National Republican., 1888-03-11
THE FRAUDS At THE FAIRS.
FEMALE IMP0STORS WORKING THE
SCHEME OF SOLICITING VOTES.
Some for Fun, Others to Pick-Up
Moncy-The Operators Caught, and
Their Game Exposed Prompt Action
of the Management.


Moncy-The Operators Caught, and
Their Game Exposed Prompt Action
of the Management.
The managers of some of the fairs held
early in the winter met with q new cy-
pcrienCc, and one causing no little an
noyancc. Where So many honorable and
respectable ladies and gentlemen lent
their presence and services to promote the
cause of charity, il was hardly to he cX-
pcctcd that impostorS would pick out
such spot as field for their operations,
hut il seems that they did so, and worked
with some success. When detection fol-
lowed no one was more SUR
priscd at the deception practiccd than
those most interested and striving hardest
to make the fair Il success. II was novel
procedure to adopt, hut the bOldnesS of il
and cOOlncss with which II was snrricd
into effect disarmcd the management of
suspicion, and it was not discovered until
II had been praCticcd for several nights
| The scheme was to make the soliciting of
votes cloak to form the acquaintance of
the male visitors. not by the ladies author
lied tO engage i'm securing votes, who
were well known and members of the
best families in the city, but by
parties (interlOpcis, II might he SadD who
were visitors tO the fairs, and accepted
| the opportunity for reasons personal To
| themselves yet not at all CrCdtabc. 4
representative of the REPUBLICAN, whose
/ duty called him to one of the fairs was
| the first To detect the scheme, and in un-
ravcling it found out Just what was going
on, how the fair people were being de
/ ceivcd, the ladies imposed upon, and as
sisted to expose the frauds out of Justice
| to the management and the good rcputa-
tion of those working for So noble cause.
AT the first fair he was approached ON
one occasion by a handsome blonde who
| in most captivating manner solicited of
/ him the paltry sum of u dime To pay for a
/ vote for II diamond ring for which she
stated that she was a candidate. The re-
/ porter did not care to invest, and in as
polite manner as possible denied the re-
quest. Unlike many of the other sOliCi-
/ tors, who had similarly been 50 denied,
and went away calling the scribe stingy,
| this applicant seemed To be not the least
disturbed by the refusal, hut entered into
Il conversation. On other nights they
again met and the conversation would be
renewed. Finally one evening the scribe
ven;urcd to inquire rs to the success of
her contest for the ring, and what was his
surprise when she naivcly replied, "Oh,
| am not running fOp the ring; this book
is only Il blind. \ number of us girls all
got books, So that by that means we can
approach the gentlemen and thus get
acquainted with them. Isn't that Il cute
idea? Oh, we are just having lots of fun
that way
Somewhat doubling the truth ofthc
statement the scribe proceeded To nvcSti-
gate, and found that the young lady was
more candid than he supposed. While
this might have been true of the young
ladies aCtuatcd by Il love of Irritation, and
without dreaming of anything beyond
that point still, other instances were dis
covered where the fair was being made Il
secondary consideration, and the female
| operators personal gain was the leading
purpose in the solicitations of the
| visitors to the fair These parties might
he termed advcnturcsSCS, aS all they APP
| parcntly desired was money for their own
| benefit or to form mems aCquaintanCeship
to he useful in the future. From the de-
velopmcnt and prosecution of this scheme
the management of the fair. of course,
We're the sufferers, losing the collections
these parties secured and which was eSti-
! mated to aggregate over SO night. In
some instances the committees be-
came aware of the suspicious conduct
of parties made inquiry, and finding that
they were unauthorized to collect votes,
| took steps to have the deception diScOn-
tinucd While such petty stealing was TO
be condemned, il was almost useless to
| proceed legally against the parties, as il
would he exceedingly difficult To get the
| proof into court, and the case would be
worse in arrcsting them and failing to slls-
tain the charge which had been preferred.
] In one instance, however at Il fair held Il
| few weeks since the bOllncsS of the per
. L.,
1 tu the notice Of the committee in charge
| who took prompt action in the matter
/ She wns iah and somewhat handsome and
. wa observed Ia approach nearly every
? gentleman, solicit his vote, and, being
/ attractive In appearance, with pleasing adj
dress, she was rarely refused. Some words
. dropped In conversation caused Il gentle
man, interested in the success of the fair,
Ia inquire of u committeeman in regard TO
her and with what table she was con-
ncctcd. Ailcr watching her for some
time an informal meeting of the com
mittcc was held but none of the members
had the honor of knowing the fair one
I \ canvass was made amOngthC lady man
ayers of the fair hut they, too, knew not
| the stranger and the managers were AT Il
loss how 10 act. The solicitor still pro-
cccdcd with work, and would no doubt
have rcapcd II very rich harvest had
| perhaps inadvertently, called him
| by name. He denied having the honor of
! her acquaintance, but She insisted on it,
and claimed tu remember his face we'll
! lie suggested that perhaps she mistouk
! him for his brother, aS there was strong
resemblance between them, but she re-
! piled: "Oh, no. ! am not mistaken. You
are Mr.. --, and are employed at --
! department. Don't you remember hav-
/ ing date tO meet me at the corner of
/ Fourteenth street and New York avenue
| one night last wcCk?'
ike Il flash it came to the gentleman rs
| 10 who and what she was, and he immc-
| diatcly communicated the fact to the com
mittcc, They acted promptly and de-
| cisivcly. The fair solicitor was brought
before one of the lady managers, her book
and collections taken from her. and, de-
| spite her protcStatiOns, she was put ont of
the. hall. She had collected over 80 that
night.
RATHER POOR OPINION.