Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-11-21
Bad Book Agents.

Ar indignant old gentleman. with
sharp eyes and a keen KNOWLEDGE Of
III. world, was conversing with > - -
,'nrter yesterday. He had somethin.
an his mind which he believed wss
wrong, and he showed it in his mas ans
rer. Finally he said: There are lots
Of tricks in all trades but ours. and
,bey float around big cites in numnr'
ols shapes. l think l have found a
new one, however, that the nnhlic
don't know about, and Ill let Won in
On it. Of course all tricks of sharnor,
who want to make money are simniv
schemes or devices by which MONEY !,
oblaincd under false pretense; but tbis
savors of blackmail to a certain de-.
cree. OF course it is worked by know.
;nr the character and motives in life of
the victims who are to be tleeced. andtha
nart.es in it read the characters of tho,r
.brd.' Every CON man, every bunko.
stecrer who goes out on the road has a
knowledge of men and can see at a
glance if they will bite at a chance to
make money easy, or, what is more i'm.
p%ortant still. it they will kick when
they find their money gone. If thew
don t they Don get where the doGs
won't bite them and where they can do
the state service by wearing their hair
short and wearing zebra clothes. In
the new scheme, however, much mora
refinement is used, and the part;es
who number four or five shoyy
better taste and stand no show
Of ever going, to the pen
They wear good clothes and only
minele vita the rich, refined and edu-
Gated. 10 come down to hard facts.
they arc nothing more, or less than
book agents with n good subscription
book and perfectly legal subsc7rbt1on
blanks or promises to pay. In this
scheme one or more young ladies are
ccquircd, and they work singly, solicit
Ing orders for the books. The other
parties do the advance agent work. and
are never seen with a book. These
look around. They examine the peo-
pie who are w%ell-to-oo, and make out a
list of those who can afford to buy a
book or series of works. When thew
have got the list fixed up they find ont
the parties characters. Ii a man is
charitable or religious. or egotistical ON
IBIS knowledge. or inclined to be a bit
last, or liable to weaken to the tender
%gIanccs o. the bright eyes. they know it
and these are all added to the
Then the young ladies show up in the
Town with their books and the parties
get acquainted. When evening comes
There is a night school, and the Young
n,IIns a va TvIIInI a., %~ ~.
ders. They have the list of men on
whom they are 10 call the next day.
and the parties who have looked
up the probable subscriber relates
Jail of the characteristics. Then the
women arc drilled as to how to m
proach men and how to tiirt, and are
instructed to lead the men on, using
any scheme until the order is obtained.
and then 10 quit them unless there is a
chance that the deluded victim of
his OWL weakness may have and
will give up mols money. Some
times the subscribers discover that The
:9irl, who is working to support a sick
mother, or who is homeless. or who
is inclined to f1irt, or be loose. or
to be religious, is q fraud. Then
lllCN MIN VIZ VttIU W SCG lllClC
orders back. bat the signature to
the blank compels them to take the
book or else have the story told of
the weakness which indu ed the sub
scription. No man wants the world
to know ANYTHING about his being
taken in, and so he swallows his dose
OF medicine, and pays his 50, $40, Sz5
! OF so, and swears that he will never
be caught again. This scheme has
been worked in many cities in the
United States and Canada. Come
to think of it, l don't know that there
is anything crooked in it, or that it is
blackmail,, and it may be only a part
Of q procession, which q few of the
tricky adopt. 1t would not be righS
to Judge all lady agents as being par
ties to such doings. but if you give it
TO EN-, do it good" The mind was
relieved and the gentleman, satisfied,
went on his way, and the reporter
wondered if the next class of humanity
would be initiating the school 1pf Fa-
gin to their own MicaJs
inter- Oceun.