Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1881-02-10
Swans Swindle.
HOW rur roon Arl MADE POORER.

libN III ltt'A AtE AApE fhlE.E
The particulars Of the suindlc. alleged 10
have been pcrpe,ra,ed By Representative
Swan, Of Mno;, have been given fully IN
the daily paper. Of the State. and from
these We oo,lcc; the following
L. appear, that for some three weeks n.,t
special ns,cd States detective B.gelpw. Of
Augusta. has been seeking 10 unrarth
mysterious bogus concern that has been op-
Grating at Mechanic Fails From certain
circumstances the case Ma difficult 70 handle.
but the Interrogation Of the officers resulted
III the arrest on TUESDAY Of las, week OF
Charles York Of Mechanic Falls and one
Da,., Of Empire Station on the charge or
completely IN a >wIndling scheme. These
men have 5eea in the employ Of Swan
Nj Swan came home from Augusta Sat
ur4ay n gh; and then learned iha, his oper-
atoms we're being watched By a special
agent Of the Pos,otfcc department. lie
Immediately took the alarm and caused
thousands Of envelopes and specimens OF
agricultural implements to be DESTROYED
He then hired a team SUNDAY night and
drove TO Lewiston, where he took the first
train West early Monday morning. He
went 10 the transfer station, not going into
Portland, and was last seen al Exeter, y
H.
The officers are on his track and have no.
tilted the police in all the cities where he
would be likely 10 seek refuge. When ar
rested he will be brought before the United
States Marshal at Portland His crime
comes under sec. 54s Of the r. s. of the
United States, where il is clearly defined.
the penalty being a fine of not more than
one thousand dollars and imprisonment not
exceeding eighteen months.
The following is the manner in which the
,windler operated He would send to town
clerks all over New England circulars ask
ing them TO forward him the names Of IS
ladies and IS farmers, whom he could en-
ploy agents for useful agricultural imple-
ments that the Eastern Manufacturing
, Company was about 70 manufacture. In
return the swindler volunteered to send to
the town clerks one cent for each name sent
him. For 20 names sent the Kicker Rake
Company" he would pay 80 cents
The various town clerks improved the OPP
| portunity to do the favor and at the same time
/ to put few cents in their own pockets as per-
| quisites, and thousands Of names came pour
| ing into the office at Mechanic Falls. To
provide for this the swindler had printed
| circulars sent him from Portland by the box
| full, which were Immediately taken in hand
| by parties in his interest and mailed to ev-
cry person whose name had been obtained
1 Twelve thousand circulars we're sent from
I the Eastern Manufacturing Company" one
/ thousand from the Mechanic Falls Jewelr,
/ Company" and two thousand from the "Po-
land Manufacturing Company and "Ricker
, Rake Company"
The s~inditng Circular.
| The following is one of the circulars sent
/ out:
| EASTERN MANUFACTURING COMPANY.
The Excelsior THE AMERICAN
CORN SHELLER Emery Moving Machine
Simple, Effective, KNIFE sHARPESRR
Price - 80 Price IS 90
/ MECHANIC FALLS, Me-, Dec. 81, 1850.
! DEAR sIR:-You have been recommended
/ a u suitable person TO introduce our ExcelsiOr
/ Corn Shelter and american MoUiag Nd
/ chine KNIFE Shdrpeaer, to the Farmers in
/ your vicinity Retail price OF Shelter, $3.50 /:
| shsrpener, $500.
If you viii show the Shelter and sharpener
4 TO your friends and neiRhbors, We will send
! you shelter and Sharpener, aod GIVE them
! TO you FREE. Ne should expect you 10 sell 10
/ your nsighbors; If they wished to buy, at the
/ retail price, and We viii supply you with what
| you might sell for $500 for shelter. and 81 50
for knife sharpener. We do not ask YOU to
/ spend your time showing the articles, unless
! you so choose only when not busy with your
business. We make this offer TO Introduce
these articles into each to,cp in the U. 8. at
/ once.
| We put the Shelter and sharpener against
| your time; II you do not sell. all you get is a
| shelter and Sharpener for your time; and we
/ lose both ; il you make some sales, you make
for yourself, and We make 3 good sale Of our
goods,