Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1885-06-05

his life and by proper watchfulness
escape harm.
The methods of genteel swirdling
are Commensurate in number with the
needs ard unscrueulousRess of the
people The money>changer with
whom { have lodged what exchange
transactions / have had to effect
showed me a ring the other day set
with five cheap STOKES in imitation of
diamands, and said:
'aThis cost me 800. and isn't worth
81. A man kept coming here day af
ter day to get money changed until
recognized him as customer. Finally
one day he came In distress, asking
for loan of 800 on diamond ring
worth $40O. could see at once that
the ring was worth what he claimed,
but told him I had no license for that
sort of business and referred him to
the pawnbrokers.
BUT THE PAwNBRoKERS
will change the Stones he said. Still
l refused. He came several times at
ter that, with REPETITION of his re-
quest couched ia words of most ear
nest appeal. At last he came one
morning when the effice was very
full, and | yielded to his Importantly
in order to get rid of him. OF course
he substituted this duplicate ring set
with glass, and IN my haste l did not
notice the cAange till too late"
I'D you know of any other conf
dence games that are being practiced
Lowe
"Only last week I had friend vic.
timized out of 50, 500. A man came
around with scme gold centenes for
sale, which, he confessed, were a case
of clever counterfeiting, and might
be had at half price. AS an earnest of
what might be expected he sold him
three samples (the samples were gen
uine), telling him to try them at any
bank. This the prospective purchaser
did, and as they were of course
promptly accepted he agreed to &C
company the stranger to a village
across the bay and purchase S., 900
worth. So he took the 50, 500 with
him, and they crossed the bay on
ferryboat.
! The swindler counted him out
s., 600 worth of genuine csntenes, and
put them IN carpet bag for the pur-
chaser. Then said:
I'M GOING BACK TO THE CITY,
and you might just leave your 81, 500
in the sane bag till we get across,
when I will claim it.
$50 they took the return ferry, the
bag being slowed under the seat, OF
course there were confederates about,
who substituted another bag while
the two were busy conversing. Just
before the boat reached the other side
the swindler jumped up with the ex--
clamation:
my God, the police are on our
tracks" and selling the substitute bag
cast it overheard. OF course the po~
lice were confederates, and when the
purchaser Indignantly blamed him
for his action. the latter made reply:
Haven't | lost as much as you2
We are both in for it, but better than
twenty years in the carcel. We have
no evidence of our guilt with us now,
and let us hurry ashore with the
crowd
There arr plenty of such methods of
victimizing the green in everyday
use here. / have been told of one
which impresses nae as gauzy on its
face, bat / am told that it has been
worked with success on SO many oc-
caslons that it is almost worn out. A
man writes letter to some person in
leading American city whom he
does not know, dating it Royal Hav-
ana Jail" This letter is Usually sent
to number of persons at once, in or
der that
ONE FISH NAY BITE
if the rest don't. Perhaps this letter
reads as follows:
Dear Sir: l write you from this
Jail in deep distress, having secured
your address as that of a reputable
citizen of --! Twas cashier of the
- Bank at Matanzas. l found my
accounts short, and in order to help
matters went into speculations which
proved disastrous. Thinking that |
might as well suffer for an old sheep
as a lamb, I then took of the bank
money $3.50, 600 in gold and over $3.50, =
600 in paper, and escaped to the States.
For safety burlad this money in a
suburb of your city, and was then al
most Immediately apprehended and
brought here. If you will agree to
procure this treasure when l send you
the charts giving Its location, l will
present you with one-third of it for
your trouble. The remaining two
thirds will more than fix me all right
with the judge in this country. Please
let me hear from you in confidence
Very truly yours,
Some man, eager to make 500, 900
easily. responds with promises that
are satisfactory. Then comes letter
from the Havana Jail, setting forth
that the prisoners trunks containing
the charts have been seized by the
government; but giving a general
description of the site Furnished by a
confederate in the American city,,
though one that is obviously too in>
definite.
THE REPUTABLE CITIZEN
writes saying that the description was
good in general, but not definite
enough. The supposed prisoner
answers back that he can not do bet
ter as his trunks are held for 50, 000-
sum which he can not produce
Aud thanking the unknown for his
trouble, he bids him good-by. But
the unknown writes back that 50, 900
shant prove an obstacle. and that he
will send a man over to Havana with
that sum- The man is sent, and OBJ
tains the trunks with accurate detail>
ed maps of the ground. But it needs
not to be said that the digging is time
and labor thrown away.
l made trip through the carcel or
Havana Penitentiary the other day.
Cuba has not attained the dignity
yet of a state penitentiary indepen-
dent of the jail. The carcel in ques-
ton is under the same roof as the jail
here, and merely separated in part for
convenience's sake. There were 7o7
inmates, and was informed that as
many more were out as chain gangs
at work in different parts of the island,
principally on sugar plantations The
majCrity of those in the carcel were
engaged in manual service, notably
in cigar making. The negroes and
Chinese were most numerous, tho1gh
there was a liberal sprinkling of Gu
bans and Spanlards.
A large minority of the prisoners