The Union and journal. [volume] (Biddeford, Me.) 1858-1882, 1870-12-30
Misfrllauroas.
Swindling by Mail.

Ths CosnterTsif Money Frasds-Hosg Thsy
Operate aud 0rOr Rich.
Tho number of persons In this city en-
gagged In swindling through the mails, by
promising their correspondents counter
felt money, gold watches and other valu-
ables upon the payment of certain sum
Of money. Is surprising to anybody out
side Of the police department. Notwith-
standing the true character Of these
frauds has been time and again exposed
by tho press. both the swindlers and their
willing allies In the case Of those engaged
In the counterfeit money frauns, have
seemed to increase. Yesterday the first
conviction of this class of swindlcrs, un-
der the statute prescribing penalties for
"larceny by trick and device" was had In
the Court Of Special Sessions, when jus
tico Bowling sent William II. jackson
and William Hammond to the Penitentia-
~ for six months.
One of the first to engage In this busi-
ness was one Daley. He looked like n
thief, and was SO poorly dressed that the
agents In the express offices refused to
deliver the packages he called FOR, but rs
he produced proof that he was tho con-
signee. the companies we're forced to give
him the money. The receipts were very
small at first. but in few days the sums
averaged from $50 TO $40 n day, and then
Daley exchanged his filthy rags for broad.
cloth and fine linen. After while gold
studs and diamond rings appeared on his
person, and every train brought him piles
OF greenbacks. ...
An office was rented ut No. so Nassau
street. up in dingy loft, acd business in
creased so rapidly that hc found It neces-
sary to take In u partner, and so he en-.
gagged young man who agreed to do oil
the dirty" work for modest sum.
Things prospered finely, until one day,
when the youth was folding n lot of his
employers confidential circulars, a yer.
dant came, with detective who stayed
below. A charge of swindling was made
and when there was prospect OF tight
the official stepped up and arrested the
young man. A counterfeit bill was found
on his person. and aftor trial tho clerk
of all work was sent to Sing Sing. Daily
managed to keep out of the affair. Not
long after the arrest. the subject Of this
narrative found another man, named Wa.
ters, who was soon found to he eminently
fitted for his new place. After DALEY
had been in business about year. he
bought fine house. and here he brought
his wife and several of her relatives. Wa
ters was also invited to the new home. for
the owner was anxious to have all his
tools under cover. In case Daley and
Waters should be uncertain of their iden-
tity AFTER reading this article, u description
of each will be valuable.
Daley Is about forty years of age. OF
medium height. and dark complexion.
He wears black chin whiskers and q
bunch of scraggy hair on either side OF
hi, face. He dresses well, and delights In
his glossy silk hat, and spen'!s much OF
his time during tho summer season ut
Saratoga. Newport and Long Branch.
Although he is not u regular gambler, he
likes TO bet on tho speed of fast horses.
last summer he went down to Virginia
Springs and negotiated for hotel which
he did not buy. 'i
Waters Is known rs 1.-The blonde" He
Is of rather low build, slight figure. and
about twenty-scven years old. His nous.
tache Is red. and he revels In high-scentcd
hair-oil. Unlike his friend DALEY, he is
a poor taiker. and the sight of police
man makes him tremble with fear. Dur
ing the past season he spent much money
ut Saratoga and Newport. Quite recent.
" he bought diamonds, which he wears
on all occasions.
Dailey's receipts arc very large, and
when money is scarce they in
crease. for then II is that lazy people find
Il hard 10 make an honest living The
oilers who Ioitcr around small towns In
western New York, bite eagerly at the
Autographed bait. However. there arc
thousands of tho circulars that fall into
the hands of honest men. who either de-
stroy them or send them to the proper a'i.
ihorities. Chief of Police kelso and
Mayor Hall receive hundreds OF them
every month. Repeated attempts have
been made to bring the authors to Justice,
hut In almost every case there Is no con-
victing evidence found. When an agent
forwards s25 or $50 for batch Of cot'n-
tcrfeit money, n package OF old paper or
sawdust Is returned by express, marked
&C. o. d." with u largo sum mentioned
In bold figures on tho envelope, In most
instances the victim pays tho charges, and
again finds himself swindleh. To COM
plain before magistrate would crimin-
alto himself. SO no remains silent. Most
of the firms change their cards every
week OF so. Dailey's fayorite aliases arc
Woyan & Co., Al. Hitchcock & Co., j.
II. Leo e. Co., and Holland IL. Co. q ll
A certain member of Congress, 1t Is re-
ported, sent twcnty-liv dollars 10 Wognn
& Co. for package Of counterfeit money.
He waited long for a reply, but none ever
came. Some time after, he received %
circular from Holland & Co., which was
wordcd so honestly that he was sure there
could bc nothing wrong about the firm.
So he borrowed seyenty-iiyc dollars OF
friend. and enclosed the amount with a
note frankly detailing how Wogan & Co.
had cheated him. He urged Messrs. Hol-
land IL Co. to forward the counterfeit cur
rency by return express, MS he was terri.
bly, 'hard up" for funds. DALEY laughed
heartily of course, when he read the splen.
didly written page, and even Wnters
could not help smiling u, he lighted his
cigar with this last petition from Con-
gress. - 10 ~ r.l.f1'..i ~
Tho receipts Of each IF these swindiingl
firms average from 800 to $1,000 per
day. The express companies know that
they are the life blo6d of the system. but
they say that rs public carriers. they are
bound to forward all money packages en-
trusted 10 their care, and they are sup