, 1879-07-20

!t@ua o0 with l1e following unique nc&ulnB:
"On1oa OF James Fitzgerald, manufacturer Of
round and square matches, warranted to stand
any climate" This last assertion is believed to
baye been strictly true, for all the matches
that James Fitzgerald ever made would un-
doubtedly stand the furnace fires Of the lower
regions as easily - the frozen realms Of the
North Pole as for the typewriter. it fsured
In all the correspondence, and for the obvious
reason that two specimens Of handwriting would
excite remark.
But the broker and the capitalist
HELD ANOTHER TRICK IN THEIR HANDS
and it was trick that took the pile, In ac-
cordance with the reqisitfou, the stamps were
sent to Keuosha, to be delivered to FITZGERALD.
sut that worthy, before the first batch of STAN ps
had reached that city, had cleared for Caaada.
Nothing was easier tban for Baxter to send an
order, on one Of the sheets Fitzgerald had
country, to the express agent at Kenosha re-
dressed to James Fitzgerald, Keno
sha, to same address in Chicago"
henosh2, OF course, was 4 poor market for
stamps, and It vas necessary, above all things,
TO have them tn1llv In hand here. Il wouldn't
DO, OF course, to order them sent here IN the
rcouisttion, the Department laboring under the
belief that the factory was at krnosha- To have
= dummy at kenosha to receipt for them would
leave too manv traces. It was easer to pretend
that Fitzgerald had given up kenosha as .
match-manufacturing city and bad come to Chi
cago, for bT SO doing one such order on the ex-
press agent Is that just specified covered alt the
lots OF Stamps received. The resi- 1t Was that
the stamps came here, were claimed At the e.
press office BY dummy Fitzgerald, probably
identified by Baxter,-I, tndeco,. Baxter didn't
obtain them himself, as in the Aver case, e,--and
finally brought up in Baxter's office, from
which, as centre, they we're easily disposed Ut
At tleir face value. His only e1pense had been
the tritliug outlay necessary in getting up. the
! bond. express charges, and few other incl-
denta1s, and outside OF this it was all clear gain
on 1850 worth Of match stamps As for the
sureties, poor devils, what should he care for
tli-m or bow they cane out of the scrape7
In this case, and not as in the Aver case,
THE BOND IS PROBABLY GOOD ONE.
Smith, Phillips, and Wustum are believed to
have enough property, all told, to make the
Government solid, or nearly SO. Oh its
match stamps, and Smith, Phillips, anti
Wustum. naturally enough, are as mad
been so completely taken in aud douc for. As
for Baxter aud Fitzgerald, they are out Of the
District Courts jurisdiction. and, the otfense
with which they are CHARGED would hardly
come within the provisions Of the extradition
treaty with Cauada. there is little or no likeli
hood Of ever getting them back By process o1
law. AS for ''Smoky JONES'" he may be teth'
cred and brought buck to answer for his com
plicity In the two cases with which be has beer
connected.
THERE IS ONE VERY REMARKABLE THING
about these match-bonds,-the fact that theg
were all worked through in tile period ol
time covered By about two months
The sum total Of match stamps pro
cured in the four cases which have
come to light foots up $50, ,000, of which the Gov
ernment mag recover something In the Wheeler
case, where The amount was about 81, 000, anu
possibly all in this last and slickcst scheme O.
the lot. As the approval OF the bond is alto
Eether outside OF the Collectors Office, and Ut
| the stamps do not pass through that Depart
ment, but come direct from Washington aud art
| delivered to the alleged manufacturer st tht
express Office, the scheme is practically depend
ent for success upon the carelessucss Of the Dis
trict Attorneys Office or the Judge Of the Dis
| trict Court on the swindler's ability to hood
| wink them. Just how Judge Drummond, Whe
| is the Circuit Judge, came to hare any ]urlsdlc
ton over this bond is Que OF the ret unexplained
features in THIS last case, for, according to th'
| rules Of the Department, no one bat the Dis
trict Attorney or the Judge OF the District Cour
can approve such bond.
| In vicw Of the wide field for fraud offered b!
] this practice Of giving credit for match stamp
| on the decidedly doubtful security furnished b,
| the average match bond, it is matter OF son,'
| wonder that Congress has not broken up Ih'
| game by repeating the law, and making th
| match fellows paw cash for what they get
| After what has happened out this WAY
| late-and there may be more rottennes
ret to be discovered, in view Of the fact that tn
Collectors Office hasn't the least knowledge O
! to how many OF these bonds are yet in torce,-l
! would seem to be au exceedingly pertlnen
suggestion that about the first thing Congres
| should Go at the uc11 session would be to rcpea
| the law, aud destroy what is at best al oppor
| tuntty for, and an Invitation to. fraud.