Karl Becker is the rarest," said Superintendent James 
McFarland of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency 
He had just been reading an account of the sentenc- 
ing of Becker to seven years in the California penitentiary 
he having plead guilty to a charge of forgery. 

"He has given our agency more trouble than all other 
criminals of his class. His wisdom, wonderful pen work 3 
careful conduct and plausible look and manner were all in 
his favor and all against us, for it is hard to pin a crime on 
such a man. 

"Becker is about 55 years old now," continued Mr. 
McFarland. "Yes, he's all of that and he has been in 
America fully forty-five years. He came over from Ger- 
many with his parents when he was a boy of 8. The old 
folks stopped in New York and from what I can learn 
they were good, honest people. How young Karl ever 
learned it I cannot say, but he became not only one of the 
most proficient penmen in the world, but also a first-class 
chemist. 

"Becker's criminal career, the most remarkable to be 
found in the records of the world, dates back over a period 
of thirty years. I could, by patient search of the records, 
find the particulars of his first crime, of his second and 
third, and soon, but there have been so many of them that 
they would become monotonous. A much more interesting 
branch of the subject is a study of his methods, for they 
were the same in one case as in another. 



52 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

"In the first place his invariable plan was to secure the 
assistance of three or four men, generally four. These 
men were criminals, of course, but they had to be chosen 
with wisdom. One of these was the capitalist who fur- 
nished the money, another was the business man who laid 
down the paper in the bank, another was the messenger 
between Becker and the business man and the fourth was 
the stall or shadow. 

"Operations were generally commenced like this: The 
business man opened an office in some city, on some pre- 
text or other a ad always a new and different pretext for a 
new game, too; you may be sure of that. He then deposited 
in a bank $3,000 or $4,000 of good money. This account 
he would check against from time to time and deposit 
checks and drafts from different parts of the country, all 
of which were genuine and some were for considerable 
amounts. 

"After continuing in business a month and the bank 
in which he made his deposits had time to discover that 
all his drafts and checks were honored, he was ready to 
get down to real business. 

''It must be understood." proceeded Mr. McFarland, 
"that all these drafts and checks were sent him by the caj>- 
italist pal. Of course he got them back again, in one 
name or the other. The relationship with the bank having 
been properly established, the business man, generally 
along about the 15th of the month, would pick up and go 
to some outlying town, possibly outside the state, and 
purchase a draft for $12 or $25, as the case might be. He 
would make sure that the draft was not payable at the 
bank with which he was transacting business. 

"Having secured the draft he would hand it to the 
messenger and he would turn it over to Becker, who would 
not only raise the draft to whatever amount he wanted, 
but, also, by the use of chemicals he made a pulp having 
the exact tint of the paper in the original draft, and with 
this he would fill the perforation in the safety paper of 
the draft and press it down so that the fraud could only 
be discovered by the use of a powerful microscope. This 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 53 

done, lie would punch out the amount he had raised it to 
and give the draft to the messenger, who returned it to 
the business man who deposited it to his own account. 
Next day he would check against this draft and a large 
part of his balance, generally leaving only a hundred or 
two dollars in the bank. Then came the divy and the 
job was done. 

"In all this time Becker would never have seen either 
the capitallist or. the businessman. In this way Becker 
and his pals, secured millions of dollars, not only in the 
United States, but all over Europe and in South America. 

"The original gang, which was the greatest on earth, 
was composed of Karl Becker, Robert Bowman, Joseph L. 
English, James Creegan and Richard Lennox. Of the 
gang one has left the country, probably permanently. 
This is Robert Bowman, who lives in London, England, on 
money realized from forgeries. 

"Joseph L. English is serving a term in the Iowa 
penitentiary for a forgery committed in Des Moines. 
Richard Lennox is also in the Iowa k penitentiary serving 
five years for a job in Sioux City. Karl Becker, as the 
wires have just told us, has gone to the California peniten- 
tiary for seven years on a plea of guilty. He raised a 
draft issued by the Woodland bank of San Francisco on 
the Nevada bank, also in San Francisco, from $12 to 
$22,000. 

"James Creegan has confessed and awaits sentence. 
Frank L. Selvers, the business man, has turned state's 
evidence and has been in jail for three years. Joseph 
McCluskey, the stall, also turned state's evidence, but he 
was a small fish and the indictment against him was 
dismissed. 

"Mullady, the capitalist, died in Los Angeles a short 
time after the forgery was committed. Selvers was 
arrested in St. Paul and McCluskey in Minneapolis by the 
Pinkerton National Detective agency as agents of the 
American Bankers' association. 

"Becker and Creegan were arrested in Philadelphia 
by the Pinkerton agency. They had tickets for Rio 



54 

Janeiro in their pockets. A set of engraving tools, acids 
and pulp were captured with them. 

"Great credit should be given to President Joseph C. 
Hendrix of the American Bankers' association, who, 
through the Pinkerton agency, has wiped out this dan- 
gerous gang. They are all dead, harmless or in custody, 
and the world is well rid of them." 

''Martin" the Eastern Gold Brick Swindler 
Operates in Kansas City. 

As Con Cadagan he induced an old man to pay $6,000 
for a bit of brass. — An Englishman the intended victim of 
his latest swindle. 

The gold brick swindler, who, under the name of 
Edward Martin, almost fleeced a wealthy young English- 
man out of $10,000 recently in New York, is old Con 
Cadagan, who lived in Kansas City and operated out of 
there for several years, and is known to nearly all the 
detectives on the city force. 

Cadagan is a most intelligent, interesting and experi- 
enced rascal, 52 years old. The police of New York say 
he is the cleverest gold brick swindler who ever operated 
anywhere. His last victim was I. Algernon Wood, a well- 
bred, wealthy young Englishman who lives at No. 6 
Ragian Road, Belvidere, Kent, England. The web which 
Cadagan set to entrap Wood was cunningly woven and 
reached across a continent and an ocean, from Oregon, in 
the far West, to London, with sustaining threads reach- 
ing to New York, Niagara and Colorado Springs. The 
unsuspecting fly, Mr. Wood, and a fellow fly were 
enmeshed in Spider Cadagan s web and were about to 
hand over to him $10,000 for a brick that looked like gold 
and that weighed seventy pounds. Mr. Wood himself 
drilled shavings from it, and, he thought, took the shav- 
ings to the United States treasury assay office in New 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 55 

York, where they were conscientiously and scientifically 
assayed as eighteen-karat gold, and so the bar seemed to 
be worth about $20,000, and appeared to be extremely 
cheap for $10,000. By the merest chance the flies escaped 
from Cadagan' s web before he had got their money. 
Cadagan is now in prison in K"ew York and will probably 
go to the penitentiary. 

HIS CAREER IX KANSAS CITY. 

Con Cadagan. in 1880, owned and ran the old Turner 
hall variety theatre at Tenth and Main Sts., Kansas City. 
The show did not pay and Cadagan gave it up. He mar- 
ried the divorced wife of "Jake" Snavely. She was a 
sister of G-us and Booth Baughman, gamblers of that city. 
Cadagan went from there to Spokane Falls and opened out 
in the real estate business during a boom there and made 
a lot of money, but lost it all. He returned to Kansas 
City and with old John Bull, Bob Lyons and a confidence 
man named Tripp, went into the gold brick business. 
The cleverest work they did thereabouts in that line was 
when they entrapped old man Warner, who is dead now, 
and sold him a brass brick for $6,000. John Bull, who 
was something of a wonder in his way, undertook to 
"steer" Warner to Lawrence, Kas,, where, he said, an 
Indian who had stolen a gold brick from a stamp mill in 
Colorado was hiding in a cornfield. Bull had Warner at 
the Union depot waiting to take a train to Lawrence when 
a policeman saw them together and suspected that Warner 
was a confidence man and that Bull was an innocent 
farmer about to be fleeced. The officer took the pair to 
police headquarters and into the office of Chief Speers. 
Speers recognized John Bull as soon as he saw him and 
told Warner who he was. But Warner said he knew his 
business and that Bull was his friend. Warner seemed 
eager after the gold brick and after awhile Chief Speers 
allowed both of them to leave the station. Bull and 
Warner went together to Lawrence and they went out to 
the cornfield where the Indian was hiding. Cadagan was 
the Indian. He was painted and dressed up in a red 



t)6 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

blanket and feathers in his hair. He saw Bull and War- 
ner coming and pretended to be very angry. He leaped 
up, gave a terrifying war whoop and waved his tomahawk 
above the corn stalks. Bull seemed to be afraid and at 
the edge of the cornfield he stopped and urged Warner to 
go alone. Warner was scared, too, and he refused to go 
alone. At last they went on together and finally pac- 
ified the wild Indian and got him to dig up the gold brick 
and sell it to them for $6,000. This same brick is now in 
the museum of criminal relics at police headquarters 
together with several other brass bricks that look exactly 
like it. 

THE ENGLISHMAN IN THE WEB. 

The last swindle attempted by Cadagan in N ew York 
was not so successful, but was planned with vastly more 
cunning. The World of New York prints the following 
story of this case 

About nine months ago young Mr. Wood's father, 
Major Alexander Wood, died in London. Major Wood 
was an officer in the British service, rich and respected. 
He resided at No. 19 Great Winchester street, London, 
E. C. When he died laudatory orbiiuaries of him were 
published, which told of his wealth, and something of the 
disposition of his property. Major Wood's will made his 
son, Algernon, one of the executors, and wisely ordered 
that, in administering the estate, Algernon Wood should 
not draw more than £500 (2,500) from its repository with- 
out having, besides his own, the authority and signature 
of his co-executor. 

Young Mr. AVood was very much surprised and 
delighted by a letter which was forwarded to him from 
London about the middle of last July. The letter was 
properly addressed, "Major Alexander Wood, No. 19 
Grert Winchester street, London, E. Ca.," and was post- 
marked, "Astoria, Ore., U. S. A.." Of course young Mr. 
Wood, as his father's executor, had a perfect right to open 
the letter, and he read under the date Astoria: 

Dear Major: — I arrived here this morning from the 



57 

mines in British Columbia, where I left our mutual friend 
who is very well and prosperous. He requested me to 
communicate with you on the first opportunity, as you 
would doubtless be anxious to hear from him. He 
intended coming out himself this winter, but has been 
fetching w^ater to his arrastra,« which is near A. W. No. 1, 
named after you. 

He feels his success and present position are entirely 
due to your kindness and pecuniary assistance. He is, to 
my mind, a noble man, and his gratitude to you speaks 
louder than words. 

Our claim is situated on the headwaters of the Place 
river, the mine adjoining. The walls are of solid granite 
and the ore is free milling. 

Last season we cleaned up nearly £40,000 worth of 
gold, nearly all of which he is sending out by me. You 
are to take this to the London bank or mint and realize. 
Half of this is yours to do with as you please. The other 
half you are to return to me, that I may forward it to my 
sister. 

I myself am coming out in order to try and persuade 
my brother, who lives in France, to return to the mines 
with me, as I feel this is the opportunity of his life. We 
have deferred recording our claims or mining certificates 
until we have obtained as much of the land as the laws of 
British Columbia will permit. 

He wishes you to send back with me some trustworthy 
representative to look after } 7 our interests, but in selecting 
him caution him about the importance of keeping the 
matter secret for the present, as we have not yet registered 
our claims. 

I am going through the Colorado district to examine 
the mills, as I intend to take one back with me. Kindly 
write me at Colorado Springs, Col., where I have arranged 
to receive my mail. Let me know the place of appointment 
where I can meet your representative. After securing 
more perfect machinery we can get- four times more gold 
out of the mines than with the old-fashioned implements 
now being used. Sincerely yours. — Edward Martin. 



— _ 



58 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

This letter, it will easily be seen, is a work of art. 
Major Wood is dead, the name of his and Martin's mutual 
friend is not mentioned. Incidentally the word "arrastra" 
is used in the letter, one way of spelling "arastre," a prim- 
itive Mexican ore grinding machine. The grateful mutual 
friend even calls the mine "A. W. No. 1," after the major, 
his generous benefactor. One hundred thousand dollars 
aw T aits the major— and tempts the cupidity of his son. 

"I was dumbfounded when I read this letter," said 
young Mr. Wood. However, after reading it he remem- 
bered that years before his father had a friend to whom he 
lent money liberally. So this friend was still alive; he, 
Algy, was to reap the reward of his father's generosity. 

After consultation with his friends young Mr. Wood 
cabled to "Martin:" 

"Major Wood's representative will meet you in Lon- 
don." 

"Martin" was in no hurry. Several weeks passed and 
he answered by cable; 

"I will meet you in New York." 

Another interval and Mr. Wood replied: 

"All right, Will stop at Windsor hotel." 

And Mr. Wood, very sanguine, very ha}3py, did arrive 
here a fortnight ago and went to the Windsor. There he 
received a telegram from Martin: 

"Meet me at the Temperance hotel, Niagara Falls." 

HE MEETS "MARTIN." 

To Niagara Falls went young Mr. Wood and there 
met Martin. The Englishman was delighted with the per- 
sonality of the man who brought to him another fortune. 
Martin was astonished, shocked, infinitely distressed, 
when he learned that Major W ood was dead. 

"But I am his executor," said young Algernon, "and 
1 am here to complete the transaction that will transfer 
what w T as to be my father's share of the gold to his estate." 
He produced papers establishing the fact that he is his 
father's son and executor. 

But the cautious and severly honest Mr. Martin hesi- 
tated. 



59 

"I must have a couple of days to think this over," said 
he. "I must not betray my trust. I am commissioned to 
hand over this gold to the living Major Wood, not to his 
estate." 

Having communed with himself, and doubtless his 
reveries were most amusing to him, the careful Mr. Martin 
announced next day that he was satisfied to give the 
$100,000 worth of gold to the heir of his friend's benefactor. 
Then Mr. Martin most entertainingly told of his adventures 
in British Columbia and Manitoba, of sports afield, of the 
ups and downs of fortune. 

"Would you like to go to our mines?" asked Mr. 
Martin. 

"Immensely," exclaimed Mr. Wood, "and if you don't 
object, I'd like to take along a friend of mine, a man of 
really great experience. Besides, while I can get only 
£500 on my check, my friend can get any amount." 

"Object," laughed Mr. Martin; "by all means, bring 
along your experienced friend." 

So young Mr. Wood at once cabled to Reginald Baiss. 
Algy cabled to Reggy to give him the benefit of his experi- 
ence. Mr. Baiss, like Mr. Wood, is a young man of inde- 
pendent fortune. His home is The Manor, Belvidere, 
Kent, England. Mr. Baiss promptly took steamer, arrived 
in New York on the Umbria, October 15 last and hurried 
to Niagara Falls. 

Mr. Martin was delighted to meet the man of experi- 
ence and unlimited credit. Behind locked doors he showed 
to the wondering Englishmen some specimens of ore from 
A. W. No. 1. Then from a satchel he laboriously took the 
heavy bar of dull, heavy metal 

"Part of the £40,000 we cleaned up last season," said 
the agent of the graceful gold finder, "worth $23,000." 
He hesitated, continued. "After all," he remarked with 
charming frankness, "I am a stranger to you. I might be 
cheating you, oh, yes, yes" — as the young Englishmen 
began to protest — "you don't know half the rascality in 
this mining business. I demand, I insist that you assure 
yourselves that this is good. You must have it assayed at 



60 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

the United States assay office in New York. You can 
believe them there." 

Mr. Martin took from the satchel a small drill and 
handed it to Mr. Wood. Mr. Wood drilled into the bar. 
Mr. Martin caught the precious shavings in a piece of tis- 
sue paper, carefully folded the paper, marked the valuable 
little bundle No. 1 and put it in his vest pocket. Mr. 
Wood drilled again and again where he pleased' in the bar. 
Little bundles 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 reposed in Mr. Martin's 
pocket. 

"You're quite satisfied with so many specimens from 
the bar?" asked Mr. Martin. 

"Quite satisfied," chorused Algy and Heggy. 

Mr. Martin took from his pocket, little packages, Nos. 
1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. Mr. Wood and Mr. Baiss hastened to 
New York to the government assay office, on Wail street. 
The assay was made, the report was "All the specimens 
are 18-karat gold." 

Delighted by this convincing proof of the conscientious 
of Mr. Martin's honesty, the two young Englishmen 
returned to Niagara. 

"This bar is but part of your father's share," said that 
generous man. "It is worth $23,000, but I will be satisfied 
with $10,000 for my sister's share of it. We can arrange 
the difference hereafter." 

The experienced Mr. Baiss at once cabled to his father 
for £2,000. The young men suggested that they go to 
New York to wait for the money. Mr. Martin was reluct- 
ant; he was fatigued by travel. 

Mr. Baiss, the elder, answered that he would send the 
money if the transaction was closed in New York. Mr. 
Martin said, directly, he would go to New York, and a 
most entertaining and amusing fellow-traveler he was. 
The three men and the bar of gold were in New York on 
Friday morning and went to the Windsor Hotel. 

CHANCE TOEE THE WEB. 

When Mr. Wood and Mr. Baiss went down town to 
get the $10,000, Mr. Wood seized the opportunity to call 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 61 

on a lawyer to whom he had a letter of introduction, and 
told of his good fortune to the lawyer. 

"Perhaps," said the lawyer, who has had a little 
experience, "perhaps it would be as well to see the police 
before you pay over the money." 

Mr. Wood and Mr. Baiss, at first shocked by the cold- 
blooded suggestion, the imputation put against the generous 
Mr. Martin, became certain that no harm would be done by 
visiting the police. So they went to Captain McClusk}- at 
headquarters. The chief of detectives listened to them 
and smiled. 

"Of course, said he, "Martin, as he calls himself, sub- 
stituted gold for the shavings from the bar." 

He sent Detective Sergeants Brown and Frazer to the 
Windsor hotel. Mr. Martin was in the dining room and 
by his chair was the satchel with the bar in it. Brown and 
Martin recognized each other. Brown had arrested Martin 
two years ago for swindling. But so sure was Martin that the 
two Englishmen would not suspect him that he would not 
believe that he was under arrest. He thought the detect- 
ives, ignorant of his present swindle, were simply "looking 
him over" to make sure he was in no mischief. 

He was taken to police headquarters. He would not 
tell where he lived. He was charged with attempting 
grand larceny in the center street police court on Saturday 
morning and remained until this morning. The ingenious 
spider's name is Roe, but he has used aliases — Norton, 
Watson, Martin. His picture is in the rogues' gallery. 
He was last arrested on March 19, 1896, for swindling and 
sentenced to a year and a half's imprisonment. This was 
his first visit to New York since his release. 

Mr. Wood and Mr. Biass were very happy over their 
escape. And they did not hesitate to say that Mr. Martin 
is "clever; immensely clever, don't you know!" in being- 
able to deceive them. 



Though it be honest, it is never good 

To bring bad news. — Antony and Cleopatra, ii. 5. 



62 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 



Princess of Dead Beats Tells How to Live by 

One's Wits. 

There are 400 women in San Francisco to whom the 
passage of a law providing imprisonment for debt would 
be an extremely ruinous calamity. 

These 400 live by their wits. Their ability to 
"scheme" is their sole capital and they invest it with 
amazingly advantageous results. 

They toil not, neither do they spin, yet Solomon in all 
his glory was arrayed in Jeffersonian simplicity as com- 
pared with some of them. 

They have more money to spend than the professional 
or business women of the community who labor a dozen or 
more hours out of each twenty-four. 

The 400 who toil not take morning naps, noonday 
siestaes and afternoon beauty sleeps, while their creditors 
cool their heels and tempers on the sidewalks after violent 
but ineffectual exercise upon the doorbell. 

Sometimes, indeed, the knocker is muffled, that the 
occupants of the house may not be disturbed by insistant 
demands for money. Then the contest lies between the 
collector's knuckles and the panels of the door, and at its 
close the owner of the knuckles retires from the scene to 
indulge in profanity and arnica. 

In either case the result is the same. And this sort of 
history repeats itself with variations until the bill long- 
since marked significantly "N. G.," has gone its unre- 
ceipted way to the profit and loss account in the ledger. 

For years the 400 have dressed well, dined well and 
been comfortably — many of them luxuriantly— housed. 

Some have occupied boxes at the opera, contemplated 
the marine view at the Cliff from cushioned carriage seats, 
and have enjoyed the highest priced plays of the seasons. 

In exchange for these cheerful privileges they have 
not paid an '^honest dollar." 

They do not intend to pay. 

But they are keeping 400 pairs of ears attentively 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 63 



open for the latest news regarding the proposed measure 
protecting creditors; for well they know that should it 
pass, bat two alternatives would remain to them — to leave 
town between two *i days or go to jail. Their prolonged 
picnic would come to an inglorious end. 

Verily it would be too bad to vacate so lucrative a 
held because of a disagreeable tarn in legislative affairs. 
And prison surroundings would be highly uncongenial to 
400 petticoated persons who have thas far been clever 
enough to provide themselves with the best that the 
merchants and tradesmen hereabouts can famish, without 
the little formality of cash payment. 

San Francisco is a paradise for parasites. The path 
of the feminine debtor is one of primrose dalliance. 

How and why % 

That is what I have been finding out lately. It is a 
story without a moral, for it proves that the woman 
debtor who is unprincipaled enjoys life, while the woman 
doctor with a conscience does not. "How to be happy 
though honest," is a problem that the latter have not yet 
solved. 

It is in the fashionable localities of the city that these 
women debtors take unto themselves a temporary habi- 
tation and a name. They move from neighborhood to 
neighborhood, as necessity arises, and "drag at each move 
a lengthening chain" of aliases. They face collectors 
calmly — that is, when they face them at all — with the 
utter denial that th$y ever heard of the person in whose 
name the bill is made out, though the goods may at that 
moment be in the house. They invariably have servants, 
and as invariably fail to pay their wages. But the latter 
usually leave of their own accord before the first month is 
up, having taken warning from the steadiness with which 
the stream of collectors runs their mistress' way. 

They are all women of good looks and pleasing per- 
sonality. Often their manner is fascinating. Of the 
dozen with whom I have talked, not one would impress 
the average student of human nature with the idea that 
she is a fraud. All of them are refined, well bred and 



64 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

well educated. Their millinery is irreproachable, their 
gowns correctly tailored and the wearers distinctly free 
from nervous concern as to what the morrow may have 
in store for them. Dispossessed of that troublesome 
appurtenance, a conscience, they slumber soundly at night 
and let their creditors do the worrying. 

In the shadow ot the sanctuary one woman gains her 
prestige. Her pious poses inspire onlookers with confi- 
dence. She has been seen in an attitude of prayer for an 
hour and a half at a time. One Sunday morning a lawyer 
acquaintance of mine who had tried to bring her to legal 
terms in behalf of a grocer client, and who had been 
laughed at by this woman who prays and preys, stopped 
her at the church door. 

"What are you doing here?" he asked. She smiled 
and tossed her head. 

"I get credit this way," she retorted frankly. 

One slim, soft-voiced young woman who is everywhere 
accompanied by her mother, inherited a fortune of $5,000. 
It is positively known that this sum has been given to her 
in cash. Yet she refuses to pay a single bill contracted by 
her since her advent among the "Four Hundred," and 
skillfully evades the serving of an order for examination 
as to the value of her property. 

The keynote to the woman debtors' success is the ease 
with which goods of almost every description can be 
bought on the installment plan. 

Take for instance the case of my. charming young 
heiress and her mother. Going to one of the city's promi- 
nent hotels she engaged an expensive suit of rooms. But 
the pattern of the carpet and the style of the furniture 
did not please her. She wished to furnish the apartments 
herself. An expenditure of $50 secured a superb outfit in 
furniture and carpeting, upon the glittering strength of 
which and many promises the flandlord allowed their bill 
for board to run from month to .month. By the time he 
succeeded in ridding himself of the two women they owed 
him exactly $450. This is a specimen of feminine finan- 
ciering up to date. 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 65 

And here is a sample of feminine logic: 

Out on Union street in a handsome furnished house 
lives a benevolent-looking, motherly person with four 
engaging daughters ranging in ages from 15 to 22. The 
benevolent-looking, motherly person has contracted bills 
in this city to the amount of $4,000. As I ascended the 
steps of her present abode a man with a bundle of bills in 
his hand was coming down, and from the parlor floated 
sweet, soulful strains of the "Cavalleria Rusticana," 
scraped artistically from a violin. He was saying unprinted 
things that did not accord with the accompaniment within 
doors. The maid at the entrance, releasing the chain 
which so conveniently keepjs collectors at bay, admitted 
me, and the motherly person who owes $4,000 talked to 
me anent the ethics of indebtedness in general. 

"I don't pay my bills," explained she, ' 'because I am 
a devoted mother to my dear children." 

"I don't exactly understand- " I murmured. 

'•Why, I mean that I would consider it positively cruel 
to my girls to take money for butchers and grocers and 
coal men that is needed to give them educations and such 
accomplishments as girls ought to have. Whose interests 
am I supposed to consider — the tradesmen who are strangers 
to me, or my darlings who are my flesh and blood? Would 
I be doing my duty by them as a mother if I deprived 
them of French, Grerman and Italian lessons, or stopped 
their instruction on guitar, piano, violin and mandolin, in 
order to pay money to a parcel of tradesmen? No. My 
girls shall marry well. To marry well they must be 
accomplished. To be accomplished means that I shall lavish 
my'all upon them and let the collectors whistle for their 
coin. I assure you I shall not sacrifice one iota on my 
beloved children's future prospects and happiness for men 
who would be in business ii they never delivered me a 
dollar's worth of goods, and who will continue in business 
whether I pay for what I get or not." 

Which is certainly a novel interpretation of parental 
responsibility. 



66 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 



Mrs. Rosa Berenda, however, is the star schemer in the 
local firmament— at least, she was Mrs. Rosa Berenda when 
I saw her last week in her delightfully furnished Pacific 
avenue residence. Who and where she may be this week is 
a matter which the wisest among us would not lose time at 
guessing. 

The resourceful Rosa scintillates with much brilliancy, 
and in her orbit has dazzled many a confiding dealer is mer- 
chandise out of goods that he will never realize a penny 
upon. She is keen of wit, black of eye, vivacious of man- 
ner and plump of person. She received me graciously, for 
the Berenda is nothing if not companionable and polite, 
and showed a fine set of teeth in a good-natured smile when 
I asked her to tell me how a woman may live luxuriously 
upon nothing a year in the way of income. 

Now the Berenda boudoir was just the place for the 
passing of a comfortable hour. The sunlight flitted 
through silken hangings and Irish point curtains. It rested 
upon the black locks of my lady of quality whose head had 
been out of the hair-dressers hands but twenty minutes. 
Her pink silk neglige, ruffled with genuine lace at sleeve 
and throat and daintily shirred and beribbed was exceed- 
ingly becoming. We faced each other from the depths of 
handsomely upholstered chairs. 

"How is it done?" She repeated. "Why, my dear, 
it's the easiest thing in the world — when you know how. 
San Francisco merchants are so agreeable — to a pretty 
woman. Now, I am 35 and have three children, and if they 
tumble over themselves — the, susceptible merchants, my* 
dear, not the children — in their efforts to do my bidding, 
what must it be for a younger woman with all the charm 
of youth?" 

"I give up the conundrum," said I. "Pray go on." 

"To begin with," continued Mrs. Berenda, "$100 will 
buy $1,000 worth of goods in San Francisco on the install- 
ment plan. By frequently moving you can throw the 
furniture men off the track. Furniture, you know, 
decreases 50 per cent in value when once it goes out of the 
store; but there is the chattel mortgage by which one can 
always raise money on it." 



/ 

FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 67 

"But the interest is frightful upon chattel mortgages, 
is it not \ And the day of reckoning is sure to come f ' 

"Not if you want to evade it; move out and leave it 
where it is, if there's no other way. I've done that a num- 
ber of times." 

"But how do you establish credit at the grocer's ?" 

"The best way is to get chummy with some woman in 
the neighborhood who is a customer. Drop in with her 
and say something flattering to the proprietor about the 
cleanliness of his place. Remark that you've been trading 
with So-and-So — naming some big firm — but that you will 
transfer your trade to him if he will give you satisfactory 
prices. Order a few things and pay for them. Order a 
few more and pay for them also. Then make out a big list, 
of imperishables principally, such as flour, canned goods, 
jellies, etc., and have them charged. If you stay iu the 
neighborhood you may have to pay a dollar or two a week 
to keep the grocer pacified, and meanwhile the account has 
run up to $50. Here is a bill of $198.25 that I ran at one 
of the leading grocery firms. Here is another of $242.30 
for dry goods. I managed that by a little preliminary 
flirtation with an attache of the firm. But what's the use 
of having wits if you don't turn them to some account? 
In my escretoire I have bills aggregating $6,000. I am 
rather proud of them. Would you like to see the bunch % 
Certainly. I dare say you never handled so many 
unreceipted bills before ? And do let me give you a glass 
of wine." 

"Thank you," I replied, "but—" 

"Oh, I insist," interrupted Mrs. Berenda, ringing a 
silver bell at her elbow. "A pint of Mumm," she said to 
the servant. 

"To your health," gayly cried my hostess, raising her 
glass. "Two dollars a bottle, but it didn't cost me a cent ! 

"About the installment plan : It's really the most 
convenient arrangement. The code of civil procedure — 
kindly hand me that copy on the table near you. Thanks. 
Section 690 has sixteen sub-divisions naming any number 
of articles exempt from the law, and, as you see, there is 



68 FAKES, GRAFTS A^D SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

no limit placed upon their valuation. I had considerable 
trouble keeping a piano, though — and I do adore music — 
until the legislature two years ago passed a law exempting 
a piano, a shotgun and a rifle, among other 'household 
goods.' That shotgun and rifle is a joke — a shrewd move 
on the part of the piano dealers. 

"There is practically no law to reach a woman who 
wants to see how deeply she can run in debt. She can go 
into any store in town that carries accounts and open one 
—providing that she is richly dressed and talks like a 
grande dame. It is surprising what risks merchants will 
run in order to get business. As for the laundrymen, 
bakers and the rest of the fraternity, they are the easiest 
prey of all. 

"Why do I go in debt? My dear, I must live. I am 
of Spanish parentage and used to the best of everything 
from my earliest recollection. At sixteen I married a 
coffee planter from Guatemala and went down there with 
him. I hated him and the place, too, by the time I was 
twenty-one, so I ran away with my babies, and here I've 
been living ever since without a cent of income. My 
husband died insolvent long ago. Now, as long as I and 
my children must exist, why not live well ? We shall be 
a long time dead. Work ? Why I have neither the 
energy nor the inclination to slave as others do for what 
they eat and wear. 

"Do you remember when the last French opera com- 
pany was here ? Well, I was dying to go and was "broke" 
that week, and my maid had ruined my best gown while 
pressing it with a too hot iron; but I was determined to be 
among the first-nighters, so I went down town in the morn- 
ing, rented a piano for $5, put a chattel mortgage on it in 
the afternoon for $75 cash, went down town again, bought 
seats for myself and a friend, got a love of a silk waist and 
had enough left for a spin to the Cliff next day. 

"1 only pay rent when I am compelled to, and I live 
in nice houses always. Sometimes, when things happened 
to be dull with me, I have got the key at the corner gro- 
cery to inspect a house and immediately moved in. Of 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 69 

coarse, the landlord will be frantic, but he must give the 
•tenant' three days' notice to pay or move out. After that 
a formal suit has to be commenced and fifteen days 
go by before the process is complete. That involves 
expense of $25 to $40 for the landlord, who is unwilling 
to lose money that way. In my case a landlord let me 
stay three months in hopes that I would go. Finally I 
got tired of the view — I like a pretty outlook — and told 
him that I wonld vacate if he gave me $10 cash, which 
he did. 

"But suppose you fall into the clutches of a sheriff — 
what then ?" 

"Oh, I always have a card up my sleeve for the 
sheriff, I declare that one of the family is dangerously ill 
and can't be moved. Then I keep the illness at the criti- 
cal point as long as possible. You positively won't join 
me % Then I must drink alone. This time to the health 
of my creditors — may they live long and let me prosper ! 

"No; I'm not afraid of being sued. Let them sue. It 
only costs $75 to file a petition in insolvency. I know a 
lawyer who will do it for nothing," and my hostess smiled 
on me enchantingly. 

"Sometimes a dealer will insist upon knowing what 
business 'my husband' is engaged in, I say the first thing 
that occurs to me, usually locating my fictitious better 
half in Mare Island or at Washington, D. C, looking after 
a imtent. I have a large collection of mythical husbands 
— half a hundred or so. 

"If a woman living on credit doesn't keep up appear- 
ances she is doomed. Starvation stares the shabby one in 
the face. Prosperity will attend the stylish one. Living 
in a fine house inspires confidence in the tradesman. At 
present I've exhausted my credit in this locality and am 
getting my groceries from the Mission. 

"You are going? Sorry I can't ask you to call again, 
but this house may be to let any day. I think I'll see 
what they have been building lately in the Western addi- 
tion. Good-by. 

As I stood on the corner waiting for a car, a little 



70 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

woman whom I knew came hurrying down the street. Her 
eyes betrayed signs of a recent "good cry," and there 
were lines of care on her forehead. 

"I'm dreadfully blue today," she confessed. 'Tve 
rnn into debt lately and it haunts me like a nightmare. I 
just hate to feel I mast go around the block to avoid meet- 
ing a collector, and I jump every time the doorbell rings. 
Such a little amount, too — only $600 — but it weighs on my 
spirits like lead. I've made over my last years' gowns 
and have given up my euchre clubs, theaters and next 
year's outing, and still I don't see my way out of the 
woods. Good-by. 

The two good-bys echoed in my ears on the w T ay down 
town. The one was cheerful, the other sad. One woman 
was thirty-five and looked rive years younger. The other 
was twenty-five, and looked five years older. One was 
dishonest and happy. The other honest and miserable. 

However, this is a story without a moral. 

Fortune Tellers Made to Order. 

.Strangers in large cities fall easy victims to the bland- 
ishments of these clever fakirs. 

"There is one class of women in the cities who have 
not found the strangers within the city gates at all stingy. 
That is the palmists, astrologists and fake fortunetellers," 
said a detective. 

"If you want to make money just start out in the busi- 
ness. I could tell you of one pretty well known palmist 
who is a sister of a prominent Republican who wears a 
military title and moves sometimes in New York society. 
Her husband died, leaving his family destitute and covered 
with debt. The woman had no means of livelihood but was 
shrewd, and becoming interested in palmistry started in 
the business. She leads a Madame Jekyll-Hyde existence 
with her fortune telling rooms east of Fifth avenue. She 
has gone right into the whole thing, and will furnish your 
cook with a charm to win a new lover or bring back the old 
one. She has been in the business a good many years now, 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 71 

and, besides bringing up her family, she owns most of a 
city block." 

Early in Dewey week this advertisement appeared: 
Wanted — Middle aged woman to tell fortunes; quick 
workers only need apply to 

Countess M. 

I don't propose to tell the fortune tellers name, 
because she would appreciate the advertisement. Now, 
I'm neither middle aged nor a quick fortune teller, but I 
visited the Countess' address. 

She was a pasty appearing middle aged woman, who 
looked as if she despised water externally ever more than 
for internal applications. She wore large, luminous spark- 
lers in her long, loose ears and her fat fingers looked as if 
her business might be pretty profitable. 

The Countess began tickling my palm with her rough, 
diamond hung fingers. 

After much rot, she struck the usual gait: 

''You seem about to make a change. Yes, you surely 
will soon, and it will be very profitable to you, miss." 

''There, Countess, that's just what I wanted to ask you 
about. I do want to make a change. I want to become a 
palmreader. Do you ever take pupils?" I finished; "I 
wouldn't be satisfied to study with anybody less celebrated 
than you are." 

The Countess swallowed the molasses at one gulp. 

THE COUNTESS WAXED CONFIDENTIAL. 

"My dear child, I'm sure you would be very successful. 
You look very intelligent. All my pupils are coining- 
money. There's Zenetta, you've heard of her — the cele- 
brated Ab> ssian queen of palmists? She' s my pupil. She' s 
touring the country and just making money hand over 
fist." ' 

"But your terms; and how long and how much can 
you teach me ? 

"In three months' time, for $100, I will teach you 
every thing — palms, the stars, yes, and, seeing it is you, 
I'll learn you all the love charms and all the secrets of the 



72 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

black art That's cheap— $100 for all that. When will 
you come ?" 

I had mentioned her advertisement to the Countess 
and said how much I'd like to try, if I knew anything 
about fortune telling. The next day I got a telegram to 
present myself ready for work. 

"Perhaps you won't like my terms," said the Countess 
when I presented myself. "It's twenty-live cents on every 
dollar you take in, and half of all over quarter rates you 
can get; but you needn't give more than a minute and a 
half to anybody unless you get more than a quarter." 

"But, Countess, I don't know anything about fortune 
telling. Can't I stay with you and learn first?" 

"You can read character, can't you? You look 
clever," she answered scornfully. 

To my, "Yes, I think so," she returned. 

"Oh, then, you're all right; that's all you need," and 
was about to turn me loose on a roomful of waiting patron- 
lesses, when she discovered I had no wardrobe a la gypsy. 

"Haven't you got something? Go home and get it 
and come back at once." 

But I haven't seen the Countess since. 

MEDIUMS MADE FOR $25.00. 

Another woman who professed to be a "real medium 
power" agreed to have me taught by one of her pupils for 
$50.00, and on my suggesting I couldn't aiford so much she 
decided on $25.00. 

"But I want to be a medium just like you," I pleaded. 
Will she teach me that, too?" 

"Yes, we'll learn you everything — love charms, too. 
That's where the money is; and if you travel you'll make 
money. But for a sensitive soul like me, you have to 
stand many insults; and the minute anyone knows that 
you are a fortune teller or medium they mark it up on you 
— the price, I mean, of everything." 

It is very easy, evidently, to get a start in the busi- 
ness, and, once in it, there is little chance of interference 
of any kind. The large city fortune tellers are queens,. 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 73 

and when a servant is found with a little bank account 
the fortune teller never lets up until she has it all. They 
get their patronage largely by distributing cards in the 
tenement house districts and at the servants' entrances of 
houses in the brownstone front district. 

Girl servants in millionaires' houses are their special 
prey, because they generally have plumper bank accounts 
than other girls. 

In a case that was finally brought to the attention of 
the police a Swedish girl in a family in Thirty-eight 
street, New York, was anxious to get back $110 she had 
given to a fortune teller on Eighty-ninth street to bring 
her fickle sweetheart back to her. He had turned his 
affections on another girl and Celia yearned very hard to 
get him away from the rival charmer. She finally told 
the police she'd rather they would get back the fellow and 
the fortune teller could keep the money. 

A woman detective who was sent to the house to try 
to get the money back was calmly told she would be 
killed and her body thrown into the cellar, where it never 
would be found! Then she was thrown boldly out onto 
the sidewalk by the fortune teller's big sister. The Swed- 
ish maid had given up checks for the $110 all in three 
months. She received in return a red rag to tie about 
her toe nights w T hen going to bed and a bottle of red 
powder to take. But the young man didn't return. And 
the foolish girl still had faith that if she only found the 
right fortune teller she'd be able to secure him again. 

The mother of one of the most famous songbirds of a 
previous decade was also a fortune teller of no mean 
ability. She was a Southern woman of good family, 
coming North to bring up her children and educate the 
talented daughter's voice. She was uncanny, it is said, in 
her art and had many brokers among her patrons who 
claimed to profit by the woman's skill. In gratitude they 
aided her to profit in the market and she was able to bring 
up her family in good style and put the daughter in a way 
to gain fame. 



74 



REQUISITES FOR SUCCESS. 

All that the business needs, as carried oninlSTew York, 
is a nimble wit, a knowledge of human nature and a stack 
of nerve. 

One man who is a familiar character along upper 
Broadway has salted down his profits and invested in real 
estate to advantage. He strictly eschews fortune telling y 
but gives advice on affairs of the heart and home and busi- 
ness in a way that impresses his patients. He claims to 
have saved many a home and family from wreck and kept 
many a woman in the path of rectitude simply by assuring 
her that at that particular moment his second sight or 
marvelous powers of spiritualism showed him her husband 
with a party of men, and not in the charming al fresco fiat 
of Yiolet Yendome or Madeleine Marborough. 

Fortune tellers may have their use. At least a Wash- 
ington woman has found one of them. She is very unhap- 
pily married and when things get so bad that she is driven 
to desperation and is on the point of taking her own life 
or going to supper with the wrong man, she goes out on a 
wild fortune jag and does up Washington's palmistry and 
she happens to have a pair of lines in her hand supposed 
to indicate two marriages, all the fortune tellers, with 
comforting accord, tell her she will have another — a 
second — husband, and the comforted young woman goes 
home to endure until the next crisis. The situation is all 
but French. 

Luck With the Greenhorn. He Bucked a Brace 
Game, and an Oversight Gives Him a Winning 
Hand and the Roll. 

Sometimes there is truth in the old and ironical saw: 
"The sucker wins and the gambler loses." 

One night before the Lexow investigation made New 
York the highly moral and "close" city it is, a very pro- 
nounced case of "Reub" drifted into a game very early in 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 75 

the evening. The machinery was not really running yet, 
but, of course, Reuben could have a game. So, he sat 
down opposite a listless gambler, and bought $5.00 
worth of poker chips. There were three other players and 
the game went along in the perfunctory fashian of men 
who wonder how much money the stranger has about him, 
until at the end of half an hour one of the sharpers found 
three kings before the draw — it was on the deal of one of 
his allies, and the play came up so the gambler had a 
chance to raise. 

Reuben puzzled over his hand so long they thought he 
was counting a straight. When he lifted back they were 
sure of it. He had to go down in an inside vest pocket for 
more money, and there was plenty there. The "boosters" 
dropped out and the gambler, just to see how good his 
opponent's nerve was, made a second— a savage — raise, 
Reuben tilted it back again and the gambler just stayed. 

"Cards?" asked the dealer, and to his surprise Reuben 
took two. The sharper - had fixed up a pair expecting the 
innocent to stand pat on his straight, when the pair run 
off in the draw would give the sharper a king full. The 
call of Reuben for more cards, was disconcerning, but the 
gambler was alert, and keeping his eyes wide open as the 
countryman threw aside his discard, saw one of the cards 
was an ace. 

"Of course," the sharp argued, "he has threes, but 
they can't beat my kings, since he is discardiag an ace." 

And so, with the certainty of an advantage going in 
and an equal chance in the draw, the gambler made a stiff 
bet; but he could not account for Reuben's confidence in 
his hand; and, after being tilted back four times, he con- 
cluded the countryman had caught a fourth. So he called. 

"I've got threes," said the countryman. 

"Well, they are not good," was the calm rejoinder. 
"Mine are kings." 

"Bat mine are aces," said the countryman, not all 
excited. 

"Why — why, you discarded an ace!" 
/ "I know, but I caught another one." 



76 FAKES, GEAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

And he had the "case" ace. In the stupor that fol- 
lowed such an exhibition of "sucker's" luck, Reuben 
walked out with his own money, and a really fordable roll, 
which he had won. 



J* 



How Fakirs Make Money. There Seems to be 
Plenty of Ready Cash to Pour Into Their 
Pockets. 

There is plenty of money in Chicago, notwithstanding 
trade reports and other things which they tell us about in 
books, says the Chicago News. 

If three men with a little grip containing fifty dozen 
bunches of explosive matches, the same quantity of cheap 
lithographs in envelopes, and an unlimited amount of gall, 
can block up a street with a crowd, dispose of their matches 
at 5 cents for a bunch containing about twenty in as many 
minutes and decamp, there ought to be some show for the 
ordinary business man who is usually content with less 
than f>00 per cent profit on his goods. 

A short, dark young man with a variegated necktie, 
stood on the corner of State and Quincy streets the other 
evening and after staring mysterously at the pavement for 
a few minutes he slowly deposited three matches thereon 
in the shape of a triangle and retreated a few steps with 
his eyes fixed intently on the matches. 

A fat man with a basket of peaches came across the 
street and stopped, looking inquiringly at the young man 
and then at the pavement. ' 'What' s the matter?' ' he asked. 
"Lost something?" 

"Sh-sh — ," said the dark young man. "Be quiet — 
sleight-of-hand — Herrmann's last trick — one he died work- 
ing on," he muttered, making cabalistic passes in the air 
with his arms. 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 77 

A couple of street urchins came up and two other men 
stopped to stare in an awe-stricken manner at the matches. 

"Gentlemen, watch those matches," said the mysteri- 
ous stranger. "I am now going to perform 101 feats and 
magic, each of which is more difficult than the preceding 
one. In place of a cabinet \[ will use this large paper bag 
which I place on this boy's head, so, and hypnotize him. 
Feel anything strange now, bdy? No? Well, just a moment, 
gentlemen, and I will proceed with the entertainment." 

By this time quite a crowd had collected and gazed 
alternately at the young man, the matches and the paper 
bag. The young man opened his grip and while the crowd 
grew denser he made his bluff with the pictures in the 
envelopes, occasionally telling the crowd to keep their eyes 
on the matches. 

"Gentlemen," he said, "I have here a picture of a pretty 
vaudeville actress — " with the flourish of the picture, 
which was immediately placed back in the envelope. "I 
am going to give these away to each and every one present, 
gentlemen, and if anyone is dissatisfied he can bring back 
his picture and I will give $1.00 for it. But I will continue 
with my tricks, gentlemen, and show you the last feat per- 
formed by the great Herrmann." 

He crushed the paper bag in his hand and placed a 
handkerchief over it. "Now watch me closely, gentlemen; 
I will light this paper and then, presto! witness the great 
transformation scene!" ' 

He picked up the three matches while the crowd craned 
their necks in curiosity. 

"Now, I light the bag, or, to have everything above 
board, will some one in the crowd please do it?" 

A lanky, rural-looking chap with one eye, who had 
been taking in the harangue with wide-open ears, volun- 
teered. 

"Now," said the dark young man with the riotous 
necktie. "I will say the magic words and then you light 
the match. Hi-ke-ki-fle-fli-llum!" 

The one-eyed youth lit the match, and as he bent to 
touch it to the paper it exploded with a sharp crack. 



78 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

He tumbled back on the crowd, which laughed at his 
seeming discomfiture. 

The dark young man laughed to. "There, now don't 
get mad. That was the trick, you know!'- And cracking 
another match by way of experiment, he laughed out into 
an explanation of his wonderful trick matches, and he sold 
them as fast as he could hand them out, while the one-eyed 
countryman lit a cigarette in the dark hallway and waited 
for the dupes to gather around his other pal who was 
exhibiting a two-pound nugget from the Klondike on the 
other corner. 



^ 



Frauds in Auction Business. — Bold Swindles That 
Are Worked on the Unsuspecting Public. 

"There is plenty of bogus auctioneering nowadays," 
said the old auctioneer. "It appears to me as though the 
good people are being driven out of the business by those 
fellows who sell poor stuff. Anyway, the auction-room 
where they handle high class goods, secured legitimately to 
sell on commission, are not supported by the public. P. 
T. Barnum said the people like to be fooled, and he hit the 
nail on the head. 

"You take these, what I call, low class auctioneers. 
One of their games is to stock a house with shoddy stuff, 
engage a family to remain there a month or two, and then 
announce a 'prive sale.' Laying a foundation for such a 
play is not considered reputable by the better class of 
members of our profession. The thing smacks of the same 
sort of procedure as the piano swindle, upon which resi- 
dents in large cities ought to be liberally educated if they 
read the papers. But they are not, and like the green-goods 
game, the gold brick swindle, and all the rest the piano 
auction and the piano private sale continues to thrive. In 
many parts of the country there are men who follow this 



FA FTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 79 



the same as r hunts news. The Swindle lies in the 

fact that a good, round sum is obtained for a second grade 
piano on the plea tliat it is 'being sacrificed' to aid the poor 
widow, a family in distress, and so on. 

"That sort of auction is not materially different from 
the so-called 'widow's sale of fast, blooded stock. Her 
husband died in Kentucky, and left her with a stable of 
running, trotting and road and blood stock, which she, 
being very, very poor, must sell at auction, etc. She is 
usually there, a poor forlorn widow, in a long, crepe veil, 
near tho auctioneer; and she sees the second-grade, 
broken-down, winded animals disposed of at high prices, 
while she wipes a tear from her eye with a black-bordered 
handkerchief. 

"There are as many tricks to the auction business as 
there are to other trades. A woman has household goods 
which she wishes to sell, and being ignorant of the various 
ways of doing business, decides to have some one in the 
second-hand business hold a sale at her house. The fact 
is duly advertised, the red flag is swung from the porch, 
the neighbors call and walk curiously through the room, 
and decide to do something for her, but the auctioneer 
soon starts in and all plans are off. When the sale is over 
the poor woman finds that her household articles, which 
cost her $1,500, have brought less than ten cents on the 
dollar. 

"Who bought the goods? In her excitement in the 
commotion, in the midst of the wild alarms of the 
auctioneer, she failed to observe, and she may never know 
that nearly all of her property was bought by a dealer, the 
friend and confident of the auctioneer; in fact, by the 
Auctioneer's own silent partner, to whom he knocked them 
down at the very lowest rates. I hope some day we will 
have legislation that will drive 'em out of business." 

Oh, gentlemen, the time of life is short. — Henry IV. 
How use doth breed a habit in a man ! 

— Two Gentlemen of Yerona. 



80 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLE D. 



Fills a Long Felt Want. Among a Class Who 
Perhaps Have Been Too Long Neglected. 

Elmwood, Neb., April 11.— Editor Blade. — She was 
cross eyed and red-beaded, and wore store teeth, upper 
and under. "No !" she snapped, as she opened the 
door for the slick-looking agent with the silver-mounted 
sample case, "I don't want anything! I have an organ, 
sewing machine, ironing board and such things, I never 
use patent medicine, and have all the books I need; I 
never do business with agents; they're a set of — " 

But he had pushed past her and setting his sample 
case on the table, began opening it. 

"My dear young lady," said he, "I'm neither a book 
agent nor a traveling fakir; I do not sell books, pjianos, 
cookstoves, vitilizers or patent dishpans, I am simply a 
benefactor of a portion of the human race. I bring succor 
to deserted womankind. My mission is to do good. Just 
allow me to show you a small modelpf Dr. Kissam's new 
invention, the justly celebrated automatic double-action 
compound presser and squeezer, the great health restorer 
and panacea for deserted maiden ladies. Of course, the 
beautiful young lady of your age, scarcely out of her 
teens, would never have occasion to use it, but I show it 
to you that you may tell your friends about it. This great 
boon is meant to sit in the parlor next to the sofa, and 
the inventor offers a forfeit of $10,000 for each and every 
case in which it does not give absolute satisfaction, if the 
directions are followed carefully. 

"The user turns down the parlor lamp; then takes her 
seat a la lovaire. This right pneumatic back-action, 
double-jointed — is placed around that lovely symmetrical 
form, and this left one thrown across the shoulder. Lay- 
ing those beautiful auburn locks against the manly 
cushioned bosom, you touch this button, which sets the 
automatic machinery of the squeezer in motion. 

"Here you will find a lever which regulates the pres- 



FAKES AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 81 



sure around th( from the frightened, timid squeeze 

of the bashful lover to the powerful grizzly hug of the 
man in search of his third wife. Here we have the soft 
cheek pad which is regulated by this lever, controlling 
the growth of the beard, from a clean shave to a three- 
weeks 1 growth of barley stubble. Here you will find a 
button which sets in motion the breathing bellows, and 
here a lever which regulates the force of the breath, from 
the gentle zephyr of a professional masher to the hot, 
cyclonic pant of the heart about to burst forth. 

"This lever controls the breath from the mildest 
lavender to the strongest odor from the old meerchaum. 
Here we have the button regulating the voice, from the 
gentle dove-like "coo" to the sonorous declarations of 
the widowed bailiff. 

"This is the only genuine automatic, double-action, 
compound presser and squeezer on the market, warranted 
to cure the blues, and remove that despondent feeling- 
after church. It removes wrinkles, crows-tracks and 
freckles and restores the bloom of youth. 

"I am the sole agent for this county, and when 1 am 
gone you cannot get one for love or money. The regular 
price is four dollars, but today I am closing them" out at 
the low price of three dollars and ninety-eight cents. My 
next delivery will be made next week, and this great 
boon to — Just put your name down on that line; right 
there. Thanks." 

And he was gone. 

Run Against a Skin Game. 

The sun had sunk to rest behind the flats. The gray 
clouds had gathered in the West and the stars were begin- 
ning to twinkle away over the shores of New York. 
Brother Pete Maguff was sitting in his cabin alone. He 
had done half a day's work and he felt tired. So he 
solaced himself with a. good supper, poured into his 
interior a draught of hard cider, and lighting his Queen 



82 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWIN] 'OSED. 



Anne corn cob pipe, sat out to pie! but, )h, Susannah" 
on his one-stringed banjo. Just as he was beginning to 
feel that life had. some comforts left for him, a knock 
sounded upon the door. 

"Come in, dar," said Pete, not pausing in his music. 

The door swung slowly open and the form of Brother 
Shinbones Smith appeared. He looked weary, and there 
was an expression of deep solemnity on his countenance. 
He took off his overcoat, heaved a deep sigh, and sat down. 
Then he gazed slowly around the room until his eye lighted 
upon a pipe lying on the table. He slowly stretched 
forth his hand, Brother Pete watching him in expectant 
silence, and possessed himself of the pipe. He slowly and 
solemnly filled it with tobacco, lighted it and resumed his 
seat. Then he threw one leg across the other, and, clasping 
his hands around the knee, sat slowly rocking backward 
and forward and smoking. After a few moments of silence, 
and without raising his eyes, Brother Shinbones opened his 
mouth. 

"Brother Peter Maguif," he said in measured accents, 
"dis hyar wuld am a deceitful an' disapp'intin' place." 

"Yas, Brodder Skinbones, I recken that yo' am 'bout 
right," replied Pete. 

"I heb seed a good many curious tings, but I haint 
seed nuffin' more curious dan wot I seed ter-day." 

"Wot war dat?" 

"Jess yo' hole yore brefT, niggah, tell I git to it. The 
propah way for to begin a discourse am by a little gineral 
ph'loserphy. Den, after yo' git your hearahs minds 
kinder stultified, as it war, yo' kin flop onter de facts in de 
case. D'ye see?" 

"Yas, I recken dat yo' knows all 'bout it, Brudder 
Skinbones," replied Pete, gazing admiringly at the old 
man. 

"Ter-day," continued the sage, "I war ober ter Noo 
Yawk. I kinder fought as how I'd go an' see some o' de 
gals an' boys in the city. I war walking 'long Sixt' 
Abenoo w'en a berry hansome young cullud gemmen 
comes up ter me, an' sez he ter me sez he: 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 83 

" 'Why, Mistah Brown, how d'ye do? Yo' don't seem 
fur ter know me, does yer.f 

" 'No' sez I ter he, sez I: 'I don't; an' yo' don't seem 
ter know me. I hain't no Mistah Brown; I'm Brudder 
Skinbones Smiff, President ob de busted Anti-Chicken- 
Stealin' Serciety ob Hoboken.' 

"Den he begged my parding very perlite an' walked 
away. Putty soon up comes another young feller, and sez 
he to me, sez he: 

"Why, Brudder Skinbones Smiff, how d'ye do? I 
hain't nebber met you' afoah, but I'm de son ob Jesse 
Macintiah, the boss white-washah ob Weehawkin. He 
knows yo, 'I reckon; least wise he knowed yore wife.' 

"Wal, I didn't know de man; but if he knowed de ole 
woman, 'Twould't do fur me ter shake de boy, so I up an 
slink hands wid him and walked along wid him. Byme-by 
he tole me 'bout winning a heap o' money at a place in 
Twenty-fifth street, and he axes me ter go dar and try my 
luck. Wal, I went along wid him. Dar I met anudder 
young feller wot looked ter me like de one wot spoke ter 
me fust in de street. He dealed out some keerds, an' 
young Mackintiah made a bet an' winned the whole busi- 
ness. Den I tuk a hand in, an' won eighty-five cents. I 
tried her agin, an' won two dollahs an' a half. Wal, I 
kept on antein' up, tell byme-by I bet 'leben dollahs on 
one hand and den I losed. Den the young tellow wot 
war ruunin' de game sez dat he'd got ter quit 'cause his 
mudder war sick, an' he'd got ter go fur de doctah. 

" 'Hole on dar,' sez I ter he, sez I: 'yo' mus' gib me a 
chance ter win her back.' 

" 'Ole man,' sez he ter me, sez he: 'yo don't want ter 
talk dat way heah. We runs dis game our own way.' 

" Den yore tryin' fur ter swindle de ole man outen his 
money,' sez I. 

" 'Wot !' he sez, an' den he ups an' pegs de chaiah at 
me. 

" 'I dodges the chaiah am grabs de spittoon. I let her 
wiggle mighty, quick an' hard, 'cause yo* see I got my 
muscle up a-wuckin' down ter Trenting. De spittoon tuk 



84 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

de chap in the nose an' he fell down kinder suddint. Den 
de odder feller hit at me, an' I grabbed the chaiah off' n de 
flooah an' hit him on de head, an' he fell down too. 
Den de odder feller jumped up, an' jess as he got onter his 
feet I kicked him on the lower aidge ob his westkit, an' he 
went down an' sed nuffin moah 'bout it. Den I kinder 
scraped up de boodle wot war lyin' on de table an' tuk one 
o' de fellers' watches, so's I could tell wot I lef dem 
an' I gaddered up de keerds, an' den I jess kinder scooted 
fur de ellenbated road." 

Then the aged philosopher drew forth from his pockets 
the articles mentioned, and, blowing a cloud of smoke, 
looked meditatingly at them. 

"De keerds am a leetle ole," he said: "an" de watch 
am plated, I reckon; but de twenty-seben dollahs an' 
sebenty-fibe cent am jess as good as new. Dis hyah am a 
mighty scurious wuld, Brudder Peter Maguif. — Jack Pots. 

An Investment That Failed. 

He worked and schemed and saved 

To raise the money she 
Would need to pay her way 

For the summer at the sea; 
The clothes she took with her 

Are unpaid for — oh, 
His head is bowed today; 

His heart is full of woe ! 

She's just come home again, 

And wears no solitaire; 
A hope was in his heart 

But it has fled from there; 
She's home again to stay — 

Farewell, O gleaming sands: — 
Her pa must work away, 

With her still on his hands. 

— Chicago Times-Herald. 



85 



Cider-Making Time. 

They are gathering the apples in the orchard on the hill 
They are carrying the baskets to the humming cider mil] 
The breeze is blowing sweetly and the Autumn days are fair 
The happy farmer whistles as he works away out there, 
And the smoke is curling upward as it used to, long ago. 
When the winds that made our noses rather moist began 
to blow. 

Down the crumpled leaves are dancing from the branches 

overhead, 
And the doves are softly cooing on the weather-beaten shed; 
The ground is strewn with pumpkins where the corn is 

cut away, 
And the slopes beyond the valley lie in something soft 

and gray, 
While a sort of dreamy music issues from the humming 

mill, 
And the wind is blowing softly through the orchard on 

the hill. 

They are gathering the apples that the winds have shaken 

down, 
And the child is full of wonder who is visiting from town! 
Oh, the amber stream of something fit for gods is flowing 

out, 
While the daring yellow jacket sips serenely from the 

spout ! 
Ah, the mill is humming gayly as the golden apples fall, 
And the frugal farmer's busy grinding up the worms 
and all. — Chicago Times-Herald. 

News is like laudnaum; it's much more easy to use it 
as a quack does, than to learn to apply it like a physician. 

— Guy Mannering. 



86 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 



Fleece Farmers. 

For years and years the local newspapers have been 
telling of how people have been fleeced and swindled by 
buying goods and wares of strangers. How sharpers have 
been able to get money for an article shoddy made and in 
no way as represented. The warning to their readers and 
an exposure of these sharpers seems to have had as much 
effect as a bullet from an air gun on a steel plate. We 
have come to the conclusion that there is much truth in 
Barnum's words, "The American people like to be hum- 
bugged." 

"This brings to my mind the steel range fellows, who 
visited this community' a year ago and thoroughly can- 
vassed the farmers, selling several stoves. Those who 
purchased stoves at that time have had an opportunity 
of paying the fiddler or dancing to the music. A farmer 
within a few miles of Sandwich and very well known here 
bought one of the stoves, or at least it was left in his 
possession a }^ear ago. The price agreed upon w r as $70. 
You can buy a larger and better stove of any of our hard- 
ware dealers for 844. A part of the deal was that the 
farmer was to be allowed $40 for his old stove, and also 
he was to board the sharpers, who gave him coupons that 
were to apply on the purchase price of the stove. 

These people never consider a deal closed until your 
name is put upon paper. This farmer did do so, signing 
a contract as he supposed, but which turns up in the shape 
of a note for $70 with interest. A few days ago a man 
presented himself at the farmer's house and requested him 
to take up the note, representing himself to be the pur- 
chaser, and an innocent one, of the note. In the deal 
made at the time of the delivery of the stove $30 was the 
balance to be paid, and out of the $30 several dollars 
for board were also to be taken. The fellow with the note 
declares he knew nothing of the old stove and tickets for 
meals in connection with the trade and refuses to accept 
any thins: but the face of the note and interest he had 



x / 

FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 87 

bought. The holder of the note threatens to bring suit, 
and our farmer friend says he will not pay it. What the 
outcome will be remains to be seen. There is a moral to 
this deal which should not be permitted to escape the 
memory of any. Never sign a piece of paper for a stranger, 
turn the dogs loose upon" the sharpers and buy your 
goods of the home merchant, who has a reputation to 
sustain and from whom you can get redress if the ware 
you purchased is not as represented. 

—Downer's Grove, 111., Reporter. 



His Name and His Calling, 

His name was James O'Connell Thomas Jeiferson O'Roke 



He was the high school orator, and every time he "spoke" 
The school was crowded, high and low and to the doors 

with thoso 
Who longed to hear the gifted boy and see him when he 

rose 
To intimate great Spartacus and bid his listeners dare 
To beard the lazy Roman hosts the while he sawed the air. 
As Brutus he was wont to stand in classic pose and prate 
About imperial Caesar and his sad, assisted fate. 
As Anthony he stooped to dip in Caesar's sacred blood 
His homemade cotten handkerchief, and thus unchain the 

flood 
Of Roman rage; then he would smile complaisantly and 

pause 
And stand unmoved amid the mighty thunders of 

applause. 

Ye gods! He was a hero in those old forensic days, 

And all the town spread his renown and boasted in his 

praise. 
His neighbors holstered up his fame and each did prophesy 
That all the world should crown his name with honor e'er 

he'd die. 



88 FAKES, GKAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

• 

They swore his magic voice should plead successfully and 

strong 
For justice to the poor and lead in righting freeman's 

wrong. 
They noted how his youthful brow already showed the 

weight 
Of heavy thought and trials wrought by cares exceeding 

great. 
At last he left his native place and to the city went 
The townfolk wept, but on his face there shone a sage 

content. 
"I shall be truly great some day," he said within his heart; 
"My voice shall never, never play a measly second part !" 
See how the kindly fates advance a man of pluck and brains- 
He has a railroad station job as "caller" of the trains ! 

— Chicago Record. 



^\MJl//^ 




@N^@> %^@ 



GRAFTS. 



©t?W~ 1F^© 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 91 



Regarding Grafts. 

^T'HAT part of this work exposing illegitimate schemes 
^^ for making money is not done with a view of encour- 
aging any one to undertake the same plans, but on the con- 
trary I would advise them not to take any one of them, as in 
no instance, have I ever known of a "Con Man or Grafter" 
to continually escape the strong arm of the law, and further- 
more, many of those schemes could only be operated by 
the use of the mails, which would be in violation of the 
postal laws, and you would be subject to prosecution 
by the postal as well as by the federal authorities, for 
using the mails for fraudulent purposes. My object is to 
post the reader so he can be prepared to protect himself 
from such impositions, and to educate the unsophisticated 
in the ways of the world, so they can meet all classes of 
people, with the glad hand and not get the worst of it. 
Remember, in no instance, can you ever get something for 
nothing; it is alw T ays nothing for something the wide world 
over. A word to the wise is sufficient. 



Salesmen Wanted Graft. 

"$100.00 per month and expenses paid. Energetic men 
to represent us and take orders for our cigars, from dealers 
only. Samples with case and instructions furnished free, 
bat references required. Address in own handwriting." 

Many of my readers have no doubt seen this alluring 
advertisement in the metropolitan papers, as it is one of 
the oldest fakes on record, and is still being worked, 
owing to the fact that so many unsophisticated youths 
want to become drummers, wear good clothes, live a life 
of apparent ease and see the world. They know they are 
mentally as far above their present position in life, as an 
eagle is above a mud turtle, and have been waiting for an 



92 

opportunity to show the fact to their people and neighbors 
for some time, and here it is, and no capital required — 
nothing but a good character, which they may have. So 
after much re-writing of the application, it goes forward 
with the local bank or village grocer for reference. A 
reply is received, nicely written on the regulation letter 
head, the picture of a factory in one corner, and general 
officers in the other; also, President, Vice-President, 
Secretary and Treasurer's names printed thereon. In fact, 
the introductory letter is made as strong as possible, as it 
is the principal plank in their platform of rascality, and 
would fool more than the average "rummey." After 

acknowledging receipt of your favor of , the letter 

kindly thanks you for the same, and goes on to state the 
territory in your vicinity has not been taken as yet. They 
have been corresponding with some parties regarding same, 
but owing to your excellent reference and business-like 
letters, they believe you are the best qualified to represent 
them, and have consequently given you the preference, and 
therefore inclose contracts which please fill out, arid return 
one, and retain one yourself. The contract is well worded 
and in your favor, and has a big red Notary Public seal on 
it, all properly acknowledged. They also enclose you 
descriptive circulars of their different grades of cigars, 
ranging in price from $15.00 to $70.00 per 1000, and in 
many instances send a few good cigars by mail, There is 
a blank space on each circular for your name to be printed 
as agent, and you are assured you will be furnished plenty 
of such printed and other advertising matter, free of 
charge, from time to time, and as your trade may require. 
They state, the agent's samples consists of order blanks, 
etc., 1000 cigars, assorted from $15.00 up to $70.00 grades, 
and specify how many of each, averageing in all about 
$35.00, which are shipped in a very elaborate sample case. 
They also enclose cut, and discriptive circular of same. 
Now, owing to the fact that we have lost considerble lately 
on unscrupulous agents, who, after they get their outfit, 
give our cigars away, and do not endeavor to do business 
as required, we have adopted a new rule, with new agents 
in justice to both ourselves and them, that is the amount 



FAKES, GRAFTS AjND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 93 



of first samples must be deposited with us, and when your 
orders have amounted to 10,000 cigars, this amount Avill be 
returned to you, and your sample case will be replenished 
from time to time as required thereafter free of charge. 
Your commission will be sent you on receipt of each ship- 
ment if so ordered. 

They then go on to tell you after the first month, if 
sales are satisfactory, etc., you will be put on a salary of 
$100.00 per month and expenses, and as sales increase your 
wages will likewise. They do not ask you to send full 
amount, unless you are so disposed, but simply $£.00 as 
evidence of good faith, and goods are sent, balance 
C. O. D, privilege of examination, which they do and 
stand willing to forfeit the rest of their contract. But 
you never secure any orders, as dealers do not want that 
class of goods, and you have simply bought 1000 poor 
cigars, a paste board box, and some worthless printed 
matter which cost them probably $10.00. 

Now, I have gone into the details of this scheme at 
some length, owing to the fact that it is worked with all 
classes of merchants that the public is not familiar with, 
and cigars are only used as a criterion. The same scheme 
is also used in selling ''Cheap John" wines, liquors, patent 
medicine, jewelry, etc. Of course the "bait" is worded 
differently. Sometimes it is "Manager Wanted" to take 
control of a Branch Store for a large importing firm; 
another, a lady or gent to travel and appoint agents, or, 
partner wanted; a good salary and expenses paid, is gener- 
ally in it. All such advertisements are fakes, pure and 
simple, and the "business end," in every instance, is to 
secure a deposit for samples on goods advanced, and thus 
the "rummey" is loaded up with a lot of slum at good 
prices. Remember, reliable firms of any kind do not have 
to advertise for salesmen; neither does the party who 
wishes to increase his business by establishing a branch store, 
have to go to so much trouble, for there are plenty of idle, 
reliable salesmen in every city as well as capitalists "who 
advertise" to make advertisements of prospective patents 
of merit. So do not be deceived by well worded catch- 
ing "Ads." 



94 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 



The Picture Enlarging Graft. 

This, like the free receipt scheme, is generally worked 
on the something-for-nothing-plan and in the rural districts 
or small towns. The agents (both sex representing the 
well knowm blank firm) calls at your residence and presents 
their businesss card, which generally has the cut of a large 
building on it, with the fake firm's name clear across it, 
and then creates the impression that they occupy the whole 
building, when in reality they only have a little office in 
it, and that probably in the top story. The agent tells you 
that they are instructed to give away samples of crayon to 
people in that vicinity for a short time only, as an adver- 
tisement of their work, etc., and the usual harrangue is 
gone through with in order to get one or more pictures to 
copy from, etc. You then sign a little "matter-of-form," 
purporting to be an agreement to recommend their firm, 
providing the samples are satisfactory, but which in reality 
is an order for a frame for each picture. Well, when you 
are notified by the firm, that your pictures are done, you 
then become aware of the deception that the agent prac- 
ticed to get your photo and order, and the firm, of course, 
in answering your Ck kick," and whether you want your 
photos back or not, is sorry such is the case, and is also 
sorry that the agent is not with the firm any longer, as 
they would rectify matters at their cost. However, as the 
work is done, they will do their part in the matter, and 
meet you half way by catting the price of the frame in two. 
Thus, you get a $6 or $8 frame for $3 or $4 and the crayon 
work free. They generally enclose out of frame, etc. 
Well, this offer seems so fair, and is typewritten on such a 
strong letter head, it is generally accepted and the amount 
forwarded, or instructions sent to forward C. O. D., privi- 
lege of examination, and enough money enclosed to defray 
express charges. 

The picture frames are very cheap, being nothing but 
pine with the cement front of different color, and looks 
good enough at first for some time, and costs about thirty- 



AKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 95 

five cents or fifty cents at the factory. The copying is 
done for from ten cents to fifteen cents each, and thus yon 
see there is a good profit in the business, and very little 
capital invested. I know of a firm of this kind? in 
Chicago who tried this rascally method and has grown 
rich in the last few years. God only knows how many 
more have prospered likewise, as there is no law covering 
such cases. But I trust this work will be instrumental, 
to some extent, in covering the law's defect and protect 
many people who grasp at an opportunity to get "some- 
thing for nothing." 

A Pawn Ticket Graft. 

A great many unscrupulous pawnbrokers in large 
cities near Union Passenger Stations, resort to a novel way 
to increase their sales. 'Tis this: Fake pawn tickets are 
placed with an agent, who disposes of them to the stranger 
for whatever they can get, or loses one occasionally in a 
conspicuous place near the depot, where it will be easily 
found. In disposing of the ticket the agent gives up the 
old-time hard luck story, and as the ticket is about due, 
bears out their statement, "they would rather take some- 
thing than nothing," and as it is a well-known fact that 
pawn brokers never lend over twenty per cent of the value 
of the article, a sale is easily effected. The purchaser 
presenting the ticket, (which is always made to the bearer) 
and gets the slum, usually an Electro Plated watch with 
a top jewel imititation American movement in it, a gaudy 
chain, finger ring and a pair of sleeve buttons, all tagged, 
and done up together, with date corresponding with ticket 
and usually found after much search "in the big iron 
safe." In fact, everything has such an air of business 
about it, thatthe "Yokel" pays the amount at once, and 
gets about $3.00 worth of goods for $10.00 or $11.00. and 
when the purchaser finds out that the goods are compara- 
tively worthless, they are generally too many miles from 
there, or are ashamed to make a complaint, for fear their 



96 FAKES, GKAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

friends and acquaintances would find out they ; i, 

and thus acknowledge their ignorance. This xear of 
publicity and false pride keeps many a rascal from being 
brought to justice and encourages them in their nefarious 
schemes. 



* 



Flim-Flaming, or Short Change Graft. 

A great many genteel appearing fakirs of both sex; 
make a very good living in this line. I was informed by 
a motherly-looking old hen recently, who made no bones 
about following it for a liviog, that women were much 
easier to work than men, and seldom made a fuss when 
they did get 'mext" before the get-away was made. 
The graft is more successful at large gatherings, and 
especially circus days in country towns. No circus is 
traveling without several "Aims" as well as other fakes 
being with it. 

It is worked this way: "A five-cent purchase, is made, 
and after much search, finding no nickel a two-dollar 
bill is laid down and $1.95 in change is given back. In 
the meantime the patron has been busy searching for the 
nickel he knew he had, and finds it just as the merchant 
turns his back. They at the same time slip the dollar in 
their pocket and leave the five cents on the counter, with 
the exclamation, k I knew I had a nickel; please give me a 
dollar for this change.' This is always more acceptable 
than a silver dollar on circus day, so the request is at once 
complied with, a silver dollar is laid on the counter, 
and as the merchant is raking off the change, the pur- 
chaser shoves the silver dollar over, and says just keep 
the two dollars and give me the two-dollar bill back it is 
easier to carry." Simple isn't it, after you know how? 
But nevertheless some pretty wise people get caught and 
never know they are done. 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 97 



Seeing the Elephant 

AND SO FOKTH. 

The morning was dull and betokened a day 

Unsuited to caring and carting of hay; 

So Stephen bethought him to take a trip down, 

And bring up a few things that were needed from town. 

So he harnessed his horse and proceeded to go forth, 

With a pail of butter, eggs, berries, etc. 

Now it happened that Stephen, etc., came down 
On the day that the show was to enter the town, 
And into the village he chanced to come forth, 
As the caraven entered the town from the north. 
A wonderful collection they proposed to show forth, 
Elks, elephants, monkeys, bears, tigers, etc. 

And Stephen arrived opportunely, I ween, 

For never had Stephen an elephant seen; 

So he and k 'old sorrell'' pulled up by the fence, 

To see without paying the twenty -live cents. 

And soon came the creature uncouthly and slow, forth, 

With tusks, and with trunk, blanket, ribbons, etc. 

But scared at the sight, or the scent, or the sound, 
''Old sorrel" turned quickly and shortly around; 
And in turning so quickly and shortly about, 
The wagon turned over, and Stephen turned out. 
And into the gutter the berries did flow forth, 
Together with Stephen, eggs, butter, etc. 

Quoth Stephen aloud, as he rose on his legs, 

WW A lig for the berries, etc., and eggs; 

But henceforth I never can say it, of course, 

That I've not seen the elephant — nor can the horse, 

And back to the homestead old sorrel did go on, 

Leaving wagon, and Stephen, etc., and so on. 

— National Auctioner. 



98 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED, 



Piano-for-Sale Graft. 

"Owing to circumstances I will sell my new piano at a 
sacrifice for cash only; can show a clean bill of sale and 
good reasons for selling. Call today from 10 a. 3r. to 4 
p. 3i. only/' 

For several years I have repeatedly seen the above 
advertisement in many of the leading metropolitan papers 
in different cities, and as they are all worded alike, I con- 
cluded it was presented by the same party and must be a 
fake. So seeing it in the Minneapolis Tribune recently 
while in that city, I went to the place designated, ( which 
was a private house in a respectable district), and was met 
at the door by a very modest appearing, good looking 
little lady, of probably thirty -five years of age, dressed in 
widow's weeds, and was just showing a nice, clean looking 
gentleman out, (they probably saw me coming), after 
telling him, for my benefit, she could consider nothing but 
cash, etc. She ushered me into a very neatly furnished 
parlor, where among other things stood a new upright 
piano, very gaudily furnished with a full Japanese silk 
throw over it. Yes, that is the piano advertised, she told 
me, while the tears came into her eyes; her dear husband 
had purchased it as a birth-day present for her a short 
time before he died, (which was three months ago); he had 
made a good selection, for it was the kind she had learned 
on. Thereupon she sat down to 'show me the tone. She 
was a splendid performer, and did good work, considering 
the instrument. She then wanted me to play, and was 
surprised on being informed that I never played, and was 
not a dealer in pianos, as she had judged from my appear- 
ance, etc. "Oh, I should have heard the gentleman play 
who just left. He was a minister, and wanted the piano 
for his wife, but wanted to trade an organ on it, but she 
wanted cash as she w 7 as going away, back to mamma's, 
and as mamma had a piano quite like this, and as the 
old home was already too crowded, she decided to sell it, 



instead of shipping, etc., but she realized slie would have 
to sacrifice it, as pianos were now mostly sold on time, 
and nearly every one w T ho wanted one, had an organ they 
wanted to trade on it." By this time she also found out 
that I was a country merchant and knew nothing about a 
piano, and therefore she pulled a "bill of sale" on me. It 
showed "Dear John had paid $265.00 for it, from Street 
& Smith in New York," and the date of the same corres- 
ponded with the statement. She explained, "he had 
saved $35.00 on it by sending after it," etc. However, in 
order to get her affairs wound . up, and get back as soon as 
possible, she would take $175.00 for it. "No, she could 
not promise to hold it unless a guarantee of at least $25.00 
was put up." And as a business man, I could not object 
to such a proposition. I did finally get away from the 
interesting little widow, just as another prospective pur- 
chaser came. Well, being in town again in a few days, I 
called again, and noticed, "front room for rent." Making 
inquiry I found that the widow did not have the whole 
house, as she led me to suppose, but had only the room 
rented for a week, but only had it for three days, as she 
sold her piano in that time. On writing to the manufac- 
turers, on my "Auction Drummer" letter heading, telling 
them I wanted a cheap, showy, upright piano, for auction 
purposes, they informed me they would cost $65.00 each, 
cased F. O. B., New York, and sent me descriptive circu- 
lars, showing exactly the same instrument the interesting 
little widow handled, and also sold by "Storage or Con- 
signment Graft Auction," concerns in many of the large 
cities. 

The Curate — My task in life is to save young men. 
Young Lady — Oh, then, save me a nice one, 

The superior man has dignified ease without pride; 
the mean man has pride without dignified ease. 
Short accounts make long friends. 

LofC. 



100 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 



Only Did By the Shilber. 

Did'st ever attend a country fair, 

Upon an autumn day, 
And see the people gathered there, 

Who wished they'd stayed away. 

Did'st ever see the jewelry man, 

His dry goods advertise; 
Did' st ever see the lottery, 

Whose owner won the prize. 

Did'st ever see the Mammoth Squash, 

Also the progressive fowl; 
Did'st ever call the thing all bosh, 

And owner cursed chorus howl. 

Did'st ever see the cane rack, 

With its many fancy sticks; 
Did'st ever want your mony back, 

When you got next to their tricks. 

Did'st ever u clod" the baby-rack, 
With its gaily attired dummeys; 

Did'st ever get your money back 

Like those who were not rummeys, 

Did'st ever you watch the horse race, 
With every might and main; 

Did'st ever get squeezed out of place, while 
The "dip v got your watch and chain, 

Did' st ever on the little pea, 

Bet the last Almighty dollar; 

And when it was exposed to thee, 
Did'st they make a holler. 

And the fortune wheel, "old time fake," 
With its enticing stack of silver, 

Is another game suckers tries to brake, 
But it is only did by the shilber. 



KM^^HM^M 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 101 



The Trick Didn't Work. The Man With the 
"Smuggled" Cigars Catches a Tartar. 

His beat is from the ferry boat half a dozen blocks up 
Market street, and the vision of a hawk in search of spring 
chickens is dim compared with his eye for the unsuspecting 
tourist. He is tall and portly, swarthy and middle-aged, 
with prominent nose and deep-set eyes, a typical specimen 
of the well-to-do Spanish-American. 

"Beg pardon, senor," he said, with a courtly bow, as 
he bit the end of a huge cigar after he had kept step with 
me for a dozen paces, "but may I trouble you for a light?" 

I saw the burning lamp of a cigar stand not ten feet 
from us, and recognized his game at once. I've had avast 
experience with confidence men. I held my half-burned 
cigar toward this stranger. He accepted it with another 
bow, lit his own cigar, then fumbled it awkwardly and 
dropped my cigar. 

"Diablo! How stupid of me. A thousand pardons, 
senor. Accept one of mine, do," he urged. 

I took it, a cigar of good flavor and ample proportions, 
pungent and strong, as the Mexican product commonly is 
lighted it from his and smoked a puff or two with ostenta- 
tious satisfaction. The manner in which I met his 
advances assured him I was easy game His eyes fairly 
sparkled. 

"Ah, senor, you are fond of a good Mexican cigar?" 

"I prefer them to any other," said I, anxious to lead 
him on. 

"Then allow me to do you a favor, my friend; I will 
show you where to get them at half price. A friend of 
mine is steward of a steamer just in from the Mexican 
ports, and he always brings a few boxes like the one you 
are smoking; gets them in without paying duty, you under- 
stand — that is why he can sell them so cheap. You would 
like a box or two?" 

"Yes," said 1, "I wouldn't mind if they don't come too 
high." 



102 FAKES, GRAFTS A1SD SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

"Oh, a mere trifle, my friend, a mere trifle," said he, 
"$3.50 for box of 100, and they are worth $7.00 in the 
market wholesale. Come this way." 

"Ah, my friend is out," said he when he received no 
reply to his knock, "but it does not matter, I have a key 
and can serve as well." He opened the door and led me 
into a stuffy but well-furnished apartment, his own bed- 
room without a doubt. A box of cigars, fine ones as I could 
see at a glance, and from which two or three had been 
taken, stood open on the table. 

"Examine them, senor," said he, pushing the box 
toward me; "you are a judge of such goods, I know. See 
the color, the quality, the workmanship, and enhale the 
fragrance, senor," 

"Yes," said I, "they are fine. I'll take a box." 

"Only one senoii Take two or three; you will regret 
it if you do not." 

"No, only one my friend, and, by the way, we must be 
quick about it," said I, glancing hastily at my watch. "I 
ought to be up town by this time, I have to meet a friend." 

"Ah! I am sorry, my dear friend; I should be charmed 
to make your better acquaintance," and opening a cup- 
board showing a row of boxes similar to the one on the 
table, he began to wrap one in paper for me. 

"Hold on," said I, "lend me your opener a moment; 
I want half a dozen to smoke today." 

"Oh, now you offend me, senor; do not think of 
opening the box for that; help yourself from the table; a 
dozen, a pocketful." 

"Oh, no, I couldn't think of it," said I, stubbornly, 
"you are too kind," and, with my pocketknife I popped 
the lid off the box. Phew! Burnt cabbage leaves! They 
were the poorest, cheapest, vilest smelling things ever 
made in Chinatown, worth not over $1.50 a box, and dear 
at that. But he grasped himself equal to it. 

"Bah! Horrible!" he gasped, smelling one of the 
reeking rolls, kk I am so glad we discovered the mistake. 
These are some cheap things my friend keeps to give away 
to the porters and hackmen. I should never have forgiven 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 103 

myself if you had taken them. Here is the kind," whisk- 
ing the box away and taking down another, which he 
placed beside the one on the table, that I might see that 
the brand was the same. 

''All right," said I, nervously consulting my watch. 
"Great Scott ! I haven't a moment to spare, but I must 
have the cigars; here you are; I'll take the opjened box 
and save time," and, throwing the $3.50 on the table I 
bolted for the door. 

"Stay, senor, stop," he cried, thrusting the other box 
toward me. "I cannot rob you so; that box is half smoked 
— take this box." 

"Oh, bother the difference; I can't wait," I shouted 
back, and scuttled down the stairs, followed by a volley of 
rumbling Spanish oaths. 

"1 never enjoyed a box of cigars more, and could not 
light one of them, without laughing again at the knave's 
discomfiture. I have seen the fellow, at a distance, many 
times since, and he must do a thriving business." 

This, like the green goods graft, is worked in many 
different ways, and with many classes of goods, and every 
sea port has a number of these worthies, who pretend to 
be smugglers, and have shipped the goods in without the 
customary duty being paid on them, and as a matter of 
course can sell them very cheap, but the import duty 
would not amount to enough in any instance, compara- 
tively, to make such a difference in price, as the sharper 
offers. However, the "Gedgeon" in his anxiety to get 
something for nothing, and beat Uncle Sam, never stops 
to consider that point, but goes up against the "snap" 
like a hungry tramp for a beefsteak pie. 

He who has neither friend nor enemy is without 
talents, powers or energy. 

Conscience and wealth are not always neighbors. 

— Massinger. 

Temperance is reason's girdle and passion's pride. 

— Jeremy Taylor. 



104 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 



The Green Goods Graft. 

Counterfeit money is known among sharpers and men 
of the world, as being ''green goods," and like the "gold 
brick" is used very extensively among the "top notches" 
to do the more intelligent class of wealth seekers, or wise 
guys, as they are called by the "profession," and in spite 
of the fight the government and better class of newspapers, 
all over the land have been making on the green goods 
men for years, they seem to flourish like a green bay tree, 
and the principal reason is, the victim can not kick when 
he finds he is done, as he had entered into an agreement to 
defraud the government, and to make complaint would be to 
lay himself liable to prosecution, on a penitentiary offense. 
Thus you see the ' ; con men" have the best of it, and are 
more safe after the victim is landed than at any other time. 
It would be a difficult matter for me to give you all the 
different methods I know of to work * 'green goods," but 
as a criterion, here is a copy of a letter, that recently came 
to an acquaintance of mine, who is a hotel clerk in a 
leading Kansas town, and was seriously comtemplating 
going against it, when I came along, and "was just the 
man he was looking for, for he knew I was all right," and 
caughed up the whole thing to me. Said he was tired work- 
ing eighteen hours a day for a bare living and here was his 
chance, and to convince me that it was perfectly safe, etc., 
and that the goods were as represented, said, "I have the 
samples in my pocket." He had given me some change 
when I had purchased some cigars, and he broke a V. for 
me. Well I looked but could find no "Queer." He 
insisted that I had it, and could prove it too, as he had it 
marked, and was well pleased when I could not detect it. 
He then told me the mark and I had it, "but it was good 
money." They had simply sent him a genuine $1 bill as a 
sample, and on the strength of that, and the original and 
well worded letter, he cashed up everything he had, 
amounting to about $400, and was ready to go, as he had 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 105 

already sent a telegram. And thus was a man of the 
world who had spent his life among business men and 
4 'wise guys/' And thus you see that it is not always the 
corn-field sailor who is worked by these people. Here is 
the letter just as he got it, and no doubt many of my 
readers have a similar copy : « 

(It is needless to say I caused this letter to bear no 
fruit, and the sharks were out of their dollar.) 

"My Dear Sir: — Your name was sent me by my son 
(who is my traveling representative) as a shrewd, reliable 
and trustworthy man for me to co-operate with in your 
vicinity, and I therefore take the liberty of proposing a 
scheme to you that ninety-nine out of a hundred up-to-date 
men would gladly grasp if they could personalty examine 
my work, thereby convincing themselves of the absolute 
safety of my offer. 

The writer is an expert engraver, having for twenty- 
two years been employed in the Bureau of Engraving, 
Washington, D. C, and for twelve years was superintend- 
ent of one of the largest Bank Note Companies in the 
country. During my leisure I took up as a side issue the 
duplication of Ones, Fives and Tens and as these were the 
original denominations I had worked upon you can believe 
me when I say they are perfect. 

Now, my dear sir, I am fully aware of the suspicion 
and prejudice that you naturally will entertain for my 
proposition as you will, on first thought, class it as coming 
from a green goods or sawdust swindler, but if you will 
lay aside that prejudice, apply common sense and look at 
my proposition from a business standpoint; compare it 
with the methods of these petty swindlers and you will 
credit me with not being fool enough to waste my time 
addressing a man of your intelligence and standing in 
your community. 

The methods of the so-called green goods swindlers 
have been exposed from time to time in the daily press; 
they send out seductive circular letters to ignorant people, 
with a fake newspaper clipping praising counterfeit 



106 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

money, etc., and offering to sell that which they have not, 
inducing them to send on their hard earned money and 
sending them a bag of sawdust or some such in return. 

The reason these rascals find it profitable to work this 
game is because they know and take it for granted that 
the people in general know that there are hundreds of 
thousands of dollars — counterfeit — in circulation, and as 
men have no moral scruples against increasing the money 
circulation, (in fact, the majority of the people are in 
favor of doing it by law, as witnessed the late greenback 
craze and the present silver agitation), they are induced to 
send on their money on the very liberal terms held out to 
them — five cents buying a dollar or some such absurd 
price. 

]STo intelligent man would do it, for their proposition 
is ridiculous, but a man has only to stop and consider the 
cost of engraving, presses, printing, paper, etc., to see the' 
absurdity of the offer. 

Now, compare these methods with my proposition. 
Firstly, I am not addressing an ignorant person. Secondly, 
I do not want you to send me one cent. What I want to 
know is whether you will be willing to co-operate with me 
in the disposal of my goods, providing I prove to you 
beyond all doubt, that my work is all I claim for it, that 
it cannot be told from the genuine even by experts. 
Understand, I do not want you to invest one dollar until 
you have examined my entire stock from one to one hun- 
dred thousand dollars, compare them with the genuine; 
and, in fact, submit them to any test you see fit, then after 
you are thoroughly satisfied on every point you can decide 
whether you accept my proposition or not. The fact is, 
an investment of $400 will give you an immediate return 
that a lifetime of toil in your present business would not 
do, this without injuring friends, neighbors or your fellow- 
man. To convince you of the safety of the business I will 
— upon receipt of telegram, as per inclosed note — send 
you a sample of my work and I will also appoint a place 
to meet you, so that you can personally examine my 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 107 

entire stock and you will rind it all to equal sample 
inclosed in every respect. 

If for any reason you decide not to co-operate with me, 
I trust as an honorable man, you will honor the protection 
that the word "Confidential" insures to all communica- 
tions, and not be so heartless as to destroy my life's work. 
So kindly burn this and let the matter drop. Trusting, 
however, to hear from you immediately, I remain, 

Confidentially yours, 

Old Steel Plate Engraver. 

Another enclosure consisted of this circular printed to 
look as if it were typewritten. 

DIRECTIONS. 

Follow directions below implicitly. In no other way 
can you communicate with me. Prepay your message to 
insure safe delivery. 

I caution you not to send any letters to this address, 
as they will positively be refused, and returned to you 
opened through the dead letter office. Your telegram 
being in cipher, no one will understand its meaning, so 
have no fear. If you wish your mail sent to any street or 
P. O. Box number, put your address under your name 
and tell the operator to send it also. 

Gr. E. Storin, Easton, Pa. 

His present address is 966 John street. 

(Sign above telegram with full name or initials). Send 
all messages by Western Union Telegraph Co. 

This Graft is Entitled to a Patent were Such a 
Thing Possible. 

The slickest and most successful swindle ever perpe- 
trated in this city was worked today by a smooth-faced, 
well-dressed, six-foot stranger, who called at H. J. Hege- 
man's grocery store, corner of Tenth and Villa, shortly 
before noon and ordered a small bill u of goods to the 



108 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

amount of $2.60, asking to have it sent C. O. D., to No. 
1632 College avenue, at the same time requesting Mr. Hege- 
man to send sufficient money along with the driver to 
change a $20 bill, saying that was the smallest money the 
folks had in the house. 

When the delivery clerk arrived at the given number- 
he was met outside by the stranger who said the folks were 
sick bat offered to carry in the groceries, not forgetting to 
ask the young man if he had the change along tor a twenty. 

The boy said he had and handed him $17.40, which the 
stranger took and disappeared with it behind the house. 
The delivery clerk waited in the cold until he got tired, 
whereupon he also went behind the house only to find his 
grocery basket, goods and all, dumped on the cellar steps, 
with the exception of a pound of crackers which was miss- 
ing along with the stranger. Further investigation on the 
part of the driver disclosed that the residence was that of 
N. D. Fratt, the bank president, and that those in the 
house knew nothing whatever of the stranger, who was 
undoubtedly far away by that time. 

The matter was reported to the police with a good 
description of the fellow, and neighboring towns were tele- 
phoned to look oat for him. — Racine Times. 

Newest Green Goods Game. A Farmer Neatly 
Buncoed Out of His Hard-Earned Money. 

Caleb Morton, a farmer of Church ville, on the out- 
skirts of Rochester, received not long ago a long type- 
written letter marked confidential, including an alleged 
newspaper clipping telling of the theft from the treasury 
department in Washington of some fine steel plates used in 
engraving $5.00, $10.00 and $20.00 bills, says a Buffalo 
special to the New York World. The letter said that the 
author had come into*, possession of the plates, and was 
making bills that could not be detected and would sell 
Farmer Morton $5,000 worth for $100. 



109 

The Churcliville farmer had a mortgage on his farm of 
$2,500 and $100 in bank with which he expected to pay the 
interest on the mortgage in the spring. The lure was too 
tempting and he came to Buffalo the other day with the 
$100 to buy $5,000. 

At the central station at'Buffalo Mortan asked a hack- 
man to direct him to the saloon where he was to meet the 
men from New York. The hackman pointed out a car and 
Morton started for it. Two men followed him. Th^ larger 
of the two touched Morton's shoulder and said: 

"Your name's Morton, ain't it?" 

"Yes, that's my name," said Caleb. 

"We know you well enough. We are officers; come 
with us." The man spoke gruffly and looked like a fierce 
detective. 

"We have the fellows who were to sell counterfeit 
money to you, and now we want you. You are just as 
guilty as they," he added. 

The farmer was taken to a room in Clinton street, 
where he was handcuffed. 

"Bad mess you are in," said the man who was guard- 
ing Morton. "Did your folks know where you were 
going?" 

"'No," gasped Morton. "For heaven's sake, don't let 
my wife know about it." 

"Well, you have conspsiredto buy counterfeit money, 
and you will be lucky if you ever see your wife again. We 
are going to send you to prison." 

Morton broke down and cried. His guard suggested 
that he might "fix it" but it would be risky. 

"I'll never tell a soul. May God strike me dead!" 
exclamed the farmer. 

"Well, we ought to have something for taking the 
risk," said the pretended officer. 

Morton handed over his $100. Then the handcuffs 
were removed. The farmer was to remain in the room until 
the officer could get away without attracting attention. He 
remained for half an hour and then hurried to the station 
to catch his train. While waiting under the train shed 



110 FAKES, GKAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

he became suspicious and told his story. The police were 
notified. The swindlers have not been caught. 



* 



BY EMILE LILIAN WHITING. 

Three horsemen halted the inn before; 
Three horsemen entered the oaken door, 
And loudly called for the welcome cheer 
That was wont to greet the traveler here. 

"Good woman," they cried as the hostess came — 
A buxom, rosy, portly old dame— 
"Good woman, how are your wine and beer? 
And how is your little daughter dear?" 

"My house is ever supplied with cheer, 
But my daughter lieth upon her bier." 

A shadow- over the horsemen fell. 

Each wrapped in thoughts he could never tell; 

And silently one by one they crept 

To the darkened room where the maiden slept. 

The golden hair was rippling low 
Over a forehead as pure as snow. 
And the little hands were closely pressed, 
Clasping a cross to the pulseless breast. 

"I loved thee ere the death-chill lay 

On thee, sweet child," and one turned away. 

"I would have loved thee," the second said. 

"Had'st thou learned to love me and lived to wed." 
"I loved thee ever, I love thee now," 
The last one cried as he kissed her brow, 
"In the heaven to come our souls shall wed, 
I have loved thee living, I love thee dead." 

Then silently out from the oaken door 
Three horsemen passed to return no more. 

— From the German Uhland. 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. Ill 



Why He Showed a Full Moon. 

Sir Robert Ball, the famous astronomer, was some 
time ago fulfilling an engagement in a certain town, and 
while walking along one of the streets, came up to a man 
who was urgently inviting the passers-by to gaze through 
his telescope at the moon for the modest sum of one-half 
penny. The astronomer at once decided to test the man's 
instrument; and so, after venturing a copper, applied his 
eyes to the tube. But what was Sir Robert's astonish- 
ment when he saw a fine picture of a full moon, although 
at the time the "lamp of night" was only in her second 
quarter. 

Being unable to account for the circumstance, he set 
about examining the instrument, and soon found that it 
was not a telescope at all, but simply a tube with a small 
hole where the eye-piece should be, and a transparent 
photograph of a full moon with a light behind it at the 
other end ! On the great star-gazer asking the exhibitor 
how he could so gull the public, the fellow calmly replied : 
"Oh, sir, it's all right. You know that folks like a lot 
for their money nowadays. I used to have a proper sort 
of 'scope once, but I turned it up for this, after a big, 
hulking Scotchman bullied me for showing 'im only 'arf 
of a moon ? This way pays better, an' gives more satis- 
faction ! Don't you see, sir ? — Mobile Register. 

Physician — Why, my good woman, your husband 
hasn't mumps, it's rheumatism. Your note said he had 
the mumps. 

The Good Woman — Yes, sir; we know it, sir, it's 
roomatism all right, but mumps was easier to spell. 

The more money a girl has, the less she cares for men. 

An honest tale speeds best, being plainly told. 
—Richard. 111. 



112 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 



Eights Broke Him. Gambler Had Sevens and He 
Lost a Paper Weight. 

Was using weight as bluff and played four sevens with 
the result that he could not travel. 

"Poker \ I've played poker all my life. I've gone 
into the game with a $5.00 stack and cashed in a hundred. 
I've gone in with a hundred and have left the table with- 
out cashing anything. I've made phenomenal draws, 
been beat out on four kings; I've stood pat on a pair of 
jacks and I've stood pat on four of a kind. I've been 
flush and been broke, but the best move in my life was 
when I caught one of the best poker players in Syracuse," 
said my friend, the gambler. 

"I rolled into Syracuse from Rochester after a most 
unsatisfactory week at the table. I am a professional, of 
course. I don't make any bones about it. I make my 
living at it, and I have to take my chances against the 
best men in the business. They did me in Rochester, 
hang 'em; took my heart also. But, heart! That's 
everything in poker. The man without heart, or nerve, 
whatever you like to call it, is no use in a poker game. I 
had my heart when I landed in Syracuse and about sixty 
cents. I went to the Yates, got a meal and a cocktail, and 
as I leaned up against the clerk's desk, wondering how 
soon it would be before I would get hungry again, a 
drummer appeared who had known me in Rochester. He 
gave me the glad hand, and after he had registered, asked 
me if there was any chance to get in a game at night. I 
said, 'Of course,' and he said that^if I could get one man, 
he had two salesmen acquaintances who wanted to play a 
little while, and if we could meet privately in his room at 
eight o'clock, we might spend the evening pleasantly. I 
agreed, but where was I going to get my wherewith was a 
quandary. 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 113 

PAPERWEIGHT HIS STACK. 

"I had about made up my mind to strike the clerk for 
a loan 'until my firm could send a check,' when my eye 
lighted on a paper weight which lay on the desk. It was 
a sample from a steel house, and it was made in imitation 
of a pile of half dollars, making in all a stack that looked 
like $20.00. There ! I was heeled. When the clerk was 
not looking I captured it. I procured a piece of paper 
from the clerk's pad, and, going into the coatroom, I 
wrapped up Mr. Paperweight until he looked so natural 
that any bank clerk that ever lived would have bought it 
for $18.00 and smiled at the bargain. 

"At eight o'clock I was on hand. There was a fellow 
I supposed was a young drummer in the party, who said 
he was making his first trip out. My drummer friend had 
brought him along as a 'snap.' He didn't know me, but 
I supposed, of course, that he was alright, or his friend 
would not have invited him in the game. So when we 
were seated about a little round table he said: 'Let Lon 
(meaning me) 'be banker.' No one ever kicks against a 
suggestion of that kind, and I was made banker. I set up 
my roll of steel and took $20.00 worth of chips, and every- 
body else took $10.00. I put their money and my roll on 
a chair, and we began playing. I lost on every hand I 
played, and my $20.00 worth was soon gone. I took 
another stack and remarked that the clerk would make 
me good. Then luck changed. I won. The green drum- 
mer was the only other lucky man in the party. He was 
a hard man for me to buck against. He beat me every 
time. Finally I stood to win $50.00 if I cashed in, steel 
roll and all, and I was inclined to complain of cold feet 
and quit, but I took one more hand. 

HELD FOUR SEVENS. 

"Four sevens! Sevens! The very hand that a man 
told me to play until I died. He— that slim, green unin- 
itiated drummer took one card. He raised it a dollar when 
I bet a chip, and all that other gang stayed out. We 
banged away at each other for some time. I looked at 



114 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

him closely, and somehow he seemed to have changed. He 
didn't look like the weak-backed drummer. He had the 
steely eye, the marble heart of a professional. I said exas- 
perated: 'I'd like to bet a little more than the limit.' 
'Well,' said he, and I thought he trembled, 'I might take 
one big bet.' I reached over and picked up a $20 bill 
which lay on the chair. Til bet this.' Blast him, he 
went down in his sock and raised me $20. 

HE BET THE PAPERWEIGHT. 

"There was just $40 left on the chair and my roll of 
steel. Til raise you $20,' said I. Til see you,' said he. 
He wasn't scared. I could see that, and my four sevens 
were small, I felt confident that he had a full house and the 
money was mine, and I called him simply because there 
were no more paperweights in sight. 

" Tve got a small two pair,' said he. 

"I knew he had two pairs of one kind, and I remarked. 
'Mine are sevens.* 

" Tour eights,' said he. 

" 'I'm broke, gentlemen, said I, and I picked up my 
overcoat and left before he could open the roll of steel. 1 
went downstairs and told the clerk that I was going out to 
make a borrow. I got out of town on the 'Cannon Ball' at 
1 o'clock, and I got off at Oneida because that was the first 
stop and the conductor rather insisted on it. — My Tele- 
graph. 




SWINDLES. 



FAKE rS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 117 



These Swindling Times. 

O, how crooked the ways 

Of the average man, 

He will beat you and cheat you 

Whenever he can; \ 

He will rob you outright, 

In defiance of law, 

And the money right out 

Of your pocketbook draw, 

In these swindling times, these swindling times, 
Everything is a fraud wherever you go. 

The doctor will tell you 

He'll cure all your ills, 

With his puffs and his powders, 

His syrups and squills, 

He will give you a dose 

That will make you grow fat, 

Or some pill that will leave 

All but your boots and your hat, 

In these swindling times, etc. 

The grocer will tell you 

He'll sell you pure food. 

W hen you buy it, and try it, 

You find it no good. 

His sugar is glucose, 

His coffee all peas, 

His butter is bogus, 

And so is his cheese, 

In these swindling times, etc. 

The man that sells dry goods, 
Takes a whole page or more, 
Of the paper, to lie 
About his big store, 
He will sell you old truck, 
And cheat when he can, 



118 FAKES, GKAFTS AND SWINI 3 0SED. 

And then he will swear, 
He's too honest a man, 

In these swindling times, etc. 

The man that sells whisky, 
Will swear it is old, 
As pure as the sunshine, 
And precious as gold; 
You take a few drinks 
Before going to bed, 
In the morning get up 
With a badly swelled head, 

In these swindling times, etc. 

The lawyer will swear 
Right straight in your face, 
That for a big fee 
He will win you your case. 
When the trial is over, 
And you're badly beat, 
He'll say a bribed jury 
Has caused your defeat, 

In these swindling times, etc. 

The restaurant keeper 

Goes for your cash, 

With his skim milk for cream, 

And his horrible hash 

Is dishwater soup, 

And his can goods, so fine, 

Put up in the year 

Eighteen hundred and nine, 

Oh ! these swindling times, etc. 

And the cities are governed 
By robbers and thieves, 
In a manner so shameful 
That honesty grieves. 
There is nothing on earth 
The officials will not take, 
For even the poor house 



FAKES, GRAF DWINDLES EXPOSED. 119 



Is run "on the n 

In these swindiii^ t mes, etc. 

And when these swindlers die, 
And for judgement appear, 
That they' 11 fool old St. Peter, 
I very much fear; 
For when he left the earth, 
And crossed o'er the Styx, 
No one had imagined 
The villanous tricks, 

Of these swindling times, etc. 

The one honest man 

Upon whom to depend, 

Is the bold Auctioneer, 

The people's best friend. 

He asks you to bid 

Anything for a start, 

And if he don't get swindled, 

He has to be smart, 
In these swindling times, these humbugging times, 
All is fraud and deception wherever you go. 



3» 



Will Return the Mun. 

I am told by the Sharks who I meet this year, 
There' s a great falling off in suckers everywhere. 

They are very uneasy, and they freely pine, 
'Tis all. caused by this book of mine. 

And declare ' tis a shame without a pretext, 
For me to put so many people next. 

As I had done business most everywhere, 

And they say ' tis because I am now in the clear. 

And I am going to quit the auction block 
Because I can do it, without going in hock. 



120 FAKES, GEAFTS AND ES EXPOSED. 



But my answer to all who ever they be, 
In this book is a likeness of me. 

And you can tell if you ever saw 
The Auctioneer from Arkansaw. 

And if you did, and you got done, 

Why just write to me and, I will return the mun 

Dammann an Easy Victim. Visitor from Des 
Moines Goes to Manawa and Gets Robbed on 
the Pin Game. 

C. L. Gr. Dammann, a visitor from Des Moines, la., 
boarding at 2215 Burt street, made an excursion to lake 
Manawa Sunday and was robbed of $200, a diamond pin 
and a gold ring on the "pin game," which was run out of 
this city by the sheriff a few weeks ago. Mr. Dammann 
saw one dollar follow the next in an effort to get the ball 
in the hole and after he had lost all his effects and was part 
way on the road to this city he realized what had been done 
to him. He accordingly retraced his steps and demanded 
his money of the proprietor of the building where the 
game was operated. The proprietor said that Dummann's 
property was by that time in South Omaha and he named 
a place where the stranger could go and obtain it. Dam- 
mann kept watch at the corner designated all yesterday 
afternoon but failed to see the other parties of the appoint- 
ment and last night reported the matter to the police. 
From the description given it is believed the game was 
handled by "Iron Peg," or Gr. E. Wright, who was recently 
given a suspended sentence in police court to leave town. 
Wright is an old-time confidence man. — Omaha Herald. 

"The-dog-in-the-manger-sentiment" is the foundation 
of every love affair. 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 121 



X 



A Grind Joint At Work. 

I was going down Canal Street in New Orleans with a 
friend of mine recently, when the familiar tones of an 
auctioneer in a "grind joint" caused us to pause, and this 
was the harangue the crowd had to listen to. Here he 
offered a "Box lot 1 ' for sale; my friend being a reporter 
he just took it down in shorthand and here it is: "I have 
in my hand a lot of goods just sent in by a lady from the 
hotel; she is traveling and destitute and comparatively 
helpless, having fallen down recently and broken her ankle, 
below the "Auction Joint" and must dispose of these 
goods to get home. There is nothing in it for the house, 
only the commission, and I assure you I have worked 
early and late. I have toiled in heat and cold. I once 
went from Frisco to San Antonio and had nothing to 
chew on, but my suspenders. I have actually been so 
hungry that toad stools, have tasted like oysters, but in 
all this I have never forgotten my honor, and before I 
would use enough of this unfortunate lady's money, to 
buy a sticking plaster for Bill's sore head, I would be 
ramed jammed into a cannon, and primed with a peck of 
Limberger cheese and fired through the Rocky Mountains. 
No sir,l will charge no commission, and whatever this lot of 
goods bring, she will get in full, so come up and examine 
them — they will stand inspection. The lady claims the lot 
cost her $85.00, and from my knowledge of this class of 
goods, I believe it." Then followed the usual programme, 
— a pluger steps up and examines the plush box, the ear 
rings, the finger ring and the watch and chain, and wants 
to know if he can make a deposit. No sir, it is a commis- 
sion sale, and must be cash, etc. Then the chilber offers 
to buy the ring alone, but this offer is also refused. By 
this time rummeys are interested, and several are rubber- 
ing. Another booster wants to buy the ear rings. He, 
like the first one, not having enough money with him to 
is 



122 FAKES, GEAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

bid on all, the answer is made with a very little variation. 
By this time it is knocked off to a rube for $8.75, he having 
been quietly influenced by the two chilbers, that they 
would buy the two articles mentioned, and he quickly 
figuring the aggregate sum would nearly leave him the 
watch and chain, etc., clear, and while the bill of sale is 
being made out. the plugger's drop out, and are gone 
when wanted to keep their agreement. And thus another 
sucker is done; for in his anxiety to get something for 
comparatively nothing, he gets nothing for something. 

My friend being by this time interested in what to him 
was a new kind of bunko joint, we concluded to stay 
and see the game a little further. The wind jammer seeing 
our "good fronts" and apparent interest, and not recog- 
nizing me, as I had done the square thing by the wind and 
raised whiskers since we met, I asked the proprietor if 
he had any high priced goods, that the time was out on. 
Yass, there was one lot, too valuable to sell with such a 
small audience, but he sprung it, consisting of an L. K. 
gold watch and chain, Masonic Badge, sleeve buttons, finger 
ring, an imitation diamond shirt-stud. He passed it up 
to the speeler saying "this lot was pawned by Conducter 
Sam Turner, who run a train right here on the bridge 
division of the L. & N. R. K>. for years, and who lost his 
position during the big strike. Now, Mr. Toomey, I do 
not want them started for less than $50.00 as they origin- 
ally cost $265." Now, for the benefit of any of my readers 
who may contemplate living in hot air and many truths 
for their bread and fish, I give you the talk which Billy 
put up on it, and there was none better. "Now, 
gentlemen, you heard what Mr. Eppenstein said in regard 
to these goods, and before offering them for your inspec- 
tion, I wish to make a few preliminary remarks. The most 
of you are probably aware of the circumstances under 
which this sale is being made, but as there may be some in 
the audience, who have not read the "Legal Notices" in 
this week's paper, I will state that this sale is recently 
inaugurated to comply with the laws of the land, and the 
statutes of the State of Indiana, which says in part "that 



FAKES, AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 123 



each and every ] ker or money-lender, on personal 

chatties, mast o: ;ale at public auction every twelve 

months, all unre< ; pledges, and each and every pledge 

must have two I 3 re it is exempt. However, the 

auctioneer may reserve the privilige of not accepting the 
first bid providing it does not equal one-fourth of the 
intrinsic present value of the offering." Now that is just 
the kind of a sale this is. The past year has been a hard 
one owing to labor troubles, etc., and the accumulation of 
valuables, are much above the average; therefore, the old 
saying that its an "ill wind that blows no body good" was 
never more fully illustrated than today, as other people's 
loss is your gain, and as those valuables are thus forced on 
the market, it is your good luck to be present at the sacri- 
fice and purchase at prices that suit yourselves. If any 
one present has not all the money with them, and wishes 
to bid, a deposit will suffice, and thirty days w T ill be given 
to pay the balance, and regarding Mr. Eppenstein's 
responsibility, I will say without fear of successful contra- 
diction his commercial rating is quoted A. 1. He has been 
in business right here twenty-five years. Just think of it, 
a quarter of a century, and in that time built up a reputation 
for truth and veracity second to none, and you will find 
every thing just as represented, and a written guarantee is 
given to that effect, and if found otherwise the money will 
be cheerfully refunded. Now, I will take up no more of 
your valuable time, but continue the sale, by offering you 
this valuable lot of unredeemed chatties, which were 
pawned together, and must be sold the same way in com- 
pliance with the law. However, any agreement you make 
among yourselves will be satisfactory regarding the 
different articles." This is said to assist the chilbers, who 
the reader will understand is hired to "puff," and agrees 
to buy a certain article at extravagant prices, if the rummy 
does not want it all. And thus the game goes on — the blind 
lady gets the opera glasses, and the one legged soldier gets 
the skates. 



124 FAKES, GKAFTS AND SWI1S [POSED. 



The Over Check Racket. 

A true incident that occurred early in November, 1899. 
in a town of 5000 people less than 100 miles due south of 
Kansas City, Mo., on the Missouri Pacific E. R. 

The party that this scheme was worked on is an old 
resident and business man of his town and quite widely 
known and for this reason I will not give his correct name 
nor the name of the town in which it occured. 

It was 3 p. m. when a leather tall, modest appearing 
man of thirty-five years entered the furniture store in 

R , he greeting the salesman in charge very pleasantly 

and introduced himself, saying he had been sent here by 
his firm to do magazine w T ork, special corresponding, etc.; 
and that he would be here fully six months or more; that 

he had just rented a suite of rooms from Mrs. P , but 

that they were lacking in a few pieces of furniture and 
that he desired to purchase a big, easy chair and a desk. 
After looking the stock over for twenty or thirty minutes — 
had a little arguing about the price, he selected $23.50 
worth of goods and inquired if they could be delivered at 
once, saying he would go up with them. He was told that 
the goods oould be delivered at once. He then tendered in 
payment for them a check on the National Bank at 
Lacrosse, Wis. This check was for $33.75; the proprietor 
looked the check over and believing it to be a good one, 
handed him $10.25 in change, the goods were delivered at 
once, the stranger going along with them. After the 
goods were placed in the house, the stranger returned and 
talked quite freely about his work and different topics. 
He then inquired where was the best place to buy station- 
ery and left. This w^as the last seen of him. The check 
was sent away for collection that night. In seven days it 
came back protested, saying that the man was wanted in 
five different states. Upon investigation it was found that 
upon his arrival in town he rented the suite of rooms but 
paid .no rent on them; but said he would not want to 



125 

occupy them for a week but in order to bold them he 
would bring down some furniture which he had purchased 
down town. This, of course, seemed all right to the land- 
lady, until she was told that he would not be back as per 
promise. Of course the merchant got his furniture back 
but was out his $10.25, whicli was too small an amount to 
try and find him for and have him punished. No doubt 
he is to this day doing a nice little business, perhaps 
making $10 to $12 per day, and as long as he does not try 
to make too large a haul at one time, he may continue 
successfully for years, for the amount is too small to spend 
much money trying to capture him, and besides 'tis very 
few people who care to have anyone know that they have 
been duped. 

Fraud Through the Mails. 

Special Dispatch to the Globe-Democrat. 

Bought goods on credit, sold for cash below listed cost 
and never settled — worked under three names, according to 
the United States Officers. 

Hunter, Mo., October 7. — James M. Brown, the Post- 
master at Peggy, Carter County, Mo., and his brother and 
assissant, Jefferson D. Brown, were arrested at that place 
today by Deputy United States Marshal William M. 
Osmer, of St. Louis, charged with using the mails to 
defraud. They were first removed from office by Post Office 
Inspector E. L. McKee, who accompanied the deputy 
marshal for that purpose. The prisoners were taken to 
Poplar Bluff, where they will have a preliminary hearing 
before United States Commissioner J. L. O' Bryan. 

The Browns are charged with obtaining goods on 
credit from firms all over the United States, especially drug- 
companies and patent medicine manufacturers, which 
goods they resold to jobbers at much below the cost price. 
In frequent instances, it is charged, the goods were never 
even opened, but were reshipped to the purchasers in the 
boxes and parcels in which they were received. They are 



i 
\ 



126 FAKES, DRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

accused of having operated during the past two years from 
Piedmont, Ellington, Exchange and Peggy, Mo., as well as 
places in Iowa and Texas. They obtained all kinds of 
merchandise by this means, it is charged, including furni- 
ture, groceries, drugs, harness and saddlery, tobacco, 
jewelry, school desks and in fact, about every commodity 
their victims could be induced to part with on credit. 
They operated under the firm names of J. S. Brown & Co., 
J. D. Brown & Co., and Brown Bros., each of which had 
alluring letter heads for correspondence purposes. 

The prisoners are alleged to have victimized business 
houses in all the larger cities and in many smaller towns. 
They received large shipments of goods at Piedmont, 
Sabula, Leeper and Ellington, Mo., some of which are still 
held for the payment of freight charges, or on "shippers 
orders." Their list of creditors is said to include the 
Detroit Tobacco Company, Detroit, Mich.; Haney School 
Furniture Company and Grand Rapids Furniture Com- 
pany, Grand Rapids. Mich.; Fred Kauffman Tailoring 
Company, Chicago, besides others in New York City, 
Cleveland, Akron and Toledo, O. ; Chattanooga, Memphis 
and McKinny, Tenn.; Louisville, Ky.; South Bend, Ind., 
as well as about thirty St. Louis houses. One of the latter, 
from correspondence secured today, appears to have 
purchased many small bills of patent medicines and drugs 
from the Browns, and to have several further propositions 
under consideration. The reason given by the Browns for 
wanting to sell was, usually, that they were going out of 
business and were compelled to part with their stock at a 
sacrifice. 

Deputy Osmer and Inspector McKee left St. Louis for 
Piedmont Wednesday night, armed with warrants for 
the arrest of the two Browns and a supposed accomplice, 
whose name had not been learned. In addition to the 
prisoners, they secured several large bundles and a box of 
letters; which had been received by the Browns. 

The receipt of circulars by a number of drug houses 
and jobbers in St. Louis in which the Browns offered to 
sell certain standard medicines at very low prices, first 



FAKES 3 AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 127 



aroused, the si s of the federal authorities, and 

inquiries were s , which led to the trip of the officers 

to Southeast Missouri. The Ballard Snow Liniment Co. 
is said to have had a proposition from the Browns to sell a 
large amount of standard medicines within the last few 
weeks. The Indiana Drug Specialty Co. also had a com- 
munication from them as late as September 29. The 
excuse for selling was that they were going out of business 
and would dispose of their stock at a sacrifice. A similar 
business, under the same name, is said to have been car- 
ried on from Des Moines, la., during the last few months. 

''Knock-out Drops." 

Frequent reference is made in the police reports to 
"knock-out drops," which are administered in drinks for 
the purpose of so stupefying the victim that robbery is the 
easiest thing in the world. As to the composition of the 
"drops'' a Philidelphia surgeon says: 

" 'Knock-out drops' may be and are any concentrated 
solution of a narcotic medicine, such as preparations of 
opium and its active ingredients, such as morphia, codeia, 
narcotina, etc., also preparations of Cannabis Indica, or 
Indian hemp or hasbeesh, and many of the newly-intro- 
duced preparations, such as sulphonal. But the "knock- 
out drops," as generally understood are a solution of 
choral hydrates, say about 30 grains to the drachm of water. 
It is a very soluble preparation of a sharp, pungent taste, 
and adds to the stimulating tonic effect of the alcoholic 
beverage, and is serious in its consequences when given to 
persons afflicted with heart trouble.'" 

When the devil had his choice as to instruments lie 
first picked jealousy. 



128 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINI 3 0SED. 



A Snap for Bargaii ers. 

Here is an advertisement which was run for some time 
in the leading papers throughout the United States a few 
years ago: 

NOTICE. 

"For a short time only, we will send to any address, 
by express, all charges paid, on receipt of $1.00, ten yards 
of our famous brand of Lamar Silk. We do this in order 
to introduce and create the demand for it in this country, 
that it has in England; and in no way can we more suc- 
cessfully demonstrate its superiority over other silks than 
by placing it directly among the people. In no instance 
will two orders be filled for the same person. Order today 
as this will not appear again. Address, Panison Fur and 

Silk Co., Drawer No. " Or some other strange name 

would be used, and some large city selected where a post- 
office box would be rented, and it is needless to say the 
advertisers did a big business. Women all over the 
land going up against it like a hungry hog for a hay stack, 
and they always got their silk and full measure; but it 
was only ten yards of silk thread. 

Blondines the Birds. 

Brooklyn swindler dyes sparrows yellow and sells 
them for canaries. 

If you bought a canary bird recently and it declines to 
sing, perhaps you have met "him." If the bird is turning 
from yellow to brown in color, it's sure you have. "He" 
is an enterprising, clever and well-dressed swindler, who 
has been reaping a rich harvest selling sparrows, dyed 
yellow, for singing canaries. 

He sells the birds at $2.00, half down only, to show 
his good faith. The birds are frightened, he says, but 
will be singing when he calls for the other dollar. They 
never sing; he never calls. 

The police are looking for the swindler. Fort Ham- 
ilton has been the scene of his biggest returns. 



129 



The Feather Renovator Shark. 

I would especially warn all house-keepers against this 
class of human wolves, as in no instance have I ever 
known a feather bed or pillow to be returned, after being; 
renovated by these sharks, without being short, and if 
noticed by the house- wife, they will exclaim, "the dirt, 
which was just awful, is completely gone," etc. They 
endeavor to always do this business when the man of the 
house is not there, and on making a delivery they gener- 
ally get the lady of the house to sign a "matter-of-form" 
which they assure her is merely to assist him in getting 
other jobs, as well as a receipt, as he is comparatively a 
stranger in that vicinity, and she is so well-known, etc. 
However, this is nothing more or less than a certificate 
that the feather bed or pillows, etc., were returned in full, 
and perfectly satisfactory. So yon have no recourse when 
you have discovered the steal. Never trust strangers with 
your feathers. There are different ways to do the work 
at home. 



* 



Mock Auctions or "Grind Joints. 

Mrs. Ida Hutchinson of 1037 1-2 Market street stood 
before Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Drury yesterday 
afternoon with a gold watch and chain, a ruby pin, ruby 
ear-rings and a gold ring in which two rubies were set on 
the bias. 

Of course, it wasn't real gold, and the rubies were only 
glass. 

"Dombard Loan Company," said Mr. Drury, before 
a word had been uttered by the melancholy-looking 
woman. 

16 



130 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 



44 Why, yes; but how did you know?" 

"1016 Market street," continued the lawyer. 

"That's the place." 

"You bought them at auction and got cheated." 

"I did. I was swindled out of $12. 

"And now you want a warrant for the arrest of the 
men who sold the goods to you. We have had several of 
these cases. Some have been settled by refunding the 
money." 

While the warrant was being made out, Mrs. Hutchin- 
son told thp story of her purchase. She went into the 
auction house, she said. The auctioneer remarked that 
before beginning business he would sell a watch and chain 
and some Jewelry that had been left by a lady who was 
sick. He said the goods were worth $80. 

"The watch and jewelry were put up, and somebody 
said, 'ten dollars.' Ladies near me urged me to bid but I 
have since been told that they were cappers. One of the 
women said she would come to my house the next day and 
give me $5.00 for the ear-drops alone, but she hasn't come 
yet. I bid $12 and got the jewelry, which isn't worth 
anything." 

John Doe warrants were issued on the charge of petty 
larceny by trick and device. 

I quote the above from the San Francisco Examiner as 
an illustration of the many methods resorted to by Fake 
auction houses, or "Grind Joints," to dispose of their 
pinch-back jewelry and Waterbury watches — the former 
will turn back in a day or two, and the latter has a town 
clock escapement, three wheels, and seventeen yards of 
main-spring, and you would be required to stay up all 
night winding it, to get it to run the next day. I once took 
one of these main-springs out of the case, and it recoiled 
with such a "spring," I could see nothing of it but a 
crack in the air, and I advise my readers to stay clear of 
the "Grind Joints, which are nothing more. 

Forgiveness is the key that opens Heaven. 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 131 

Send No Money. — But a Self Addressed Envelope. 

"A wife's long suffering from her husband's strong 
drink is over. I have accidentally discovered a secret 
cure, and I am so grateful that I will send the formula 
'free of charge' to any wife, mother or anyone else suffer- 
ing likewise. It can be administered secretly, in coffee, 
etc., if desired. Address Mrs. " 

The above is an advertisement vfhich has been running 
steady for years in the cheap periodicals, and occasionally 
in the Sunday papers. So I recently made up my mind to 
see where the '"graft" was. Believing it cost money to 
run an '"ad" so long and extensively, regardless of blank 
gratitude to the Almighty— or anyone else, and, therefore, 
wrote the said party, mailing the letter from a small 
town, and having the answer sent to the same place, as I 
was "next" and thought the letter would not be answered 
to a large city. In the course of time I got a reply in a 
feminine hand and very sympathetic, and dwelling at 
great length on the enclosed formula, w T hich was a lot of 
rubbish of high sounding name, and wound up by saying, 
4 'there was two or three of the ingredients which could 
not be purchased in the small town." She was afraid I 
could not get the order filled properly, and would there- 
fore fill it complete, and send it to me in a plain package 
for $2.65, and assured this is what it cost her at wholesale 
— excepting a small margin for packing, postage, etc. 

Thus was my confidence in womankind once more 
jarred, for upon reading the formula to a friend of mine in 
the drug business in Minneapolis, Minn., he laughed and 
said he could not fill it, as some of the ingredients were 
extinct, being considered worthless; but if he had them the 
cost would not be over fifty cents. She had probably 
bought a lot of these worthless ingredients for a song, and 
was making money filling orders. This, like the "Agents 
Wanted" grafts, is worked many ways and by different 
sharks. The business end in every instance being a 
receipt that you will find difficult to get accurately filled 
without their assistance. 



132 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 



No Prizes Are Recovered. 

"Toolyuhgimme! Toolyuhgimme! Toolyuligimme!" 
rattled the auctioneer who recently opened the annual 
sale of unclaimed freight collected by the American 
Express company throughout the state in Chicago. 

The intention of the salesman was to ascertain if any- 
body in the crowd assembled at 186 Wabash avenue would 
give him 20 cents for a battered grip which looked as if an 
elephant had been using it for a shoe. 

" Davisferfifteen," he continued and a second-hand 
dealer took his prize, while the auctioneer continued his 
harangue, which sounded something like a boy on the run 
holding a stick on a picket fence. 

The goods offered were principally dusty bags, leather 
hand sachels and the like. The spectators were not 
beguiled by the mystery of what might be inside of them 
and they kept the price very low. One young fellow 
bought a canvas telescope which was about the size of a hall 
bedroom. It contained a soiled shirt and a necktie of a 
bygone pattern. 

This kind of sale is known among the prefession as 
''Old Hoss" and a few years ago were eagerly sought for 
by per-centage auctioneers as well as the public, but now 
it is a difficult matter for an express or freight agent to 
secure a reputable auctioneer to make an "Old Hoss" sale. 
Owing to the fact a great many agents who were authorized 
by their respective companies to conduct such sales a few 
years ago, took advantage of their opportunity to "Stoff" 
the sales and put in worthless packages of their own, 
nicely wrapped and labeled, generally resembling jewelry 
C. O. D. and got up to deceive the bidders, they thinking 
of course they were unclaimed valuables and as the auc- 
tioneer represented them, as such they had no difficulty in 
doing a land office business, and without the auctioneer 
being aware of the fraud, he was instrumental in per- 
petrating, as few purchasers open their "prizes" in 



133 

public, and when the fake was discovered, they had no 
recourse. However, as the above clipping shows the 
public is getting next, and instead of the well dressed 
intelligent, adviser that once frequented such sales, it is 
Bar Flies, Hobos, and the poorest class of second-hand 
dealers, who only bid on what is in sight- taking no 
chances. 



A Noted Swindler Has Just Been Released From 
the Penitentiary. — Abe Rothchild, Diamond 
Thief and Murderer. 

One of the most notorious swindlers and crooks in the 
United States was released from the penitentiary Saturday 
evening in the person of Abe Rothchild, murderer, forger 
and thief, says the Jefferson City Tribune. He was sen- 
tenced in 1896 at Moberly for swindling a merchant there. 
He was tried under the name of Smyth, this being one of 
his many aliases, and was on the prison records as a member 
of this numerous family. 

Rothchild' s operations as a swindler extended from 
Canada to Texas, and in the carrying out of his nefarious 
schemes he has committed every crime in the category, 
including murder. This gravest of his crimes was com- 
mitted in Texas, where he murdered a chambermaid at 
Dallas. There he was tried for his life, but the wealth of his 
family, a prominent Jewish one in Cincinnati saved his 
neck. 

Rothchilds' swindling methods were various. His 
favorite scheme, however, was to go into a town and, after 
staying a short while, ascertain the business standing of 
the merchants. 

Picking out one that stood highest, he would write to 
some wholesale firm in the east and sign the merchant's 
name to the order, with directions to rush the goods to a 
town where a store was to be opened. 






134 FAKES, GEAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

He would precede them to the town, register under 
that name at the leading hotel, be indentified by the hotel 
proprietor when the goods came and secure the shipment 
of goods. Then he would sell ont immediately or ship the 
goods to a distant town to be disposed of. This done, he 
would hunt new fields of depredation. 

Rothchilds also swindled extensively in diamands, 
using about the same means. A rush order for diamonds 
would be sent to a wholesaler in the name of a jeweler of 
standing. He would register under the name of the jeweler 
at the local hotel, and would in due time make it known 
to the proprietor that he was looking for a valuable pack- 
age that was past due, at the same time inquiring if there 
was anybody in town of his name. 

The jeweler would of course be mentioned. He would 
go to the jeweler and inquire. As the latter had made no 
such order, the diamonds would be turned over to Roths- 
childs and he would lose no time in disappearing from the 
vicinity. These schemes were carried on several years 
before he could be caught. 

It was thought several sheriffs would be at the peni- 
tentiary door Saturday evening ready to receive the wily 
swindler, but not one appeared. When he was convicted 
at Moberly there were six in waiting for him, should he 
be released on a technicality, or in any other way escape. 
Rothschilds has had a lawyer employed since his impris- 
onment and it is thought he must have settled in some 
way with his victims. His father is wealthy and has 
before come to the aid of his crooked son. 



First our pleasures die and then our hopes and fears; 
and when these are dead the debt is due; dust claims dust 
and we die too. 

Sleep and rest abundantly — '"The best physicians are 
Dr. Quiet, Dr. Diet and Dr. Merryman. 

The paths of glory lead but to the grave. 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 13f> 



Gone Agin — Finnigin. 

Sup'rintindint wuz Flannigan; 
Boss of the siction wuz Finnigin; 
Whenever the kyars got off en the track 
An' muddled up things t' th' divil an' back, 
Finnigin writ to Flannigan. 
Afther the wrick was all on agin; 
That is, this Finnigin, 
Reported to Flannigan. 

Whin Finnigin first writ to Flannigan, 
He writed tin piges — did Finnigin, 
An' he told just how the smash occurerd. 
Full many a tajus, blunderin' wurrud 
Did Finnigin write to Flannigan 
Afther the cars had gone on agin, 
That was how Finnigin 
Reported to Flannigan. 

Now Flannigan knowed more than Finnigin — 

He'd more iducation — had Flannigan; 

An' it wore'd him clane and complately out 

To tell what Finnigin writed about 

In his writin to Mister Flannigan, 

So he writed back to Finnigin; 

"Don't do sich a sin agin; 

Make 'em brief, Finnigin." 

When Finnigin got this from Flannigan, 
He blushed rosy red — did Finnigin; 
An' he said: "I'll gamble a whole month's pa-ay 
That it'll be manny and manny a da-ay 
Befoore Sup'rintindint, that's Flannigan, 
Gits a whack at this very same sin agin. 
From Finnigin to Flannigan 
Repoorts won't be too long." 



136 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

Wan da-ay on the siction av Finnigin 

On the road sup'intindid by Flannigan, 

A rail gave way on a bit av a curve 

An' some kyars went off as they made the swerve, 

"There's nobody hurted," sez Finnigin, 

"But repoorts must be made to Flannigan," 

And he winked at McGorrigan, 

As married a Finnigin. 

He wuz shanty' n thin, wuz Finnigin, 

As many a railroader's been agin, 

An' the schmoky o'l lamp wuz burnin' bright 

In Finnigin' s shanty all that night — 

Bilin down his report, was Finnigin ? 

An' he writed this here: "Mister Flannigan: 

Off agin, on agin, 

Gone agin. — Finnigin." 

— St. Louis Exchange. 



* 



The Small Pox Swindle. How Two Rascals 
Robbed the Landlord of $500. 

"I dare say you never heard of the great small pox 
swindle," said the hotel manager. "The facts of that 
remarkable affair were withheld at the time for the most 
urgent reasons of policy, and even now I prefer to tell the 
story without names or localities. It happened in the fall 
of 1886, when a certain hotel in a large Western city was 
crowded with tourists. One day, at the height of the 
season, two gentlemanly looking strangers put up at the 
house and were assigned to what we call a double room. 
About a week later one of them appeared at the office and 
requested a private interview with the manager. 'I regret 
to inform you,' he said after the door was closed, 'that my 
friend is down with a severe case of small-pox.' The 



137 

proprietor nearly fell out of his chair. There was known 
to be small-pox in the city and the bare suggestion that 
the disease had appeared in the hotel was enough to 
empty it in a twinkling. To let the news get out meant 
the loss of thousands upon thousands of dollars. It meant 
the ruin of the season's business. 'He must be quietly 
removed at once,' said the proprietor, trying to control his 
agitation. 'Removed ! ' exclaimed the other; 'taken 
through the cold air to a lazeretto ! Why, man, that 
would be murder ! I'll not permit it ! ' The hotel keeper 
was thunderstruck. 'Do you mean to say he must stay 
here?' he gasped. 'Certainly,' said the stranger. 

"It was a ticklish situation. The hotel keeper dare 
not enforce his suggestion, while to let the case remain 
was like storing gunpowder in a furnace room. He 
pleaded, protested, begged, threatened and blustered, but 
all in vain. The man was firm as a rock.. 'If you attempt 
to eject my sick friend,' he declared. 'I'll publish your 
inhumanity to the entire community.' Finally it occurred 
to the distracted proprietor to see, first, whether it was 
really a case of small-pox. So he sent for a physician, 
swore him to secrecy and hustled him up to the room. 
The doctor took one look at the disfigured face on the 
pillow and reported that the malady was there in a malig- 
nant type. He advised the man's immediate removal at 
any cost. 'If you keep him concealed,' he said, 'the 
disease may spread, and it would ruin you for life. You 
owe something to your guests.' Again the proprietor 
interviewed the friend and again the latter refused to budge 
from his position. * Where can I take him?' he demanded. 
'You know very well I can't get comfortable quarters for 
such a purpose, and 1 won't have him butchered in a pest- 
house to please any landlord on earth?' The hotel man 
felt his hair stand on end, but concluded to let things 
stand as they were until morning. 

"Next day he sent for the sick man's friend and asked 
him whether he had any suggestions to make. w Yes.' he 
replied: 'I thought up a ]Dlan over night, which you may 
17 



138 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

adopt or not, just as you like. 'As I said before,' he con- 
tinued, 'it is useless to try to rent quarters for such a case. 
We might, however, buy a small cottage and take him 
there. I have figured the thing up and the total expense 
would be about $500. If you are willing to hand over that 
amount. I will take him away and assume all further 
responsibility. I make the offer entirely out of sympathy 
for your guests.' The landlord looked him in the eye. 
'I too, have thought the sittuation over,' he said, 'and I'm 
convinced it's a confidence game pure and simple. I'm 
convinced there's nothing the matter with your dear friend 
upstairs, but I am also further convinced that the slightest 
breath of the affair would greatly damage the reputation 
of the house. As a business proposition I consider it worth 
$500 to get rid of you.' The other man smiled ironically. 
'Call a cab and get out your money,' he said, and inside an 
hour the incubus had been spirited through a side door 
swathed in blankets and driven away. As the landlord 
shrewdly surmised, the whole thing was a confidence game, 
and he learned the particulars later on through a sport he 
had once befriended. There was nothing the matter with 
the rascal upstairs except that his face had been pricked a 
little with a quill dipped in croton oil, something that 
makes a horrible-looking pustule, which disappears in a 
few days and leaves no mark. I always thought the hotel 
man had good sense in taking the course he did. He was 
caught in a trap and took the cheapest way out. The bare 
rumor of even a suspected case would probably have 
involved a loss of $50,000 or $60,000. It was far better to 
pay a five and charge it to education. 

The man who sits around and brags of his bravery, is 
the first to take to the woods in time of danger. 

Four things cannot be recovered — the spoken word, 
the sped arrow, past life and neglected opportunities. 

Think only helpful thoughts — As a man thinketh in 
his heart so is he. 



AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 139 



Moccasin is the Indian Shell Game. 

Bucks grow frantic over the primeval little dodger; 
are worse than crap shooters. 

"Gambling games of one kind or another form a not 
inconsiderable part of the mental life of all savage peoples, 
who find in the vagaries of chance, aided more or less by 
skill," says Tom Davis of the Wild West Show, "the 
occasional exaltation of mind which all men demand in one 
form or another. But the Indian is the worst gambler of 
the lot. 

"Among them perhaps the most striking is the game 
of moccasin, which seems to be unquestionably the fore- 
runner of the 'little joker,' which every year proves so 
effective at county fairs in luring dollars from the pockets 
of the unwary. This game was once widely distributed 
among the Indian tribes and it has been said that it is now 
extinct; but it can be seen today in its aboriginal form in 
any of the outlying parts of the Navaho reservation in 
Arizona. 

LAYOUT IS SIMPLE. 

* "The paraphernalia of the game are very simple and 
always at hand, consisting merely of a knife or other hard 
substance — a pebble will do — and the moccasins of 
the players. The game is usually played at night, 
although sometimes it extends over several days, and in 
its native setting has a weirdness and fascination which 
the modern fakir cannot claim. Five persons usually 
participate, four of them actively, while the fifth acts as 
musician, but usually a much larger number watch the 
progress of the game and perhaps place a bet occasionally. 
"Picture a rude shelter of green boughs, roughly 
circular in form, placed in some thicket, or under the 
overhanging branches of some large tree. In the center a 
blanket is spread upon the ground surrounded by fifteen 
or twenty Indians squatting about it, or leaning over, 
intently watching the play. 



140 FAKES, GRAFTS AND 8 WIN] D OSED. 



SHOES FOR SHEL.L0. 

"The players take their places at the four corners of 
the blanket, and are paired off by couples. Each player 
contributes one of his moccasins and the winner of the 
ioss lays them on a blanket upside down, and about six 
inches apart, with the toes pointing forward. Then with 
his left hand he lifts each moccasin in turn, and makes 
the pretense of putting the knife under it, making many 
passes and using every precaution to deceive his opponents 
and spectators. During all the time the musician keeps 
up a continuous drumming, which he accompanies with a 
song. In the song the others all join, but the opponents 
of the players eagerly watch for some slip which will give 
them a clew as to which moccasin the knife or 'little joker' 
is concealed under. 

RULES ARE SIMPLE. 

"When the knife is hidden to the satisfaction of the 
player, he suddenly calls out. 'Ho!' in a loud voice, and the 
singing drops to a low murmur. One of his opponents is 
providedwith a short stick, and he raises it threateningly 
over the moccasins, first over one, then over another, while 
all conversation ceases and every eye is fixed intently 
upon him. 

"The interest becomes more and more intense as this 
by-play proceeds until finally the man with the stick 
places one end of it under the moccasin he selects and 
turns it over. Should the knife be found under it he wins, 
and the former player relinquishes to him the moccasins 
and knife, together with the stakes. It is thereupon his 
privilege to hide the knife, while his opponent must 
guess at its location. This reversal in position gives the 
native player a much better chance to come out even on 
the play than the average fakir who works the game at 
county fairs is disposed to allow his victim. 

"We try to keep our people from the game, for gam- 
bling in a show like this is apt to breed ill feeling, but as 
well try to keep a boy on the street from playing craps as 
to endeavor to prevent a buck from stacking the money he 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 141 



gets. Turn your back on them for an hour and you will 
iind them hard at work, and on Sundays, when the show 
lays off its a case of all day with them." 



9? 



Cleverly Done. 

"Charge it to experience," said the man of t ! he world 
who had just heard the plaint of a friend who had paid 
for a straight tip at the races and lost. "Cupidity makes 
gillies of the best of us. I was up against it myself only a 
few months ago." 

"Not you?" 

"Yes, I. Looking out of the window one morning I 
was surprised to see a stranger on the lawn hunting closely 
in the grass and under the shrubbery for something he had 
evidently lost. He looked like a gentleman in ill health, 
was well dressed, and apologized for intruding as soon as 
I went out. While taking his morning walk he had 
noticed a base ball outside the hedge, concluded at once 
that it belonged to some boy about the place -and tossed 
it into the yard. In doing so he had thrown a plain gold 
ring from his finger, emaciated by recent sickness. He 
did not mind the intrinsic loss, but the ring had associa- 
tions that made it very dear to him. After further search 
he gave it up, but before leaving he assured me that he 
would gladly give $100 to any one leaving the ring at his 
hotel. Of course, I could take no such reward', but I could 
send one of the boys and that would make it all right. 

"While I was down on all fours inspecting every inch 
of ground a man dressed like a laborer looked at me a 
while and then joined in the search. He soon had the 
ring. He had it all the time. On learning that it was 
not mine, he refused to give it up. He would advertise it 
and get a reward. After much dickering he turned it 
over to me for $50. Of course, I never found hide or hair 
of the invalid." 



142 FAKES, ORAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

There's Danger, 

Write it on the liquor store, 
Write it on the prison door, 
Write it on the gin shop fine, 
Write — aye, write this truthful line: 
"Where there's drink, there's danger." 

Write it on the work house gate, 
Write it on the school boy's slate, 
Write it in the copy book, 
That the young may on it look* 
"Where there's drink, there's danger." 

Write it on the church yard mound, 
Where the drink- slain dead are found; 
Write it on the gallows high, 
Write it for all passers by: 
"Where there's drink, there's danger." 

Write it underneath your feet, 
Up and down the busy street; 
Write it for the great and small, 
In the mansion, cot and hall: 
"Where there's drink, there's danger." 

Write it on the ships which sail, 
Borne along by storm and gale; 
Write it in large letters plain, 
O'er our land and past the main: 
"Where there's drink, there's danger." 

Here is the preparation used by Mme. Flournoy, of 
Chicago, for curling hair: Two oz. scrapings of lead, 1-4 
oz. lithage, 1-4 oz. gum camphor. Boil all in one pint of 
soft water for half an hour; let it cool, pour off the liquid 
and add 1 drm. sugar of lead, 1 drm. rosemary flowers. 
Boil all again and strain, w T hen it is fit for use. Apply to 
the hair about once a week and it will curl beautifully. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 




How to Start the Auction Business. 



^^ HERE is an Auctioneer's Institute in London that 
\M prepare auctioneers for the bench, and has held one 
annual course. The next one commences May 31. Admis- 
sion to membership may be obtained in two ways, viz : 
Under the practice qualification, and by examination. 
Evening meetings for the delivery of lectures, reading of 
papers and discussion of subjects of interest to the profes- 
sion are held monthly. 

We have nothing of the kind in this country, but 
nevertheless produce the world's best auctioneers, which 
goes to show that practical experience is the best teacher 
in that respect, and I know of nothing that offers as much 
financial inducement to the young man, with limited capi- 
tal, as the auction business does, and it is about the only 
legitimate line that is not overdone. This is principally 

18 



146 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

owing to the prevailing idea that an auctioneer must be 
particularly adapted to the business to be successful. 
This is a great mistake, for many years of experience as a 
public salesman has shown me that anyone of average 
intelligence, with a good front and a fair power of speech, 
will become a competent auctioneer in a short time by 
selecting one line and giving his undivided attention to it. 
Dress well, but not flashy; study your audience as well as 
your goods; always keep cool and self-possessed, for in 
losing control of your temper you lose your dignity and 
prestige, which is half of the battle. This you will find an 
easy matter, if you are temperate in your habits. Intoxi- 
cants should never be indulged in; always be smiling 
and good natured, and be a gentleman. Never get funny 
at the expense of your audience and never labor under the 
impression that it is necessary to be a clown in order to be 
successful. Confine your remarks to the merits of your 
offerings and you will find it more profitable than quoting 
the old chestnuts and witty sayings. Never lose sight of 
the fact of what your audience is there for, and you should 
try and create the impression that they are getting them, 
which will be more profitable than idle -witticism. The 
auction business, like many others, has different branches, 
but the most pleasant and profitable of them all is jewelry, 
notions and novelties, as the public is least acquainted 
with the productive cost of this class of merchaudise, and 
it is sold in the regular w T ay and at better profit. The stock 
is easier and less expense to move, and a good flash is 
made with little capital. You can travel from town to 
town and "had" with some established merchant — jewlers 
are the best. You will find little difficulty in making such 
engagements, many merchants being glad to work off their 
shop worn articles, for cash, giving you ten per cent on 
the dollar and you giving them a per cent of the profits on 
your goods. 

By this arrangement you will have nothing to lose, 
and everything is gain, and you have likewise no rent, 
lights, advertising and, last but not least, license. As you 
are apparantly selling his goods no license is required, 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 147 

and by thus working on his reputation you will find no 
trouble in getting a crowd and good prices. After the sale, 
you should get a written recommendation from the mer- 
chant, and a little write up in the leading newspaper — 
these to be used in your next adventure, if necessary. I 
would say in conclusion, never start a sale without an 
introductory speech, in a kind of conversational way. 
Tell the crowd why the sale is made, the object of it, the 
quality of the offer, the terms of the sale, the hours, and 
if the merchant has been in business there a number of 
years, dwell on that as w T ell as his financiol rating, and any 
other facts of importance bearing on the case. I have 
found these little talks of great benefit to me. Kindly 
break the ice, and put every one at their ease, and start the 
sale off as smooth as oil. One or two set speeches are of 
great assistance to the amateur auctioneer, and I herein 
give a few, and by studying them, a great deal of infor- 
mation can be gained, and no more printed instructions 
are necessary. If any further information is desired 
regarding this matter, or the best place to buy any class of 
goods, suitable for auction or other purposes, address me 
personally, care of the publishers, and I will be pleased to 
respond. 

J. Alfred McCurry, 

Moberly, Mo., U. S. A. 




148 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 



The Spoony Married Man. 

'Tis mostly trifles in this world that makes our sum of woe, 
A sort of moral insect tribe that sing where'er we go; 
But of all plagues devised to mar the great terrestial plan, 
I think the biggest nuisance is the spoony married man, 
With his: 

"Petsie, itsie darling, place oo hand in mine 
Round oo little dainty waist, arm um twinum twice; 
Tis oo huggen huzzens, while um smoove um turls. 
Don't be tross and fretful, now, or baddest ittle dirls!" 

A Jew once had an enemy who kept a big hotel 

Down where the waters green and cool in crested billows 

swell. 
He sought revenge, but much despised all common modes 

of strife. 
He simply sent as boarders there a spoony man and wife. 
It was: 

"Itsie bitsie wild bird, pining for its mate, 
Bad tunductor stopum train make um husband late, 
Brought urn's dess and bonbons, Cinderalla's so'oos, 
Birdy nest on dear one's breast, while um tell um 
news.*' 

Full soon the boarders left the stoop, and some came home 

with jags, 
Each morn revealed a jostling line of townbound traveling 

bags; 
They pleaded business, flood and fire, ship- wreck and loss 

of life, 
But no one breathed a word about the spoony man and 

wife. 

The landlord wildly paced the beach, and gazed upon the 

surf, 
He thought of money rashly spent, or dropped upon the 

turf: 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 149 

''But what has ever brought me this? he cried in wild 

despair. 
When suddenly he came upon this spoony married pair. 
It was: 

"Tootsie wootsie dum-drop, little huzzens turn, 
Don't oo pout so naughty, don't oo bite oo thumb, 
Ownest tried to get here sooner than him am, 
Muzzer's bird of birdies and dear one's pettest lamb." 

The landlord raged and stamped and swore; his passion 

knew no bounds: 
He bade the man, with one wild roar, to quit his house and 

grounds; 
He fired his baggage in the sand and chased him with a 

knife, 
And now contests a lawsuit with the spoony man and wife. 

— George E. Devyr, in Puck. 



3* 



English Swindle Scheme. — Three of the American 
Victims Arrive in London. — They Had Snapped 
at Unclaimed Money in Chancery. 

London, August 26.- — The number of swindles to which 
unclaimed money in chancery has given rise can hardly be 
counted. This particular form of swindling is as ancient as 
it is lucrative, and no matter how many times it may have 
been exposed, new victims are discovered year in and year 
out. 

Ohio and Michigan, in the United States, appear to be 
the latest fields of its operation. Three Americans, filled 
with wrath, reached London yesterday. G. F. Fachter, a 
deputy sheriff, came from Dayton, O. With him was 
Charles Ruhereim, from Grand Rapids, Mich. Scott 
Gibson met the couple this morning with a detective from 
Scotland Yard. The Michigan man was greatly excited. 



150 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

He said: "I am bound to get my money from G. W. 
Thatcher. He has worked me and others long enough." 

Ruthereinrs tale was the same as those often told. 
Thatcher has been working this swindle for eight years at 
least, as a similar swindle on his part was investigated long 
ago. Gibson said he had heard as much, but added there 
was some justification for the victim in his particular case, 
as his father had got some money out of Chancery in 1867. 
His plan was, he said, to call on Thatcher, who has been 
living at 66 Waterloo road. 

When told that Thatcher would disappear the moment 
his victim appeared, Gibson shook his head and said that, 
anyway, he would ask Thatcher for his money. It was 
suggested that Thatcher would probably be without money. 

Gibson replied: "That can't possibly be. He could 
not spend $2,000 in two months." 

This will show the extent of Thatcher's operations. 
People in Dayton, Kenton and other towns of Ohio and 
other states are anxious to lay their hands on the swindler. 

AT THE AMERICAN EMBASSY. 

Gibson went to the United States embassy and told 
his story, He was informed that the best course to pursue 
would be to write home to his friends and get a warrant 
from the governor of Ohio sent to the State Department, 
which would notify the embassy. This was unsatisfactory 
to Gibson, who was apparently only anxious about his own 
money and that of the people he represented. 

"Why," he said, excitedly, "there are over fifty cases 
against Thatcher. From every one of them he got $100 
and upwards, and he must have the money. I'll bet the 
deputy sheriff is with him now." 

Gibson, on being asked if Thatcher was married, 
said: "Well, he's got a wife and six children. We call 
that married where I live." 

Thatcher may be arrested for bigamy, as, since his last 
visit here, he has married his landlady's daughter. But 
the chances are that he will escape arrest, as he has done 
more than once before. 



FAKES, GKAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 151 

So you see it is not always the unsophisticated that 
bite at alluring bates, but experienced men of the world 
as well, in fact the latter make the best material, as they 
seldom make a complaint, and generally have the neces- 
sary runio. Thatcher had a good thing and did not know 
it — "got to strong." I would advise my readers should 
they at any time get a foreign mailed letter, with a coat of 
arms and .a big red seal thereon, making inquiries about 
their ancestors, just turn it over to some lawyer to answer, 
and if there is nothing in it you will be bothered no more, 
but if you answer it yourself, nine chances to ten you will 
be notified: "You are one of the heirs in quite an exten- 
sive estate," and then will follow the visal program, the 
sum and substances being a deposit required to protect 
your interest. 

The Irishman's Choice. — Having Nayther Silver 
No* Gold he Will Take Ayther. 

It was Pat Collins who was addressing a Boston audi- 
ence on the virtues of the gold standard, says the Helena 
Independent. He rose in a pompous way and began: 
"My hearers, I hold in my right hand a silver dollar and 
in my left hand a gold dollar, and the one represents 35 
cents' worth of silver and is good only in our own country. 
The other is a tiny thing, but is worth $1 anywhere in the 
world. Now, which, my fellow citizens, will you take?" 
An old Irishman got up and said : "Well, sor, as I have 
nayther, I'll take ayther." The Milesian had voiced the 
sentiment of the vast majority of workers in the United 
States. 

While you live right nothing goes wrong. 

Associate with healthy people. — Health is contagious 
as well as disease. 



152 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 



Read This Little Ditty, 

And thus you see 
Who ever you be, 
And have not be^n, 
Ere thus taken in. 

You are apt to go, 
Where you don't know 
The stocks of silver 
Is only won by a shilber. 

And the big fortune wheel, 
With its hands of steel, 
Is only a fake, 
For it's worked by a brake. 

And the old clock, too, 
You will surely do; 
For loaded dice they use, 
Whenever they choose. 

And the faro bank three, 
Which looks so square, 
Is only a soup 
For the average chump. 

In fact every game, 
Is won just the same; 
And I was bound to lose, 
No matter which I choose. 

But with this book, 
In which to look, 
There is no reason why 
You should be a guy. 

The price is small — 
Within the reach of all; 
For if 'twas high, 
All could not buy. 



153 



The Drummer's Dream. 

O, beautiful home of joyous hours, 
Beautiful fields of sweetest flowers, 
Beautiful birds and humming bees, 
Life is so pleasant with things like these. 

But we, poor souls, as "traveling tars," 
Must roll along in the dusty cars. 
Nature may blossom and smile with glee, 
But its all the same to such as me. 

We think but little of nature's work; 
We only speak to the hotel clerk, 
Though never of fields, of fruit, or grain, 
But call me up for the morning train. 

The Cry of the Dreamer. 

I am tired of planning and toiling 

In the ci*owded hives of men, 
Heart weary of building and spoiling 

And spoiling and building again, 
And I long for the dear old river 

Where I dreamed my youth away — 
For a dreamer lives forerer, 

And a toiler dies in a day. 

I am sick of the showy seeming, 

Of a life that is half a lie, 
Of faces lined with scheming 

In the throng that hurries by. 
From the sleepless thoughts' endeavor 

I would go where the children play — 
For a dreamer lives forever, 

And a thinker dies in a day. 

I can feel no pride, but pity, 

For the burdens the rich endure; 

There is nothing sweet in the city 
But the patient lives of the poor. 

»9 



154 FAKES, GKAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSE! 

Oh, the little hands too skillful, 

And the child mind chocked with weeds, 

The daughter's heart grows willful, 
And the father's heart that bleeds! 

No,. No; from the street's rude bustle, 

From the tropies from smart and stage, 
I would fly to the wood's low rustle 

And the meadow's kindly page. 
Let us dream as of yore by the river, 

And be loved for the dream alway — 
For the dreamer lives forever, 

But the toiler dies in a day. 

— John Boyle O'Reilly. 



^a 



Smooth Game. 

Missouri papers are telling that the "Eev." Mr. Cook 
is victimizing farmers in a unique way. He calls to stay 
all night, tells the folks he is a minister and proceeds to 
make himself at home. In a little while a strange young 
couple drive up and ask the farmer if he can direct them 
to a minister, as they wish to get married. The unsus- 
pecting farmer tells them there is a minister in the house. 
They present themselves before him and the ceremony is 
performed, the farmer and his wife being called up to 
witness the marriage certificate. They sign their names and 
the document turns up in a neighborhood bank, a plain 
note of hand, ranging any where from $L00 to $200, and 
where the renewed rascal had no trouble in cashing it at 
once at a discount, owing to his clerical appearance, and 
the fact that he is always fortunate to- secure the signature 
of some well-to-do farmer who has a good commercial 
rating. 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 155 



Twentieth Century Wedding Ceremony 

Written ry Dan I. Murray, 
A leading Jewelry Auctioneer. 

The minister to the woman: 
"Will you take this brown stone front, 

This carriage and this diamond, 
To be the husband of your choice, 

Fast locked in bonds of Hymen; 
And will you leave your home and friends, 

To be his loving wife. 
And help to spend his large income, 

So long as you have life !" 

"I will," the blushing bride replies, 
Most eager for the nuptial ties. 

To the man: 

"And will you take this waterfall, 

This ostentatious pride, 
With all the unpaid milliners bills, 

To be your loving bride; 
And will you love and cherish her 

While you have life and health, 
But die as soon as possible, 

And leave her all your wealth % 

4 'I will," the fearless groom replies, 
But trembling waits the nuptial ties. 



To both: 

i; Then I pronounce you man and wife, 
And what I've joined together, 

Let the next best man, disunite, 
And the first divorce court sever." 

— Auctioneer s Journal 






156 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 



The Countryman in Town. 

It was a stalwart Jerseyman, 

A "hayseed" and a "jade," 
With garments of all homespun stuff, 

And truly rural make — 
In fact, as countrified a chap 

As you would care to meet, 
Who came to town awhile ago 

And walked up Baxter street. 

The enterprising clothiers there 

Right quickly struck his gate, 
And knew that he was just the sort 

For which they lie in wait. 
A puller-in made fast to him 

In front of Cohen's store, 
And hustled him in lively style 

Inside the open door. 

The smiling Cohen said, "You vants 

A bair of bants, I see; 
I sells you now dis lofely bair 

As sheap as sheap can be. 
Fife tollar fur dem all-wool bants, 

Der best you effer saw, 
Yoost let me wrap dem up fur you." 

The stranger answered, "Naw !' 



p' 



"You vants a goat? I shows you den 

Dis fine Brince Alpert here, 
Und sells it to you sheap like dirt, 

Yay under gost, mine dear." 
"I dunno," said the countryman; 

"I kinder like your shop, 
And mebbe we kin make a trade 

If you would keer to swap." 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 157 

"To sell wop? Vot'sdot?" "I want to change 

This coat of mine off-hand, 
Because — for reasons I have got— 

Well, don't you understand? 
And so, if your Prince Albert there 

My form and style .will suit, 
I'm keen to swap, and I will give 

A dollar, say, to boot." 

They haggled then about the price; 

The countryman was firm; 
In vain did Cohen plead his cause 

And twist and writhe and squirm. 
The trade was made, the dollar paid, 

The bargain well to bind, 
The stranger took away the coat, 

And left his own behind. 

Ten minutes passed; the countryman 

Came running in the store, 
And bumped against old Cohen as 

He trod the greasy floor. 
"I want that coat of mine !" he cried 

With eager, anxious air; 
"There's something in it I forgot; 

I left some papers there." 

Old Cohen knew a thing or two, 

And this was in his mind: 
The man's a thief, and plunder's in 

The coat he left behind. 
"No, no, mine frient," he said aloud, 

"Don't try to play dot game, 
I bought dot goat yoost like it vas, 

Mit all dings in der same." 

"I'll buy it back !" the stranger cried, 

"What is it worth to you ? 
One dollar? Two? three dollars? Five? 

Come, now, that ought to do." 



158 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SAVINDLES EXPOSED. 

He took the coat, and handed out 

A twenty-dollar bill, 
And Cohen made the change and dropped 

The greenback in his still. 

"A fine trade, dot," old Cohen said; 

"Dem goundrymens is geese. 1 ' 
Just then he picked that greenback up, 

And wildly yelled, "Boleece! 
Run, Isaac ! Ketch that rashcal man ! 

I'm schwindelt! Oh, I'm bit! 
Dot dwenty-tollar bill I shanged, 

It vos von gounderfeit !" 

The stranger, mora than satisfied, 

Had shaken well his feet, 
And put a block or so between 

Himself and Baxter street. 
Though Isaac wildly ran about, 

And loudly Cohen swore, 
That truly rural countryman 

They saw not any more, 

The Villain Still Pursued Her. 

A suit at Oklahoma City has brought out a most 
curious train of circumstances. A woman secured a 
divorce from her husband, together with a large amount 
of alimony. The divorced husband then entered into an 
agreement with a good looking young man in the neighbor- 
hood whereby the young man was to pay court to the 
woman, marry her, get control of all her property and 
divide it with the divorced husband. The young man 
carried out his agreement to the letter, and then fled the 
country. The suit is now brought by the woman to 
recover the property of which she had been defrauded by 
the conspiracy. Did ever a novelist conceive of an 
improbable plot such as this one sworn to in a court of 
justice ? 



159 



Like His Mother Used to Make. 

' 'I was born in Indiany," says a stranger lank and slim, 
As us fellers in the restaurant was kind o' guyin' him, 
And uncle Jake was slidin' him another pumpkin pie, 
And a' extra cup o' coffee, with a twinkle in his eye — 
"I was born in Indiany — more'n forty years ago— 
And I haint been back in twenty — and I'm workin' 

back'ards slow; 
But I've et in every restaurant' twixt here and Santy Fe, 
And I want to state this coffee tastes like gittin' home to me! 

Pour out another, daddy," says the feller warmin' up, 
A-speakin' 'crost a saucerful, as uncle tuck his cup — 
"When I seed your sign out yender," he went on to 

Uncle Jake — 
"'Come in and git some coffee like your mother used to 

make' — 
I thought of my old mother, and the Possey County farm, 
And me a little kid agin', a-hangin' in her arm, 
As she set the pot a-bilin' — broke the eggs an' poured 

'em in" — 
And the feller kind o' halted, with a trimble in his chin. 

And Uncle Jake he fetched the feller's coffee back and 

stood 
As solemn, fer a minute, as a' undertaker would; 
Then he sort o' turned and tiptoed to'rds the kitchen door 

— and next, 
Here comes his old wife out with him, a-rubbin' of her 

specs — 
And she rushes for the stranger, and she hollers out 

"It's him ! 
Thank God we've met him comin' ! Don't you know 

your mother, Jim ?" 
And the fellow, as he grabbed her, says: "You bet I 

hadn' t forgot — 
But wipin' of her eyes, says he: "Your coffee's mighty 

hot!" 

— James Whitcomb Riley. 



160 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 



The Drummer on the Road, 

There were mighty men, who now and then 

On this earth have had abode; 
But the brightest man in nature's plan 

Is the drummer on the road; 
In business skilled, with purse well-filled 

And on his mind no load; 
He looks quite meek, but has got cheek, 

Has this drummer on the road. 

CHORUS. 

With trunk and grip he makes his trip, 

For the hotel landlord waits, 
And the drummer his wealth has made, 

While the boarder gets his raise. 

He will talk so nice -of wholesale price, 

Of lots or in car load; 
He knows all lists, all turns and twists, 

Does this drummer on the road; 
To catch a train in snow or rain, 

The coldest rain that blowed, 
Will not stop him, he has got vim. 

Has this drummer on the road. 

His day's work done, he's out for fun 

With a story a la Mode, 
With a mileage book and a cheerful look, 

Goes this drummer on the road; 
The ladies fair do all declare, 

With smiling looks bestowed, 
And wish that they might always stay 

Where there's drummers in the road. 

Helping a child is putting money at long interest. 



161 



To Baffle Counterfeiters. Russian Inventor's 
Device That Prints Six Colors at One Time. 

From the London News. 

The competition between authority and roguery — the 
one striving to produce a bank note which cannot be imi- 
tated, and the other always seeking to imitate what is 
produced — has led to a very remarkable invention, which 
is now being shown in London, and which seems likely to 
revolutionize the whole system of color printing. For the 
origin of the invention one must go to Russia. There it 
was desired to issue bank notes and bonds by some means 
that no forger could copy. Accordingly, a weaver's 
engineer was called in with the idea that he should suggest 
a sort of thread that should be an absolute mark upon 
paper. He brought an original mind to bear upon the 
subject, and innocently asked why they could not find a 
printing machine that would do what was wanted. Why 
not? The skeptic was disposed to ask. The weaver thought 
it possible, and finally designed a machine by which the 
thing could actually be done. The Russian notes and 
bonds are now printed by it, with a success that the Rus- 
sian government seems only too ready to acknowledge. 
But, then, a machine that will print an unlimited number 
of colors at once cannot, in these days of illustrated papers, 
be hid. Hence it has been brought to London and set up 
at 119 Shaftesbury avenue, where a critical company had 
an opportunity of inspecting it in full operation. 

It is not a very large machine, and, like many other 
things of great utility, its principal is simple. A large 
color block, after being rolled by its own color, comes in 
contact with a composition roller, where it deposits its 
colors. Each color block in short comes in contact with a 
transfer roller on the whole of the picture, no matter how 
many colors are on the transfer roller. Then a retransfer 
of the whole picture is made to the painting plate, the 



162 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

printing plate goes to the paper and the picture is printed. 
But in another way it might be said, one roller, one color. 
Each roller takes its special color to a transfer roller, the 
transfer roller when it has received the whole of the picture 
transfers it to a plate, and the plate gives the impression 
to the paper. A figure and fiorar/illustration in six colors 
was being x>rinted the other day. The rollers having been 
duly adjusted, the lay-er-on went to work, feeding in at 
the rate of about 1000 per hour, and the copies came out 
simply perfect. 

Every printer knows that with six colors there should, 
under the old system, be six "machinings." All six 
colors were done in one machining, The labor-saving was 
therefore enormous. But before that there was no waste. 
Six machinings may lead to a bad "register," which, to 
the non-technical, means that in one or more of the 
machinings the colors may not meet or may overlap and 
the printing be thus spoiled. The new machine will print 
at one time in any number of colors and without the possi- 
bility of work being thus spoiled. Beautiful specimens of 
work done in Russia for bank-note and bank purposes were 
shown. Geometrical designs and work in tracery were 
especially good. For bank-notes, checks, maps and illus- 
trations the process seems peculiarly adapted. Rotary 
Webb machines are being constructed so that the system 
may be available in newspaper offices, with their great 
requirements as to speed. It may be added that the new 
method is the invention of Ivon OrlofT, now chief engineer 
and manager of the bank-note printing establishment of 
the Russian Government at St. Petersburg. 

All who tread this earth are but a handfull to those 
that slumber in its bosom. 

Bad weather generally brings out the mean charac- 
teristics of a man. 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 163 



The Auctioneer's Ruse, Which he Used to Interest 
a Sluggish Audience. 

An auctioneer on East, Washington street — one of 
those redoubtable individuals com m on 1 y termed "slick"— 
was the cause of a farcial scene the other afternoon that 
would have done credit to a burlesque show. He had 
been talking a long time to a crowd of interested but 
unenthusiastic listeners. His audience w*as largely made 
up of that class of men who lind the court house and the 
liquor establishments opposite a combination loafing 
ground not to be resisted. 

The affable auctioneer conscientiously went through 
his repertoire from beginning to end, says the Indinnapolis 
Journal, but somehow the crowd did not "warm up" to 
him — to quote his own language. Finally, with a dark 
look that bordered on despair, he grabbed up a well-worn 
pasteboard hat box containing about fifty spools of silk 
thread of different colors. With the grace of a conjuror 
he extracted five of the spools, and, arraying them in a 
tempting semi-circle on the counter, announced that they 
were to go at any price. 

But the audience, while admitting with nods of 
approval that they were good spools of thread, displayed 
no marked inclination to become excited over them. Not 
a bid was offered. 

"I'll sell 'em for ten cents," suggested the autioneer 
timidly. It was plain from the tone of his voice that he 
was losing faith in himself and in all the world. There 
were no takers. The man-of-the-red-fiag added three 
more spools to the semi-circle. "All for ten cents," he 
declared. But thread stock was far below par. The 
auctioneer caught up all the spools from the counter and 
flung them into the box with an impressive gesture. A 
light of inspiration flashed from his eyes. 

"The whole d — box for ten cents !" he cried. 

"I'll take it," was the prompt response, and a little 



164 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

man in a washed-out overcoat and wearer of red chin- 
whiskers stepped out of the crowd with a dirty 10- cent 
piece in his upraised hand. The auctioneer clutched the 
money feverishly, and. turning the box upside down so 
that all the spools dropped into a basket on the counter, 
he handed the worthless piece of pasteboard to the anx- 
ious customer. A roar of hilarious laughter arose from 
the crowd that was heard throughout the neighborhood. 

"I don't want your darned old box, 1 ' wailed the 
unfortunate purchaser. 

"You said you'd take it,"' replied the auctioneer. 
"I'll leave it to the crowd— didn't he?" 

"Yes," came in strong chorus from the delighted 
audience. 

"I bought the spools !" 

"No you didn't — you bought the box, I'll leave it to 
the crowd — didn't he?" 

"Yes," came the answer again, stronger than ever. 
The red-whiskered man stalked indignantly from the 
place with the box under his arm. 

"What are yougoin' to do with it?" yelled the crowd. 

"That's what!" cried the speculator, as he held the 
box in both hands, football fashion, and then kicked it 
vigorously into the middle of Washington street. 

Hunger for Attention. 

Of all the mortals that comprise 

The human brotherhood 
There's none but would be glad to rise 

To grandeur if he could. 

And yet there's many a foolish one 

For whom defeat has joys — 
Who glories if in going down 

He can but make a noise. 

— S. E. Kiser. 



FAKES, GKAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 165 



The Auctioneer. 

BY W. M. C. 

Who cries aloud and rings a bell, 
To call the people up and tell, 
That he has got some goods to sell, 

The Auctioneer. 

Who is it with the tuneful voice, 
The polite mien and language choice. 
Who makes his customers rejoice, 

The Auctioneer. 

W ho talks to you in dulcet tones, 
And coaxes from you many "bones," 
For that old clock of ' Squire Jones, 

The Auctioneer. 

Who on the block so loudly "hollers," 
And gets a bid of several dollars, 
For a few dozen paper collars, 

The Auctioneer. 

Who sells you second-handed things, 
With tales of want your sad heart wrings, 
And makes you loosen your purse strings, 

The Auctioneer. 

Who's liable on the judgment day, 

To call the angels up and say, 

"How much for this fine harp, I pray V 

The Auctioneer. 

But who will average up as good, 
As other men of business would; 
Let him not be misunderstood, 

This Auctioneer. 



166 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

One Trick of a Hotel Beat. 

New Orleans Times-Democrat. 

"The strangest type of hotel beat lever encountered/' 
said a veteran New Orleans boniface, "walked into our 
house one evening about ten years ago. registered and 
went directly to his room. I was at the desk at the time 
and noticed that he w^as a stout good looking man, and 
that he wore a handsome fall overcoat. He had no bag- 
gage and paid in advance, remarking that he had merely 
stopped over en route to Galveston and his things had gone 
on. Next morning there w r as a terrific uproar. The 
stranger, it seems had been robbed. According to his 
story he woke up to find his room in disorder and his coat, 
vest and shirt gone. He claimed to have had a gold watch, 
several hundred dollars and a number of valuable papers 
in the pockets of his coat and vest and three diamond studs 
in the shirt. I felt sure the loss w T as exaggerated, but 
there was no doubt about the things being gone, and I was 
on the point of compromising the claim w T hen my lawyer — 
poor fellow, he's dead now — insisted upon holding him 
off until he had investigated the record. "We soon found 
some of his statements as to his antecedents to be false 
and he thereupon took the alarm and quietly departed. 
I never saw him again, but a hotel detective of my acquain- 
tance encountered him in Chicago and told me how the 
scheme was worked. The beat had on neither coat, vest 
nor shirt, when he registered, and had merely pinned a 
collar and cravat inside the lapels of his overcoat." 

He Bet the Lock Would Open. 

Denver Post. 

But when they switched locks and gave him one which 
never opened he lost. . 

J. R. Duncan and Robert McKenzie were arrested yes- 
terday morning by Patrolman Carberry on charge of being 
bunco men, says a Denver paper. 

On McKinzie w^ere found two little steel locks and 



167 

several rolls of money with large bills as wrappers and 
small bills as fillers. One of the locks could be snapped 
open, but the other could not, as it was not built that way. 
The two men are accused of having buncoed S. A. 
Colby of Dedham, Me., on lower Sixteenth street, Friday 
afternoon. Colby was on his way past from the Pacific 
coast by way of Denver. According to the police one of 
the men borrowed from Colby $89 with which to bet his 
companion that the lock could be opened. The lock that 
could not be worked was substituted for the one that was all 
right, and consequently Colby's money vanished. When 
the men were arrested the two locks were found upon 
McKenzie. As Colby's ticket was limited, he could not 
remain to prosecute the case, The two prisoners may, 
therefore, be charged with vagrancy. 

An old bachelor, who resided at Sheffield, in order to 
prevent hawkers annoying him by knocking at his door 
to dispose of their wares, affixed to his door a label to 
this effect: 

"Hawkers take notice ! The inhabitants of this 
house never buy anything at the door." 

Shortly afterward he was aroused by a loud knocking 
at the parlor window, and looking out he saw two fellows 
with clothes lines, mats and pegs for sale. Throwing up 
the sash, he bawled: 

"Can you read?" 

"Yes, master," answered one 

"Then don't you see a notice affixed to my knocker 
that I never buy anything at the door ? 

"To be sure we do. That's the reason why we 
thought we would make bold and try to do a little busi- 
at the window." 

The old bachelor was pacified, and made a purchase. 
Immediately afterward, however, he sent for a painter, 
and had the following addition made to his announce- 
ment: "Nor at the window, either." 



168 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 



An Unrealized Dream. 

In the golden springday of life I stood, 
On the flower-lined border of womanhood, 
And the sun was bright and the skies were fair, 
And the joy-birds were singing everywhere, 
Then life w T as a dream that was heavenborn 
As the sun rose up on the glorious morn 
That follows the waning of girlhood's days, 
And a woman basked in its cheery rays, 

A suitor came in manly youth 
Whose eyes were mirrors reflecting truth, 
Whose face an Apollo might envy well, 
And whose voice was clear as a vesper bell. 
But I steeled my heart to the golden snare, 
For mad ambition was nestling there 
To reign as queen in the tinseled show 
Of the upper world, and I bade him go. 

A year sped on, and another came, 

A knight in the list of* legal fame, 

And he wispered the story low and sweet, 

And laid his heart at my queenly feet. 

But his name was missing from the titled lore. 

He was but a toiler in life, no more, 

And I muffled the blow in regretful phrase 

And he passed from my sight with reproving gaze. 

The fires of ambition warmer burned 
Till they smoothered love, and I proudly spurned 
The yearnings of hearts that were brave a»d bold 
And pure in affection as virgin gold. 
A king would come with a titled name 
And I'd rule as queen in the world of fame, 
And the years sped on with distressing pace, 
Each pencilling lines on my once fair face. 

Then my heart was pierced, as by gleaming blade, 
With the growing fear that I'd die a maid 
And when hope was wanting another came, 
And I was forced to smile and assumed his name. 
The dreamed- of kingdom I'm ruling o'er, 
Is a dingy old corner grocery store, 
And I aid my bustling king of kings, 
In selling bacon and cheese and things. 



Receipts and Formulas 



i 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 171 

PAINT AND PAINTING. 

B}^ a Painter of Twenty-five years Experience. 



MIXING PAINT. 

This is not a matter of much consequence since paints 
are now sold "ready mixed." But there are some who 
prefer to have their house painted with paint mixed by 
the painter, and to have nothing else than pure white 
lead and genuine linseed oil used. 

First take a clean keg and put in about one-third 
white lead, then pour in enough oil to "break up" the 
lead, after which the paint can be thinned with more oil. 
Do not put in any turpentine for outside work, and if the 
oil is boiled no Japan driers are needed. For inside work 
you can "break up" the lead in turps, (the short for tur- 
pentine). Do not use much turps unless the painting is 
to get a coat of varnish, then, of course, Japan can be 
used also. If you wish to make a sky blue, put in Prus- 
sian blue; one pound of blue to one hundred pounds of 
white lead. This blue (Prussian) is a very strong color. 

Here are a few directions for mixing tints. The colors 
are supposed to be ground in oil before mixing: 

TABLE OF TINTS. 

Gray. — White and lamp black. 

Buff. — White, red, yellow and a little black. 

Pearl. — White ultramarine blue and carmine. 

Orange. — Yellow and red. 

Violet. — White, ultramarine blue and carmine. 

Purple. — Same as above only in different quantities. 

Gold. — White, stone ochro and a little burnt umber. 

Olive. — White, yellow, black and red. 

Chestnut. — Red, black and yellow. 

Flesh. — Vermilion, white and yellow. 

Fawn. — White, red, vellow, burnt umber. 



172 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

Drab. — White, yellow, red, burnt and raw umber. 
" — Ochre, burnt sienna, black. 
" — Any variety can be obtained by these colors. 

Brown Green. — Chrome green, yellow, black and red. 

Pea Green. — Chrome green with white lead. 

Rose Tint. — Carmine and white, or madder lake and 
white. 

Copper.— Red, chrome, yellow and black. 

Lemon. — Pale chrome and white. 

Claret. — Vermillion and blue. 

Dove Color. — White, vermillion, blue and yellow. 

Pinks. — White, vermillion, madder lake or carmine. 

Cream. — White and pale yellow ochre. 

Salmon. — White, light red and yellow. 

Straw. — Chrome or yellow ochre and, white. 

Lilac. — Carmine, blue and white. 

These constitute the principal tints in general use, 
but by practice in composition, a great variety more can 
be obtained. 

In the cold months of the year linseed oil is less pene- 
trating, naturally, than it is in the warm months. It is 
well to bear this fact in mind when mixing the priming or 
oil coats of any sort. A greater or less quantity of tur- 
pentine, contingent upon the conditions which prevail at 
the time, is a necessity when the oil mixtures are being 
confounded in order to insure a proper penetration and 
gripping fast of the oil constituents. In the matter of 
priming the painter who seeks to build durable surfaces 
should closely study the condition of the wood over which 
he is to paint, the season, climate, and especially the 
atmospheric influences abroad at the time the work is done. 

A gallon of linseed oil weighs 7 1-2 pounds. 



BLACKBOARD PAINT. 

The following is recommended as a good paint for 
blackboards, one that can be cleaned easily: Obtain a 
good heavy bodied shellac varnish, then mix together 
three ounces of pulverized pumice stone, two ounces of 
rotten stone, four ounces of lampblack. Moisten a little 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 173 

at a time and grind with a knife or spatula. "When all is 
mixed thoroughly, add the remaining p^art of shellac 
varnish and stir thoroughly. This preparation dries 
quickly; one quart will varnish two coats for sixty 
square feet. 



HOW TO CLEANSE PAINT BRUSHES FROM 
HARDENED PAINT 

Suspend each brush in a tumbler containing a solution 
of one quart crystallized sodium carbonate in three parts 
of water, and in such a manner that it will hang some 
distance from the bottom of the tumbler. Let stand 
twelve to twenty-four hours in a warm place (140 degrees 
to 150 degrees Fahr.), when the dried paint will be found 
so softened that it can be easily washed out with soap and 
water. Brushes that have become hard as stone can be 
restored by this process. 



TO REMO VE OLD AND HARD P UTTY. 

For removing old putty which has become hard, from 
sashes and similar places, petroleum oil is recommended. 
Three coats of petroleum over old putty will, it is said, 
penetrate effectively into the pours of the material, and, 
dissoluting the hard linseed oil, restore the putty to its 
original softness. — Builders' Gazettt. 



TO IMITATE ROSEWOOD. 
This is said to be a good method of imitating rose- 
wood: Take half a pound of logwood and boil in three 
pints of water, continuing the boiling until the liquid 
assumes a very dark color, at which point add one ounce 
of salt of tartar. When at the boiling point stain your 
wood with two or three coats, but not in quick succession, 
as the latest coat must be nearly dry before the succeeding 
one is applied. The use of a flat graining brush, deftly 
handled, will produce a very excellent imitatiou of dark 
rosewood. 



174 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

A HINT TO THE SIGN PAINTERS. 

The next time you paint a sign on a brick wall, 
remember that before applying the first coat care should 
be taken so as to clean the surface to be painted. The best 
priming coat for this work consists of glue size and Vene- 
tian red mixed in the proportions of ten to one. Oxide of 
iron paint mixed with boiled linseed oil also forms a good 
priming coat and a little drier can also be added to this. — 
The Billboard. 

CLEANER. 

Here is a "cleaner" used in some railroad shops for 
cleaning coaches: 

To one pound of bar soap put 1-2 ounce of beeswax in 
one gallon of water, boil and stir until these are dissolved. 
Then add one gallon of raw linseed oil and 1-2 a pint of 
ammonia. This mixture can also be used in cleaning 
furniture. 

Another way — When boiling add a small handful of 
oxalic acid. Use 1-3 oil and 2-3 water. When the acid is 
used leave out the beeswax and ammonia. 



TO CLEAN PAINTED SURFACE. 
Spanish whiting is useful for cleaning a painted 
surface or glass. Dampen a piece of soft cloth, then 
take as much whiting as will stick to it. After the dirt is 
cleaned off, wash with clean water then dry with a chamois 
skin. Spanish whiting is much used in railroad shops. 
The whiting mixed with linseed oil makes a good putty. 



LETTERING ON CLOTH, SILK OR COTTON 

FABRIC 
Take white sheet glue and make a weak solution, add 
a little glycerine to make it elastic. Then size the surface 
to be lettered with the mixture, size only that surface to 
be lettered. Use tube colors thinned with pure linseed 
oil, if you can not get the refined oil used by artists. Put in 
some melted beeswax, say four ounces of the wax to one 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 175 

quart of oil and enough turpentine to make the color dry 
to kind of an egg gloss. Thus the color will be elastic 
enough to prevent it from breaking and keep it from 
peeling. If the work is not exposed to the weather and 
needs to be done in a hurr}', the white of an egg makes a 
good size. If the letters are 'to be gilded, lay on the gold 
while the size is a little wet, dust off surplus gold leaf. 
Do the shading or edgeing when the size is entirely dry. 
Here is another size— Dissolve bleached shellac in 
alcohol and thin with more alcohol if too thick. Make 
the letters a little larger than you want them and do not 
put the color quite to the edge of the shellac, or your 
paint will spread. 



TO PAINT LETTERS ON MUSLIN. 

Select bleached muslin and tack it on to a wall 
having a smooth surface, after you have stretched the 
cloth evenly and free of wrinkles, draw with a lead pencil 
two lines the same distance apart corresponding to the 
height of the letters desired. Next in order, lay off the 
letters with a piece of crayon chalk. If you have missed 
in the spacing or have made any mistake, dust off the 
crayon marks and try again until you get the inscription 
in proper shape. Now, go over the outside edge of each 
letter with soft lead pencil, dust off as much of the chalk, 
ing as possible. Mix lampblack either in varnish or 
Japan, or both, into a paste form and thinned to work 
easily with turpentine. Then strain the color so as to get 
it free from lumps, do not get color too thin. Now, wet 
the sheeting all over being careful not to get on too much 
water. Attempting to letter while the muslin is soaking 
wet is what causes trouble. It is as bad as when the color 
is mixed in oilj viz., spreading, thus making scraggy 
letters. 

When it commences to dry or appears in a damp 
condition, take a fitch, (a small bristle brush), and paint 
over the edges of the lettering, where marked with lead 
pencil; have the brush "dry," i. e., slightly dipped in the 



176 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

paint. You will notice the black looks grayish, so go 
over it again and the color wiil show up O. K. Now, ''fill 
in" the letters with a large brush. As you proceed keep 
muslin properly dampened. 

Be careful or drippings of paint will fall on the 
muslin, consequently making field look very ugly. Such 
mishaps can be remedied somewhat by rubbing over with 
chalk, or painting over the spots with white mixed in 
turps. If the lettering is intended done on a transpar- 
ency for night display, the spots will show in spite of 
everything you can do. "An acquaintance of ours painted 
a transparency for a party who was delighted with the 
job as it was placed in position in daylight. It had been 
a very good day for "drops" with .the painter, but so well 
were they touched up with white lead that they escaped 
notice. When night came, however, the sign did not 
appear so beautiful and the painter w 7 as asked to explain 
the change. He was a smart fellow for he answered by 
saying that there must be flies that got into the box, and 
so settled it." 

Occasionally, especially about election times, a quicker 
way is needed for turning out a muslin sign. A useful 
article at such a time is shellac varnish. Mix the dry 
lampblack in this varnish and if too thick thin with more 
alcohol. In this case the muslin must not be wet. 

Shellac varnish is gum shellac dissolved in alcohol. 
It is a very useful article in the paint shop. 

If vermillion red or any other color is to be used in 
sign w^ork, use dry color only and mix as you would 
lampblack. 

In spacing off letters allowance must be made for the 
slanting sides of A W and V. The lower part of A should 
be a little under the upper point of W and the same with 
V. Some men who pretend to be sign painters, pay no 
attention to the thin and thick strokes in making Roman 
capitals. In small towns we often find thin stroke placed 
on the wrong side of A, M, V, Y and W. If you take a 
pen to write these letters you will find the upward strokes 
are light and downward strokes are heavy. Begin on the 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 17" 



lower left hand part of A and M and make each one with- 
out lifting the pen. 

The letters B, E, F, H and X, which have divisions or 
crossbars, should have these divisions or cross bars a little 
above the center. A and Y are also divided, but these 
divisions should be about midway betw T een the top and 
bottom lines. The tops of the ascending letters d, b, f, h, 
k and 1, should be made as high as the top of the capitals; 
and the decending letters, g, j, p, q, and y, should extend 
below the line in the proportion as the others do above the 
line. Much can be learned by observing the work of 
good sign painters, or in looking at printed matter. Look 
at a printed S with the book or paper up side down and 
you will "catch on" as to how the letter is shaped. 

The letter R is not a very easy letter to make so as to 
appear graceful, especially troublesome to the amateur. 
There are different ideas as to how the "tail, 1 ' if you 
please, of this letter should be formed. Some painters 
persist in giving the lower right hand part of R too much 
curve. We give herewith four ways of forming this 
member and you can judge which one is best. 

BRRE 

For shading the first letter has too much curve, the 
second one is more suitable for shading. The middle bar 
of the third is a little too low, and the fourth R is about 
perfect, of course it, perhaps could be improved. 



TO CLEAN FURNITURE. 

Mix three-fourth linseed oil with one-fourth turpen- 
tine, and add a little ammonia if furniture is much soiled. 
Put on with a soft cloth, then rub off with a clean rag, be 
careful and get all the corners clean. This mixture can be 
sold in a four ounce bottle for 25c, and even cheaper. 



178 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 



FURNITURE POLISH. 

The following is a good polish for pianos, fancy tables, 
cabinets, etc., which have become dull of gloss. 

Put half an ounce shellac, half an ounce of gumlac 
and one-fourth of an ounce gum-sandarac into a pint of 
spirits of wine. Put these all in a stone bottle near the 
fire. As soon as the gums are dissolved it is ready for use. 

Put some of the polish on a soft rag and apply it to 
the surface to be polished. Rub hard and brisk for a 
while until a gloss appears. Then finish by rubbing with 
a little linseed oil and wipe dry. 

Clean "waste" such as used in railroad shops is good 
for applying oil or polish. 



MIRRORS. 

SILVERING ON GLASS. 

Process No. 1 — To produce a mirror it is best to use 
quicksilver, proceeding as follows: Lay a piece of tinfoil 
on a smooth and perfectly flat surface and pour mercury 
over it to the depth of one-eighth of an inch. Have the 
glass to be coated perfectly clean and dry, and slide it 
gently over the mercury, just a trifle below its surface, 
and when glass is well covered hold it under pressure for 
a while and then stand it on edge to drain. 

Process No. 2 — Solution A — Dissolve twelve Troy 
grains of Rochelle salts in boiling water; then add, while 
boiling, sixteen grains nitrate of silver that have been 
previously dissolved in one ounce of water; continue to 
boil ten minutes longer, then add enough water to make 
twelve ounces in all. 

Solution B — Dissolve one ounce nitrate of silver in ten 
ounces of water; add liquid ammonia, drop by drop, until 
the brown precipitate is nearly, but not quite, dissolved; 
then add one ounce of grain alcohol and sufficient water 
to make twelve ounces. Mix equal parts of solutions A 
and B thoroughly; pour the mixture on the glass, which 
must be wet, but free of grease, etc. It is best to first 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 179 

clean the glass with moderately strong soda water and 
have it well rinsed. 

Use distilled water in the solutions. For more infor- 
mation on the subject of silvering on glass write to W. T. 
McCurry, Moberly, Mo., inclosing a 2-cent stamp. This is 
to those only who have sent«for this book. 



A REMEDY FOR STRONG DRINK. 

In 1893 while spending the winter in New Orleans I 
met a gentleman who had been cured of the habit of strong 
drink. He spent three months at a well-known Institute 
for the cure of strong drink. I became well acquainted 
with him and I got the following formula from him: 

Sulphate of iron h grains, spirit of nutmeg 1 drachm, 
peppermint water 11 drachms. To be taken twice a day 
in doses of a wine glassful, with or without water. 

If a youth wants to assist nature to do the square 
thing by the wind and raise whiskers, here is a mixture 
that will do the work: 

Prof. Hall's Magic Compound. — For the radical cure 
of baldness and prompting the growth of the hair and 
whiskers. Thousands of dollars can be made selling this 
one article. Put up in two ounce bottles retails for 
twenty-live cents. Recipe: — Take one ounce castor oil, 
dissolve in one quart of 95 per cent alcohol and one ounce 
of tincture of cantharides, two ounces tincture of catechu, 
two ounces lemon juice, one ounce tincture of chinchona: 
perfume with one-half ounce oil cinnamon and rosemary. 

The other sex may desire an opposite effect, if so, here 
is a hair despilatory used by a well known lady who is 
engaged in manufacturing and selling such as this, and 
other articles, 

This is sold extensively in this country and England 
at $1.00 a bottle, although it costs but a few cents to make 
it in large quantities. However, that does not depreciate 
the medical properties of the article, for it will do all that 
is claimed for it. In fact some of the best formulas in the 
book cost the least. 



180 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 



SELECTED RECIPES AND FORMULAS. 



INKS. 



Black. — Gall nuts 3 1-2 ounces, gum arabic 4 ounces, 
sulphate of iron 1 ounce, logwood 1 ounce. Pulverize 
these separately, mix and add 1 quart acetic acid. 

Red. — Get the best Brazil wood, ground, 1 ounce, 
acetic acid, 1 pint alum 1-2 ounce. Boil slowly, add 
1 ounce gum. 

Green. — Take 3 1-2 ounces of Prussian blue and 3 
drachms gamboge; rub these into 2 ounces of mucilage 
and put the mixture in a pint of rain, or soft, water. 

Note. — In making up these formulas never use hard 
water. Distilled water is the best if you can get it. 

Yiolet. — Take 16 ounces of rain water in which dis- 
solve 1-2 ounce Methyl-violet, then add 1-2 ounce glycerine, 
add a few drops creosote to make the ink keep. 

Yellow. — Gamboge, pulverize and put into water, 
then add a little alum. 

Gold. — Take gold bronze 3 or 4 ounces and mix with 
a little sulphate of potash, add this to a pint of water. 
To make silver ink use silver bronze. 

traveler's ink. 

Saturate white blotting paper aniline black. Paste 
a lot of these together so as to make a thick pad. When 
the traveler wants to write he cuts off a small piece, covers 
it with a little water and the black liquid therefrom is 
a good ink. Any wide awake man or boy can work this 
racket to perfection. 

ANOTHER INDELIBLE INK. 

Nitrate of silver 5 scruples, gum arabic 2 drachms, 
sap green 1 scruple, distilled water 1 ounce. Mix together. 
Before writing on the article to be marked, apply a little 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 181 

following: Carbonate of soda half an ounce, distilled 
water fonr ounces; let this last, which is the mordant, get 
dry; then with a quill, write what you want. 

INVISIBLE AND INDELIBLE INK. 

F. Moller, Hamburg, claims an ink made by dissolv- 
ing 100 parts of alum in water, and adding to the boiling 
alum solution 100 parts of white garlic juice, and again 
boiling. Writing made with this ink becomes visible 
upon heating, and cannot be effaced by wet. 

MARKING INK FOR BALES. 

Shellac two parts by weight, borax two, w T ater25, gum 
arabic two, Venetian red sufficient to color. 

Boil the shellac and the borax in the water until solu- 
tion is complete, add the gum arabic, and take the vessel 
from the fire. When the solution has become cold add 
sufficiant Venetian red to bring it to a suitable consistency 
and color. This ink must be preserved in a glass or earth- 
enware vessel. 

If a color other than red be desired, substitute for it 
lampblack, ultramarine blue, or a mixure of ultramarine 
blue and chrome yellow. 

Cochineal, pulverized fine, two ounces, Cream of Tar- 
tar, two ounces. 

Mix and add boiling water, 8 ounces, let stand for a 
quarter of an hour, then neutralize by adding, Carbonate 
of potash, 1 ounce. 

After the neutralization add, alum (powdered) 1 ounce, 
gum arabic (powdered) 1 ounce, Starch 2 ounces. Mix. 

INDELIBLE. 

1 ounce of distilled water, 1 1-2 drachms of nitrate of 
silver, 1-2 ounce of strong mucilage of gam arabic, 1-4 of 
a drachm of ammonia. Mix these in a bottle and let it 
remain in the dark until dissolved. Shake the bottle well 
when you wish to use the ink, Hold the writing close to 
a heat, or use a flat iron (hot) passing it over the inscrip- 
tion, and the ink will become indelible, and a very beauti- 
ful black. Indestructible. 



182 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 



INK FOE MARKING LINEN WITH TTPE. 

Dissolve 1 oz of asphaltum in 4 ounces of turpentine, 
add lampblack to make it stiff enough to use in type, 

BLUE. 

Take lump indigo and dissolve in soft water. Bottle 
and sell for Laundry bluing. 

BLUE BLACK INK. 

Tannic acid 100 grains, Gallic acid 25 grains. Dissolve 
tkese acids in water, 1-2 ounce protosulphate of iron, then 
filter through cotton or filter paper. Now, add Indigo 
carmine (neutral) 160 grains and powdered cloves 2 1-2 
grains. After you have added 1-2 pint of soft water, your 
ink is ready for use. 

INK FOR WRITING ON GLASS. 

White lac 10 parts, turpentine 15 parts, Venice 
turpentine 5 parts. Melt these together and add 5 parts 
powdered indigo. Water will not effect the writing. Can 
be applied with a small brush. 

ANOTHER WAY OF MAKING VIOLET INK. 

Boil 16 ounces of logwood in 3 quarts of rain 
water to 3 pints, add 3 ounces of clean gum arabic and 5 
ounces of alum (powdered). Shake till well dissolved. It 
would be well to strain through a wire sieve. 

A GOOD SUBSTITUTE FOR INK. 

Put iron rust into some vinegar, let stand awhile and 
then add 1-2 pint strong tea. 

A QUART OF INK FOR A DIME. 

Get extract of logwood, 1 ounce bichromate of potash. 
Dissolve these in a quart of hot rain water. After cooling 
pour into a glass bottle, leaving it uncorked for a week 
or ten days, as it must be exposed to the air. You can 
then put the ink in small bottles and cork. The writing 
turns very black. 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 183 

POLISHING PASTE FOR ALL METALS. 
Pulverize 1 part, by weight, of oxalic acic, 15 parts 
peroxide of iron and twenty parts rotten stone. Mix and 
sift to remove any and all grit; then rub this with 60 parts 
palm oil and 4 parts vaseline to a smooth paste. Apply 
with flannel or other soft cloth and polish in the usual 
manner. 

WHITE WINE VINEGAR. 

Acetic acid 1 pint, Sherry wine 1 pint, tartaric acid 
1 avoirdupois ounce, acetic ether 2 fluid drachms, water 
enough to make 1 gallon. 



A REMEDY FOR CONSUMPTIVE COUGH. 

Put into a quart of rain water about 1-2 pound finely 
cut raisins; then take 3 or 4 ounces of flax seed, sweetened 
with honey. Boil to a syrup, after which add 2 ounces 
of extract of anise. Take tableepoonful three times a day. 



A PREVENTATIVE OF BALDNESS. 
Twelve drops rosemary, 2 drachms tincture cantha- 
rides, 3 ounces cologne water. Use these applications two 
times a day for three weeks; lessen the applications if the 
scalp gets sore or stop using them for a while. 



ELECTRO-PLATING SOLUTION 
Take 1 ounce of pure silver, hammer it out thin and 
cut in strips, 2 ounces nitric acid and 1-2 ounce rain water, 
keep on adding the water until the solution takes place. 
Should it start 0. K., but stop before all the silver is 
dissolved, adding a little more water will cause it to act 
all right. When the solution is complete put in 1 quart 
of warm rain water and a large tablespoonful of table salt. 
Shake well and let settle, then proceed to pour off and 
wash through other waters. When no longer acid to the 
taste, put in 1 1-8 ounce cyanuret potassa and a quart of 
rain water; after standing about twenty-four hours it will 
it will be ready for use. 



184 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 



CIDER WITHO UT APPLES. 

Here is the formula for making cider without apples 
and known in the profession as "circus cider" owing to 
the fact that it is the kind sold at circuses, country fairs, 
etc. You will observe, however, there is nothing in it that 
is injurious: on the contrary it is much more healthful than 
the average cider full of worms, refuse, etc. I have sold 
enough of circus cider when a boy to float a ship, and I 
always had a clear conscience in regard to the matter. 

"All you can drink for five." 

To each- gallon of cold water, put 1 pound of common 
sugar, 1-2 ounce tartaric acid, 1 tablespoonful of yeast, 
shake well, make in the evening, and it will be fit for use 
next day. I make in a keg a few gallons at a time, leaving 
a few quarts to make into next time; not using yeast 
again until keg needs rincing If it gets a little sour 
make a little more into it, or put as much water with 
it as there is cider, and put it with the vinegar. If it 
is desired to bottle this cider by manufactures or small 
drinks, you will proceed as follows: Put in a barrel 5 
gallons hot water, 30 pounds brown sugar, 3-4 pounds 
flour, and 1 pint water will be required in making this 
paste. Put altogether in a barrel, which it will fill, and 
let it work 24 hours — the yeast running out at the bung 
all the time, by putting in a little occasionally to keep it 
full. Then bottle, putting in two or three broken raisins 
to each bottle, and it will nearly equal champagne. 



WRITING OJS GLASS. 

For marking prices on bottles, in fact for writing on 
glass in any shape, pure aluminum is frequently used. 
The lines can be made as fine or as heavy as desired, and for 
this reason the aluminum pencil may serve for marking 
and graduating burettes, pipettes, etc. The more nearly 
pure the -metal is, the plainer and more serviceable the 
mark. 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 185 

GL UES. 

Glue should be kept in a glue pot, i. e. a small pot in 
a larger one with water. 

Indian Glue. — Get one pound of the best, strongest, 
you can obtain, boil and strain it very clear; next, boil 
four ounces of isinglass; put these, after mixing, in a 
double glue pot; add half a pound of brown sugar. Boil 
the whole until it gets thick, pour it into thin plates or 
molds and when cold you may cut and- dry them in small 
pieces for the pocket. The glue is used by holding it over 
steam or wetting it with the mouth. This glue will not 
resist the action of hot water. 

Marine Glue. — Dissolve four parts of India-rubber 
in thirty-four parts of coal tar naphtha, aiding the solution 
with heat and agitation. The solution is then thick as 
cream, and it should be added to sixty-four parts of 
powdered shellac, which must be heated in tha mixture 
till all is dissolved. While the mixture is hot it is poured 
on plates of metal, in sheets like leather. It can be kept 
in that state, and mace, vanilla, etc., pulverize either article 
thoroughly, and put about two ounces of the resulting 
powder to each pint of reduced alcohol; agitate the mix- 
ture frequently for two weeks, then filter and color as 
desired. 

Acid Cement. — The following preparation is recom- 
mended for cementing glass, porcelain or other vessels 
intended to hold corosive acids: Asbestos, two parts; 
Barium sulphate, three parts; Silicate of sodium, two 
parts. By mixing these ingredients a cement strong 
enough to resist the strongest nitric acid will be obtained. 

PREPARED LIQUID GLUE. 

Take of the best white glue sixteen ounces; white 
lead, dry, four ounces, rain water two pints, alcohol four 
ounces. With constant stirring dissolve the glue and 
lead in the water, by means of a water-bath. Add the 
alcohol, and continue the heat for a few minutes. Lastly, 
pour into bottles while it is still hot. 



186 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

GLUE WHICH WILL UNITE EVEN POLISHED STEEL. 

A Turkish recipe for a cement used to fasten dia- 
monds and other precious stones to metallic surfaces, and 
which is said to strongly unite even surfaces of polished 
steel, although exposed to moisture, is as follows: Dis- 
solve five or six bits of gum mastic, each the size of a large 
pea, in as much spirits of wine as will suffice to render it 
liquid. In another vessel dissolve in brandy as much 
isinglass, previously softened in water, as will make a 
2-ounce phial of strong glue, adding two bits of gum 
ammoniac, which must be rubbed until dissolved. Then 
mix the whole with heat. Keep in a phial closely stopped, 
When it is to be used set the phial in boiling water. 



A REMEDY FOR RHEUMATISM. 

Four ouuces of saltpetre in one pint of alcohol; shake 
well and bathe parts affected; wetting red flannel with it; 
lay it on. It does not cure, but it takes away the ledness, 
reduces the swelling, and relieves the torment and agony. 

Arnica Hair Wash. — When the hair is falling off 
and becoming thin, from the too frequent use of castor, 
Macassar oils, etc., or when premature baldness arises 
from illness, the arnica hair wash will be found of great 
service in arresting the mischief. It is thus prepared: 
Take elder water, half a pint; sherry wine, half a pint; 
tincture of arnica, half a.n ounce; alcoholic ammonia one 
drachm — if this last named ingredient is old, and has lost its 
strength, then two drachms instead of one may be employed. 
The whole of these are to be mixed in a lotion bottle, and 
applied every night to the head with a sponge. Wash 
the head with warm water twice a week. Soft brushes 
only must be used during the growth of the young hair. 



TEST FOR BENZINE. 

Pure benzine on calendered wdiite writing paper will 
evaporate, free from stain, in seven minutes. 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 187 

FOB POLISHING AND CLEANING BBASS 

Most polishes are made in paste form, but here is a 
liquid form : Dissolve one ounce of oxalic acid in one 
gill of hot water; let cool. Mix four ounces of finely 
powdered rotten-stone with, one-half ounce of dextrine 
that is also powdered very fine, and two ounces sweet oil, 
to a paste, into which stir the oxalic acid solution. If 
too thick to form a liquid, add more water. Apply with 
a rag or sponge and rub dry with a piece of flannel or 
wash leather. 



PASTE FOB FASTENING OIL CLOTH TO WOOD. 
Dissolve one-fourth ounce of alum in two quarts of 
water. Then put in one pound wheat flour and while 
constantly stirring with a wooden stick, boil the mixture 
until mushy so that the stick will stand in it This tough 
paste is applied to the table top and the oil cloth is laid 
thereon and smoothed out from the centre toward the 
edges so that there will be no wrinkles or blisters. 



POSTAGE STAMP MUCILAGE. 
Dissolve one pound of gum dextrine in a pint of 
boiling water. Strain through flannel and add two ounces 
acetic acid, when almost cold add four ounces of alcohol. 
Stir constantly, then add water enough to make one 
quart. 

CEMENT FOB BICYCLE TIRES. 

Pish glue, 8 grams; Guttapercha, 6 grams; India rub- 
ber, 12 grams; carbon bisulphide, 96 grams. Macerate 
together until dissolved. To mend bicycle tires, rubber 
belts and other kinds of rubber material, clean the edges 
of the break; if necessary strengthen by some stitches and 
fill up the space by putting on thin layers of the cement, 
allowing them to dry somewhat before putting on addi- 
tional layers. When little more has been laid on than 
needed shave off the excess with a thin, sharp knife that 
has been previously dipped into water. 



288 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

FIRE EXTING UISHERS, 

Hand grenades, the simplest form of fire extinguishers, 
can be made cheaply and easily for mill use. And it is 
well to have at hand a simple contrivance for extinguish- 
ing a small fire at its start. 

Take 20 pounds of common salt and 10 pounds of sal 
ammoniac (nictrate of ammonia) and dissolve in 7 gallons 
of water. Get quart bottles of thin glass, such as are 
ordinarily used by a druggest, and fill with this, corking 
tightly and sealing to prevent evaporation. 

In case of fire throw so as to break in or near the 
flame. If the fire is in such a place as to prevent the bottle 
from breaking, as on sawdust piles. Knock off the neck 
of the bottle and scatter the contents. 

The breaking of the bottle liberates a certain amount 
of gas, and the heat of the fire generates more, thus work- 
ing its own destruction. 



TRANSFERING PHOTOGRAPHS TO GLASS. 

Immerse photograph in warm water and le*t it remain 
until the thin paper, on which the picture is printed, can 
be removed from the card. Then take starch, as it is 
used in the laundry, and with a small camel's hair brush, 
apply the starch to the front of the picture and paste to 
the glass getting it on perfectly even. Exclude all air 
between the glass and picture; after the starch and paper 
are thoroughly dry, give the back of picture a coat of 
linseed oil, let it dry and then coat over the oil with any 
color desired. 

ANOTHER WAY OF TRANSFERING. 

Remove the print as first instructed. Instead of 
using the starch, varnish the glass and let it dry, after 
which give the glass another coat of varnisli, and when it is 
just the least bit tackey lay on the picture, face down and 
press it evenly, pressing hard to exclude all air or the 
work will be in spots. In about half an hour spread 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 189 

castor oil on back of print; after a few minutes wipe off 
the castor oil as much as possible. Then take a clean, 
dry cloth and rub until you can see lines of the picture 
clearly, then give another coat of varnish, let it dry, and 
put a piece of cardboard, painted any color you wish, back 
of picture. Ready now for framing. 

Balsam fir instead of varnish is a good thing to use. 
It is a very thick gum and will have to be thinned with 
turpentine so it can be worked with a brush. For thin- 
ning use as much turpentine as balsam fir. It would be 
well to put in a small amount of wine also. 

Before fixing the picture to the glass it should be 
immersed in color solution. Use dry color in form of 
powder. Put a small amount of color in a large tin cup, 
and add to it two tablespoonsful of vinegar and one pint 
of water. Then strain the mixture so that there are no 
lumps of color; when everything is ready immerse the 
print in the solution of color, let it remain a short time, 
then with the face up lay it on a piece of paper awhile. 
Then finish transfering. 

Balsam fir is sometimes called Canada balsam, and it 
is about the same nature of Venice turpentine. 

Here is another varnish which can be used in cement- 
ing pictures to glass: Venice turpentine 4 ounces, wine 
5 ounces, picked mastic tears 1 ounce. Mix, shake until 
the gums are dissolved, then put away for future use. 



PRE8ER VlJSfG EGGS. 

Put into a tub or vessel one bushel of quick lime, two 
pounds of salt, half a pound of cream of tartar, and mix 
the same together, with as much water as will reduce the 
composition, or mixture to that consistence that it will 
cause an egg put into it to swim with its top just above 
the liquid. Then put and keep the eggs therein. 



190 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

FURNITURE POLISH. 

Mix together kerosene 8 ounces turpentine, 3 ounces 
raw linseed oil, 3 ounces oil of cedar. 

Or here is another formula. Acetic acid, 1 ounce, 
hydrochloric acid, L ounce, turpentine, 4 ounces, raw 
linseed oil 10 ounces. 

Directions for polishing.— First, thoroughly clean 
the furniture from adhering dirt by use of warm soap-suds, 
after wiping dry apply the polish with soft brush so that 
the surface is well covered, then with the use of soft, dry 
rags, rub briskly and with friction until dry and a high 
polish is obtained. Be careful and get all the corners 
clean and dry. 



MILKMAN'S PROCESS TO GIVE A BODY TO 
DIL UTED MILK. 

Use the following and nutrictive compound, at the 
rate of 8 ounces to every 5 gallon, stiring it up in the milk 
until it is dissolved; arrow root, 6 ounces, magnesia, 6 
ounces, starch, 11 drachms, flour, 1-2 pound, white sugar 
and powder 1 pound. Mix all together and keep in a 
private place for use. 



SCARLET FEVER. 
Undress the child and bring it to bed at the very first 
signs of sickness. Give it if it has already fever, sourish 
warm lemonade, with some gum-arabic in it, Then cover 
its abdomen with some dry flannel. Take a well-folded 
bed sheet and put in boiling hot water; wring it out by 
means of dry towels and put this over the whole and wait. 
The hot cloth will perhaps require repeated heating. 
According to the severity of the case and its stage of 
progress, perspiration will commence in the child, in from 
ten minutes to two hours. The child then is saved; it then 
falls asleep. Soon after the child awakes, it shows slight 
inclination for food; help its bowels, if necessary, with 
injections of soap, oil and water, and its recovery will be 
s steady as the growth of a plant. 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 191 

TO CURE PAINS IN THE FEET 
If your feet become painful from walking or standing 
too long, put them into warm salt and water mixed in the 
proportion of two large handfulls of salt to a gallon of 
water. Sea water made warm, is still better. Keep your 
feet and ankle in the water until it begins to feel cool, 
rubbing them well with your hands. Then wipe them dry 
and rub them long and hard with a coarse towel. Where 
the feet are tender and easily fatigued, it is an excellent 
practice to go through this practice regularly every night, 
also on coming home from a walk. With perseverance 
this has cured neuralgia in the feet. 

POISONS. 
Asa general rule, give emetics after poisons that cause 
sleepiness and raving; chalk, milk, butter, and warm 
water, or oil, after poisons that cause vomitings and pain 
in the stomach and bowels, with purging; and when there 
is no infiamation about the throat, tickle it with a feather 
to excite vomiting. Always send immediately for a medi- 
cal man. 



CA UTIONS IN VISITING THE SICK. 
Do not visit the sick when you are fatigued, or in a 
state of perspiration, or with the stomach empty — for in 
such conditions you are liable to take the infection. 
When the disease is very contagious, take the side of the 
patient which is near to the window. Do not enter the 
room the first thing in the morning before it has been 
aired; and when you come away take some food, change 
your clothing immediately, and expose the latter to the 
air for some days. Tobacco smoke is a fine preventive of 
malaria. 



THE BEST BL UING FOE CLOTHES KNO WN. 
Take 1 ounce of soft Prussian blue — powder it, and 
put in a bottle of 1 quart of rain water, and add 1-2 ounce 
of pulverized oxalic acid, and a tablespoonful is sufficient 
for a large washing. 



192 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 

McCURRY'S CHENG WING STARCH POLISH. 

This article has undoubtedly had a more extensive sale 
through agents than any other article used in the house- 
hold. It is a meritorious one, and will always find sale if 
our directions are followed. Care must be taken to pro- 
cure the ingredients marked as we give them. 

DIRECTIONS AND RECEIPT. 

Procure from your druggist an article of commerce 
called and marked A 1 (not B 1), but A 1 paraffine wax. 
It must be the hardest wax made. If an inferior grade is 
used it will not produce the same result as the best A 1 
wax. Please buy no other. Place your paraffine in 
a tin boiler, pan, pail, or kettle, as is the most conven- 
ient. Melt it over a slow fire. Use care in melting. 
When melted thorougly remove the vessel from the lire; 
cover it to keep the liquid hot. Take some round tin pie 
pans, and oil them with sweet oil as you would for pie 
baking, but do not use lard. Put these pans on a level 
table, and pour in enough of the hot wax to make a depth 
in each pan equal to about the thickness of one-eighth of 
an inch. While hot, glance over the pans to see that they 
are level. As this is very essential, please remember it. 
If the pans are not level, the cakes will be all thicknesses, 
which should not be so. Let them cool, but not too fast. 
Watch them closely, and have a tin stamp ready to stamps 
the cakes out about the size of an ordinary candy lozenger. 
This stamp should be about eight inches long, larger at 
the top than at the bottom, so that the cakes can pass up 
through the stamp as you are cutting them out of the pans. 
Lay the cakes in another pan to cool. Before they become 
very hard separate them from ^ach other; if not it will 
be difficult to do so when they become very hard. Do not 
neglect this. Have boxes made at any paper box makers 
in any large city. They cost about from one to two cents 
each; sliding boxes are the best. Have your labels printed 
and commence business at once. This is a staple article. 
Wholesale grocers throughout the United States generally 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 193 

have it in stock. You can wholesale it to them, or retail 
it to families. This one secret is worth one hundred times 
the price of this book. 



HUGHES GOLDEN RECEIPT. 

For reducing, blending and cheapening your own 
whisky, three or four barrels could be made for one, and 
the receipts I know of for this purpose, this is the only 
honest and correct method, that will leave the same bead, 
strength and color as when first bought: 1 gallon 95 
proof whisky, 1 gallon high wine deoderized, 2 gallon soft 
water, 3 ounces extract Bourbon, 1-2 ounce glycerine, 
1 ounce common syrup. Color with carmine to suit, and 
let it stand twenty-four hours before using. 



TO GET RID OF RATS AND MICE. 

Take chloride of lime, and sprinkle dry around their 
holes and haunts. Or coal tar at the entrance of their 
haunts will do the work. 



AYER'S SARSAPARILLA. 

Take 3 fluid ounces each of alcohol, fluid extracts of 
sarsaparilla, and of stil. ingia, 2 fluid ounces of each, 
extract of yellow dock, and of podephyllin, 1 ounce, sugar 
90 grains iodide of potassium, and 10 grains of iodide of 
iron, this is according to the formulas furnished the 
German Government. 



REMEDY FOR NEURALGIA. 

Hypophoshpite of soda taken in one drachm doses three 
times a day in beef tea is a good remedy for this painful 
affection. So is the application of bruised horseradish, or 
the application of oil of peppermint applied lightly with a 
camel hair pencil. 



194 



DYSPEPSIA. 



One of the first things to be attended to is to regulate 
the bowels, which in this disease are always in a costive 
state. The best means of keeping them loose is the eating 
of a handful of clean wheat bran, once or twice a day, 
This is the most simple and efficacious method of cleansing 
the stomach. It may be eaten from the hand with a few 
swallows of water to wash it down; also use, to regulate 
the stomach and bowels, the daily use of common salt, in 
teaspoonful doses, dissolved in a half tumblerful of water, 
taken in the morning fasting. Avoid rich diet, and use 
brown bread instead of tha't made of superfine flour. 



ALE WITHOUT MALT OR HOPS. 

No production in this country abounds so much with 
saccharine matter as the shells of green peas. A strong 
concoction of them so much resembles, in odor and taste, 
an infusion of malt (termed wort), as to deceive a brewer. 
This decoction rendered slightly bitter with the wood sage, 
and afterward fermented with yeast, affords a very excel- 
lent beverage. The method employed is as follows: Fill 
a boiler with the green shells of peas, pour on water till it 
rises half an inch above the shells, and simmer for three 
hours. Strain off the liquor, and add a strong decoction 
of the wood sage, or the hop, so as to render it pleasantly 
bitter; then ferment in the usual manner. The wood sage 
is the best substitute for hops; and being free from any 
anodyne property is entitled to a preference. Boil a fresh 
quantity of shells in the decoction, and when cold, it may 
be thoroughly impregnated with saccharine matter, as to 
afford a liquor, when fermented, as strong as ale. 



TO DRIVE AWAY ANTS. 

Put red pepper in the places the ants frequent the 
most, and scrub the shelves and drawers with strong car- 
bolic soap. 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 195 



TO RESTORE VEL VET. 

Where velvet has been crushed, hold the wrong side 
over a basin of quite boiling water, and the pile will grad- 
ually rise. Do not loose patience, for it takes a considera- 
ble time, but the result is marvelous. 



HAIR RESTORATIVE. 

A tea made by pouring one pint of boiling water on 
two tablespoonfuls of dried rosemary leaves, with a wine- 
glassful of rum added, is excellent. 



TO SOFTEN THE HANDS. 

Before retiring, take a large pair of old gloves and 
spread mutton tallow^ inside, also all over the hands. 
Wear the gloves all night, and wash the hands with Olive 
oil and white castile soap the next morning. 



TO FLA VOR TOBACCO. 

This is done by means of a mixture of one part each 
of lemon peel, orange peel, figs, corriander seed and sassa- 
fras; half part each of elderflowers, elder berries, and cinna- 
mon; two parts of saltpetre, three of salt, and four of 
sugar. This mixture must be digested in fifty parts of 
water, and, before applying it flavor with an alcoholic sol- 
ution of gum benzion, mastic, and myrrh. It is said that 
this decoction gives a flavor to comon leaves resembling 
Porto Rico, but to this end the leaves must be well dried, 
about a year old, well permeated with the preparation, 
kept in a pile about eight days, turned daily, and finally 
dried. 



PAINT SMELL. 

To get rid of the smell of oil paint, plunge a handful 
of hay into a pail of water, and let it stand in the room 
newly painted. 



196 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 



APPLE B UTTER WITHO UT APPLES. 

Take one-half pint of the very cheapest black molasses 
(good molasses wont do) and one-half pint of good vinegar, 
mix well together, put it over the lire until it boils, then 
take it off, and take one-eighth pint of wheat flour and 
cold water enough to make a thin batter, and mix well; 
then pour all these together, until it gets as stiff as you 
want it. Stir all the time. Put in cinnamon or allspice to 
suit your taste. You will then have splendid apple butter. 



HOW TO MAKE AJST OLD ORCHARD NEW. 

Kainite or Tree Medicine.— It is very well known 
that the reason why peach, apple quince and pear orchards 
gradually grow poorer and poorer until they cease to pro- 
duce at all, is because the potash is exhausted from the 
soil by the plant. This potash must be restored, and the 
most effective way to do it is to use the following com- 
pound, discovered by a distinguished German chemist; 
thirty parts of sulphate of potash;- fifteen parts sulphate 
of magnesia; thirty-live parts salt; fifteen jjarts gypsum 
(plaster-of-paris); Hve parts chloride of magnesia. This 
should be roughly powdered and mixed and then mingled 
with barn-yard manure or dug in about the roots of the 
trees. From ten to twenty pounds to a tree are quite 
enough. 

CURE OF WARTS. 
The easiest way to get rid of warts is to pare off the 
thickened skin which covers the prominent wart; cut it 
off by successive layers, and shave it till you come to the 
surface of the skin, and till you draw blood -in two or three 
places. Then rub the part thoroughly over with lunar 
caustic, and one effective operation of this kind will gener- 
ally destroy the wart; if not, you cut off the black spot 
which has been occasioned by the caustic, and apply it 
again; or you may apply acetic acid, and thus you will 
get rid of it. Care must be taken in applying these acids, 
not to rub them on the skin around the wart. 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 197 



APPLES FRESH AND SOUND ALL WINTER. 

I discovered a very superior way of preserving apples 
until spring. By it any apple in good condition when 
packed will be equally good when unpacked, and even 
those rotting because not" in good condition when put 
away will not injure any others. Take fine saw dust, 
preferably that made by a circular saw from well seasoned 
hard wood, and place a thick layer on bottom of a barrel. 
Then place a layer of apples, not close together and not 
close to staves of the barrel. Put sawdust liberally over 
and around, and proceed until a bushel and a half (or less) 
are so packed in each barrel. They are to be kept in a 
cool place. I kept some in an open garret, the theremom- 
eter for a week ranged close to zero. No braised or mellow 
apples will be preserved, but they will not communicate 
rot to their companions. There is money in this, applied 
to choice apples. 



BOILS. 



These should be brought to a head by warm poultices 
of camomile flowers, or boiled white lily root, or onion 
root by fermentation with hot water, or by stimulating 
plasters. When ripe they should be destroyed by a needle 
or lancet. But this should not be attempted until they 
are fully proved. 



DROPSY. 



Take one pint of bruised mustard seed, two handfuls 
of bruised horseradish root, eight ounces of lignumvitre 
chips, and four ounces of bruised Indian hemp root Put 
all the ingredients in seven quarts of cider, and let it 
simmer over a slow fire until it is reduced to four quarts. 
Strain the decoction, and take a wineglassful four times a 
day, for a few days, increasing the dose to a small teacup- 
f ul three times a day. After which use tonic medicines. 



198 FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 



RAT KILLING. 

Take common sponge, dried, cut into small pieces, 
soak in lard, melted tallow or meat gravy. Place these 
pieces within easy access to the rats. They will eat 
greedily, and the moisture of the stomach will cause the 
pieces to swell and kill the rat. Water may be placed 
within reach, and will hasten results by expanding the 
sponge. 

Phosphorous Paste for Destroying Rats-Mice — 
Melt one do and of lard, with a very gentle heat, in a 
large mouthed bottle or other vessel plunged into warm 
water; then add half an ounce of phosphorous, and one 
pint of proof spirit; cork the bottle securely, and as it 
cools shake it frequently, so as to mix the phoshorous 
uniformly; when cold pour off the spirit (which may be 
preserved for the same purpose), and thicken the mixture 
with flour. Small portions of this mixture may be placed 
near the rat holes, and being luminous in the dark it 
attracts them, is eaten greedily, and is certainly fatal. 
Put it up in small tin boxes, and sell it at 25 cents each. 
There is a firm in this city that has made over thirty 
thousand dollars manufacturing this article. 



TO REMOVE OFFENSIVE BREATH. 

For this purpose almost the only substance that should 
be admitted at the toilet is the concentrated solution of 
chloride of soda. From six to ten drops of it in a wine- 
glassful of spring water, taken immediately after the 
operations of the morning are completed. In some cases, 
the odor arising from carious teeth is combined with that 
of the stomach: If the mouth be well rinsed with a tea- 
spoonful of the solution of the chloride in a tumbler of 
water, the bad odor of the teeth will be removed. 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 199 



CONCLUSION. 



My dear reader, I trusty you have read this little work 
carefully and that it may be of vast benefit to you. As 
my experience has been that "no one gets too old to 
learn," and what might have seemed very important 
incidents to the unsophisticated, as well as the man of 
the world, I assure you is nevertheless a fact; and a thous- 
and dollars of my money goes to the man or woman who 
will prove to a disinterested committee of three, that any 
single one of the incidents herein printed is not true. 
And, furthermore, the same offer holds good regarding the 
formulas and receipts; or I will give to anyone, (pharma- 
cists, doctors or merchants not excepted), $5.00 for each 
and every receipt or formula that will do the work better 
or cheaper than any of those embodied in this book, and 
will do it cheerfully; and will give the money as free as 
the air you breathe and the water you drink. I make this 
offer owing to the fact that I will stop at no expense to 
keep that part of this work where it is now — just as far 
above the average book of receipts and formulas as an 
eagle is above a mnd turtle. You will observe that I have 
made special exertions to present an immense array of rare 
and most valuable information, and made it as compre- 
hensive as possible — in that respect — and while 1 realize as 
well as my reader that some one else might have done better 
on exposing swindles, congratulate myself on the fact 
that some benefit may be derived from it, for the best of 
my knowledge, it fills a long-felt want, as no work of the 
kind is now in print. However, for the good it may prove, 
I place it before the public, hoping it may be a foundation 
for more works of the kind. And my main endeavor, to 
educate the unsophisticated in the ways of the world a 
little, may bear fruit, and be appreciated by all honest 
people. 

The Author. 



200 



FAKES, GRAFTS AND SWINDLES EXPOSED. 



AGENTS WANTED TO SELL THIS BOOK— either 
sex. Territory inhabited and free to all. A good thing 
for live people; $3.00 to $5.00 per day sure. Experience 
not necessary. Write today for confidential prices and 

terms. Address, 

J. Alfred McCurry, 

Moberly, Mo., U. S. A. 



NOTICE. 

Remittances should be made by postoffice or express 
money order, bank draft or registered letter. No per- 
sonal checks taken. Postage stamps for amounts less 
than $1.00 will be accepted. One or two cent stamps 
should be sent. Remittances from foreign countries 
should be made payable at par in the United States. 




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