The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1891-12-28

Silks, laces and hats are special fea-
lures of these depredations. They
dress plainly, wear missionary smile.
and are the last persons you would sus-
pect of hooking" Shoplifters have
been arrested with one thousand dol
lars worth of goods on their persons.
After successful career they become
spotted, and losing heart, drift to the
slums as Migrants.
I tip my hat to the confidence man,
for he is the sunbeam of criminal life,
good natured, and with entertaining
CAB and the ever bland Pickwiclzian
smile, he greets you with southern hos
pitality and Yankee keenness. His
modus operandi to get the greenhorn's
coin is familiar to us all, and as there
is fool to every wise man, the conf
dence man will always be with us-a
perennial flower in the garden of life.
The counterfeiting Of national money
has changed during the past decade.
To-day no attempt of any consequence
is made to make spurious money from
metal, as it is almost impossible to
''shove the queer" Counterfeiters are
generally master plate printers, with
full knowledge of chemistry. They go
in heavy for So, SIS, and $40 bills, of ma
tional bank issues. The willy imitators
have also weakness to reproduce rail-
road and corporation bonds, and many
enterprises are wrecked by this false
issue of commercial paper.
Nestled in dark corner behind this
mash OF life flourishes nefarious bust
ness strange to the public at large.
The slave pit of Africa has it's horrors,
the sale of the American negro previous
to 1860 is a part of history, but to-day
fair justice bushes with blindfold eyes
at the modern traffic in human life.
The life Spectator mingles among us
with philanthropic demeanor. He scans
his prospective victim as the public auc-
tioneer appraises land Let the symp-
toms of slow, hidden and fatal dis
ease appear and he makes insinuating
advances to secure a policy on the
doomed ones life, if within ''measur-
able distance" of the grave. The artist
pictures the selling of life by one of
the poor unfortunates, who, with one
foot in the grave, he carries over thirty
policies in as many companies, with a
total of $4,000. He is now living on an
income of $50 month and free bar,
which assists him to better world.
And now come to the 'fence" the
heart through which pulsates every
criminal act, the magnet to draw the
thief and his stolen pef where he can
exchange it for money. Here we find
Pagan with his penurious smile and
tumble mien, passing valuations from
paper of pins to satchel full of bonds.
AS the middleman he browbeats the ig-
norant thief, deceives the purchaser
and becomes arrogantly rich.
But the successful veteran criminals
after profitable haul, travel abroad.
their favorite rendezvous being France
and Italy, where. under blue skies and
near flowing Rhine wine, the savings
of toiling workmen and the hoardings
Of penurious citizens are scattered to
the winds of extravaganza, and remin-
iscences of life after dark are spun
mid joyous songs of revelry.
Of all crimes that of the resurrection
list is the worst. The artist pictures
midnight scene in Gods acre where
fond kin and friends are not allowed to
rest in that vale of everlasting peace.
1t seems hard that after the bitter
struggle of life where one loses
wealth, honor and health in the mad
ruse of the age, which is a ''fitful
dream" his clay is denied the sanctity
of the grave. GRANT PARISH.