, 1864-03-01

= Of the advertisement, and eaSb: indoaed x51
= A copy of the letter, and the nau1,s Of tn
J firms to which 1t was addressed, mi The An
I s"e1s which were received from eah Of tl
, specimen, and then state the aggregate Of ali
l. This answer inc1oscd one 7hunirei an;
thirty. certificates, OF which We copy one
emitting names:
son the return Of s. md this eertac..e, with i,
an Ge R eat ssaps TO for
GOLD LocKKr nAnKKp At ss.n
There were Il certificates like the above.
promising the delivery Of various artIcles a}
& each; Il certificates at IS. So At 81: II II
$7,7at IS, l at SO, and 1t sl5-in I'll 1So
certificates, on the lace Of them good for ar
tfcles volued at *45a From another firm We
received watch rs premium, and 100 certia.
cstes Of similar form to the above, represent
ing articles valued at s599. 4 thiri frm Rent
witch and 1GS certificates calling for ar.
ticles marked at Si0z. From fourth came
package Of lowelry invoiced at SO, at whole.
sa]eprices. From the fifth, $50 packages Of
stationary, and 50 certificates, rrpresentlnr
articles Of which the cash valne is marked At
In ali, tihero were received 45s certificates
for the $l00 originally invested. By the
terms Of the advertisement, and Of the let
| ters, and Of the certificates themselves, il
appeared that on return Of, these certificates.
and on the further payment Of ono dollar on
each, the applicant would be entitled to re-
| ceiye goods valued at ,153 In other words:
for total investment OF S558, adding Is per
cent, these firms promised to return nearIy
four times that amount. That on the face Of
| 1t is q swiudle.
In the first place, nothingis yet returned
for the money spent. Tho customer has rc-
cciyed certificates which are worthless unless
| he chooses to invest more money. Undoubt-
edfy this is one source Of the profits; o man
| who has received only lot Of certificates for
the money he first sent, becoming reluctant
place, hero is no. lottery, no distribution Of
chances between blanks and prizes, but an
absolute undertaking by these firms to r1ar
to those rho deal with them, on return Of
the certificates, four times the value Of the
money received That is what 1t amounts
to, striped OF ali the delusive vorbiage Of
VI course, such business cannot be hon
e6tly conducted; There Is fraud somewhere.
It would bc quite sufficient, in,ortlef to warn
the public against 1t, II thc4nvestigation Ind
stopped hero. But he who had It in charge
having satisfied himself, of its rascality, con
elnded to make clean work Of 1t, aud to sat
isfy the public, also, beyond caVi. So tho
demonstration proceeds.
Having sent S100 for certificates, worthless
In themselves, and not protesting to be- worth
anything, except by further payment, he
now invested another 800 to test their rep
resentatiye value. A hundred certificates
were sent for cdcmption-those Of the high
est nominal value being selected. They were
presented ut the places Of business Of these
firms, the money was paid, and a large num-
Der OF articles were received. Each certif-
cate, 1t will be remembered, called for GER.
tain article, and the dealer WIS bound to de-
liver that article for dollar. Tho articles
now called for were gold band bracelets at
$40; gold hunting watch, at SIS: gold vcst
chains, at 80; gold stnds, ut IS; gold pens
and silver extension cascs, at -; gold pen,
pencil nnd holder, at s.; and many other
were What the applicant was entitled to ret.
He did, in fact, receive al1 pieces OF sets OF
value Of which Was $500
We Inspected these articles. It was evf- |
dent enough they were not worth what they |
we're represented to be worth. Some Of the |
them, and could not be written with 1t all |
Some Of the f.silver'' holders were scarcely /
washed oTer, and were SO weak that on pres6-
ing the pen on the paper, the holder was im-
medfately split. All the pens aud pencils
were OF ne cheapest Workmanship; SO poor
that they have scarcely a market value The
watches, on being wound up, lost from seven
TO twenty minutes each in three hours The
1eWelry Was OF IN equally worthless descrip-
bNL tnere was one meauB OF ascert1iniug
beyond question the value of these articles,
sent to the United States Assay Office in this
city; one Of the two or three offices whose
ceftlncate or stamp on gold or silver Is good
the world over. They passed through that
office By the usual process-ware melted and
ounces, and al sold by these i've flrms for
gold and silrer, were worth in the aggregate,
according to thcir representations, live hun
dred and ninety-nine dollars (S593). Their
9ctua1 value, by the certificate OF the Assay
g4tce now nc1oIe ns, s was nine dollars md
The certificate states the weight before
melting, at o.20 ounces atermeiting, 54.45
ounces fnenees, 073; weight Of silver, 4.G6
ounces; value, 1874 f1neness OF the gold,
DoG115; value, s7.9l; deductions for parting
colnagc &C., 500 net value 50. 81. It Is
signed by Geo. ". Edelman, for the Treasu-
rer Of the Assay Office.
Inc sum OF the whole statement is that Tor
an actual cash Investment Of 500 with five |
firms (according to the terms Of their adver-
[isements OF watches and iewelry to be sold
for 81 each without regard to value, and not
get), there were received 2n articles Of Jew
>, DC, reprcs ented to be worth s589, and
actually worth in gold and silver 5000. Il,
according to familiar rule. You double the
Ealne Of the gold and silver 90 as to include
kAE E0st VI NUIkIl0uslllp, LuEU 10f Inc %NU |
paid, S19.4 were received.
OF the stationery packages received, which
nc valued at e5 cts, and represented to be
worth 81, We hare only to say that they con-
AIN tho cheapest sort of paper, Sc, und may
at nbcrnl estimate, be worth i've
u SIX cents eacll.
The circular and advertisements of these
1rns contain the mostpositiye assurances Of
he vnluc Of their goods, and Of the honesty
u the business. We cannot pro1ong this ar
:icle BY exposing them In detail, but we re-
mark on one point that If their preferences
@ editors Of Well-knoWn Journals are not, |
Ike a1l tho rest Of the statement fraudulent, |
t is quite time these journals should under
stand what sort Of sWindling they are made
10 endorse. ::
And, finally, we have only to say that this
business is probably illegal under existing
statutes; but TINT tff It Is so managed to evade
hem, the immediate duty Of the Legislature
s to pass law which will meet the case,
md protect the honest but innocent men who
loW suffer ut the hands Of this gang. Their
are from all parts Of the
:ountry. Probably many Of the seemingly
n1erent firms are really one. They all, We
re informed, do, or did, q large business
With the army. III one instance, at least, the
ttention Of the Provost Marshall has been
allied to It, and steps taken to protect the
oldiers. In our armies similar vigilance
'uglt to bc exercised.