Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1868-12-12


wsih yigneise representing the Goddcss
of Plenty, scattering her favars br,sdcast
over the land. You pay yosr nsouey for
that" said the New York manager to me-
Z" II prosaises uothing, and yop get what it
rsomicx You may he notified that you
have drawn . prize, valued at $500, and
you scnd Ss the Eve per cent. asked fur
We send you . watch rsised al $500, hut
worth ejO-vAat are yos going to DO aboat
IL! Whist does ySur ticket call fss! We
|sanit itAhssuiaab, bst shat - ym gOiag
TO do about III You've eut no 60 suSs
beyond an admission 10 Irving Hall-eOme
To Irving Hall and we II sdmit you-when
We agree to-we haven't fixed the time
yet" go -t
Nearly all the prizes given out by Bark,
Bite 4 Coz consist Of what purport to be
shares in the Thieves and Burglars Pc
troleum Stock Company" These are ral-
ucd at 500 each, but, it is scarcely ncccs-
sary to say, they are utterly worthless.
There is no such petroleum company, and
if there is it don't own any land, and if it
does it hasn't got any oil in it. The whole
thing is simply and purely fiction, hav-
ing no better foundation than the printed
scrip, which is wicked waste of the white
paper. These bogus shares are sent out
by the thousand, and not one in hundred
of the number who receive them ever take
the trouble to complain or dcnounce the
swindle. He has been victimized, first to
the AMOUNT of one dollar paid for his orig
inal ticket, second, to all other tickets he
has been induced to purchase, and third,
to the amount of the five per cent. assess
mcnt of which he was notified.
Recognizing the swindlc, he is chary of
prosecuting the matter further for fear Of
being bitten again..
When the New York manager (whom I
afterwards asccrtaincd was but an ordinary
clerk had learned from me that l held a
number of tickets which were said to have
drawn prizes, hc did not hesitate to inform
me that they never intended to give prizes
of any value, and justified such course
by saying that every person who bought a
ticket did SO in the hope of gaining an ad-
vantage over some one elsc-of getting a
prize worth five, ten or fifty tiipcs the
amount Of money he invested. TO use the
expressive language Of the manager, "thcy
hope to beat us, so We make sure of beat
ing thcm-they want ten dollars for one,
while VIC take ten for nothing-whcre's the
difference between usy They try to over
reach US and we do overrcach thcm-mOr.
ally considered which is the worst?"
The answer to this is simply that the
chances are not equal-or, rather, that
there are no chances. The Gift Enter
prise people so conduct their business that
the person who invests money in their
tickets does so with the certainty unknown
to him) Of losing it, not with the chance Of
doubling it. During one of my visits to
tho Office of Bark, Bito Il Co., farmer
looking man entered, and presenting no.
ti6cation to the clerk demanded the prizo
which it informed him he had drawn, val
ued at $500. The obliging clerk offered
him three shares in the "Thievcs and Bur-
glars Petroleum Stock Company" The
man didn't want them, and after consider
able talking, refused to take them, threat
ening to call in the police. He said that
no lived in Connecticut, had bought 4 tick
ct, had been notified that he had drawn
prize, had sent the Ave per cent. demand
cd, amounting to e15, and not hearing
from IL had come to sse about the matter.
The clerk denied having received the SIS,
and refused to do anything for the poor
man but give him his petroleum stock. A
detective policeman was Summoned, but
hc could do, nothing-the farmer had no
grouhd Of action against the swindlers
which would legally warrant their arrest.
So the victimised farmer returned home,
adding the expense Of his trip and his lost
time 70 the other sums to be charged
against Bark, Bite i Co.
Perhaps the mostnotable instance Of Gift
Enterprise swindling was that recently
psrpetrsted BY Tie Gettysbrg Asylasa
Compauy. Thh lcompany proposed 10
purchase, on tho battlefield Of Gettysburg,
a large tract Of land sud erect thereon
home for disabled soldicrs. To secure the
means 70 do this, "gift" scheme was in
stituted. An individual in New York
having bccn victimiscd b. . diamoad bro
ksr fcssd On his hasds . lot Of beeas do
mohas fur vhieh - had paid fan psies.
These he proposed to put into the schsme
for much larger su,n than be bad paid,
and consequently for IN amount equal 10
Eve or six times their value. AnSeAes PER
SON pus in farm f~ t6e; 900, the ss-c~cd
v,l.e Of which w.s 5.000. A great vsri-
city Of other prizes versPss N tAe schsdsie,
ali bearing greatly exassrnsed yaIss,
(exccptias the principal prise, which ~
Apaa ssa:- ~S>rks \ - H. ernua-