The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1886-06-18
a VALUABLE FRAUD.
The Unvarnished History Of a
Bogus Watch.
The Time-Keeper That Made the Fortune
of . Denver AuctiOneer - Worth More
to Him Than a High-Priced
ChrOnOmeter.
uenver OpinIon.7

"Did you know Frank Healey?" asked
Tom Rowe of an Opinion man the other
day. "He was the smartest sport that
ever crossed the Missouri coming West.
He used to work the auction dodge in early
days, but he did it under difficulties. The
game, of course, was a bogus watch, but,
unfortunately for him, he had only one.
and he had to take more care of it than he
would have given to $500 Geneva. That
watch was sold on an average of four times
day for year."
How was that?"
"Well, one of the cappers would come
into the auction-shop with the watch. The
auction-shop was a place on Blake street
with two or three boxes of cotton socks, a
half gross Of spoiled neckties and dozen
cotton handkerchiefs. Healey's ostensible
business was to sell these, but as soon as
the capper would show up he was on deck.
"Where did we get that watch?' he'd
say.
"Then the fellow would work the last
of an ill-spent fortune racket.
''' 1t was given me by my father just be-
fore left the States,' he'd say, 'and it cost
$685.
"'Is it gold? Do you warrant it?'
"'That's what! It's good stuff
"Then the watch would go up, and after
being bid on for awhile would be knocked
down to some duffer for about fifty dollars.
The fellow would pull out his buckskin
bag, weigh out the dust, and then start.
Just on the outside he'd meet capper num-
Der two.
"'What have you got there?' he'd ask.
1.-THE sucker would show his snap.
al don't think that's good capper num-
Der two would say; but let US take it to a
jewelry store and see.' And together
they'd go and find out the watch wasn't
worth fifty cents.
'Then capper number two woIld loom.
See here he'd say; this is a swindle, but
you can play back. Take it to the auction
shop and sell it over again. There was
lot of fellows bidding on it when you left.
You can get your money back, and maybe
more So back they'd go and run through
the same business. The sucker would say
the watch was given him by his father, and
that it cost $50 in gold, and that he was
broke and wanted to put it up.
"'Do you warrant it?' Healey would
ask.
"'Yes, he'd say. So up she'd go. One
of the boys would bid dollar, AMI anoth-
er dollar and quarter, and they'd run it
up to about two dollars. Then she'd be
knocked down. If the sucker kicked they'd
tell him that he had warranted the watch
and wouldn't be allowed to scandalize it by
saying it was brass. He would generally
see the point and skip. Healey has sold
that watch five times in one day and took
his ten per cent. commission on it, but, at
the same time, it caused a good deal of
anxiety"
"How was that?"
"Well, as 1 said, it was the only one in
the Territory, and it had to be looked after.
Suppose some fool had carried it off, what
would the boys have done for another? 1t
would have taken three months to bring
one from the States, and there would have
been no business in all that time. They
never breathed easily until the watch
turned up again. 1t was worth a genuine
one a dozen times over. 1 used to watch
that game with a good deal of interest
whenever I had any leisure time on my
hands. 1 got pretty nearly as anxious
about the watch as the fellows who lived
of it, But it always managed to turn up
finally in some way"
what became of it at last?"
81 think they put it in Che cornerstone
of the first church built in Denver. They
had got a gross from the outside, and
didn't have to waste money buying the old
one back"