The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1883-02-08
The Chicago swindlers.


The information through the daily pa
pers on Thursday morning OF last week
of the collapse of the Chicago swindling
firms of Fleming & Merriam, R. E. Ken
dali & Co., Chas. j. Henri & Co., and
Cudworth & Co., struck the town of Ea-
ton likeing to a Kansas cyclone or a Da-
kota blizzard. For the past six months
daily installments of hundreds of dollars
from this place have been poured into
the Golfers OF these gambling mutual
investment club" firms by business men,
mechanics, laborers, sinners, and even
protested Christian members of our lead
ing churches, all OF which have gone
glimmering "where the woodbine twin
eth," and the "whangdoodles mourn for
their lost" More than a month ago we
cautioned our readers against risking
anything in these "Peter Funk con-
Germs, and plainly told them they were
swindles, and persons investing in them
were "lambs'' that sooner or later would
be sheared of their dollars. Some few
needed our advice, while hundreds rush
ed wildly in after the stroot of evil' aris-
ing from big profits on paper. and de-
posted with Agents in Eaton $40, $40,
$50, $40, $50 and as high as 500, 5000
and even 5000 and 500 as investments,
only to be swallowed up and disappear
into the pockets OF the rascally men en-
gagged in these disreputable schemes. We
sympathise with many Of our friends
who have been caught up by the gauzy
circulars and paper promises of "big
profits" issued by these scoundrels and
scattered among us thick as falling leaves
in October. We hope the lesson to all,
although a severe n to many who in
vested their entire cash capital, will act
as a warning to others in the future, and
learn them not to trust their hard earn
ings away from home and with entire
strangers. The amount skinned out of
Eaton by these rascals is estimated from
s 5000 to $4,000. 1t is probably nearer
the latter than the former.
The manner in which these firms OPP
Grated and the reputation of the men that
composed them, is given by the Post Of
fee Inspector at Chicago. He says they
pretended to conduct what they termed
"a mutual cooperative fund.-" composed
of the money of '~'suckers" and "green-
horns who buy shares at $40 per share,
and take the chances that the managers
use the aggregate funds subscribed by
the share holders in specializing in grain,
stocks, &c. The managers every few
days or weeks made reports, showing
that they lost or made so much money,
and if the latter would return to share
holders a pretended profit of so much
per cent. The profits and losses exhibit
ed were bogus and fictitious and the
money returned to the share holders was
simply what the sweet will of these ras-
Gals thought would "bait" the ''green-
horns" to invest more largely. This mo-
dus operandi was successful for they gen.
orally renewed; thus starting with SIC
or $40, by receiving a ~hattering return,
miscalled profits, they were induced tc
invest 800, 5000 and in many cases as
high as $1,000 to 1880! In the month
of January alone the receipts of these
firms were nearly $4,000! That these
men were scoundrels, says the Inspector
and ought to be in the p~enitentiary may
be judged by the antecedents of some o.
them. John Fleming, of Fleming & Mer
rian, was a partner in Detroit of McKin
ney. Mckinney is now serving a tern
in the Michigan State Prison for "fenc
ing" stolen goods. Fleming himself wal
arrested in Detroit for fraud, and expos
ed by the Michigan Farmer. The noto
rious Benjamin S. Buckwalter, of New
York, now a fugitive from justice, is I'm
derstood to have been a moving spirit il
the o~rigination of these swindles in Chi
cago. Frank S. Waters and Dan. Lor
ing, of Chicago, have some connection
either open or secret, with Fleming 4
Merriam and R. E. Kendall & Co. Wat
ers is a brother-in-law of Randall. Wat
ers and Loring were in the "Firesid
Friend" lottery swindle and newspape
fraud a few years ago, and both have ru
as closely to the limits of criminal inter
ference as they dared, and are known a
suspicious and crooked men in mino
transactions heretofore.