Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1891-01-25

lists, 900 iiVeS Tor so mucn; J,UOO tens
for a little more and he promised to
forward the goods by express imme-
diately. He got a barrel OF orders and
to every man he sent little Photographic
reproductions of currency. They were
not counterfeitS for nobody could be de-
ceived by them. He was finally arrest
ed. but he claimed he wasn't doing any
thing wrong. He was furnishing the
goods which he had promised. He called
my attention to the fact that these lit
tie reproductions were interesting curl
oSitieS which any man might like to
have. asked him what he thought
ANYBODY could want with 5000 curioSi-
ties of that kind, but he only shook his
head gravcly and remarked that there
was no accounting for tastes.
Now here was the evolution OF the
first green-goodS game as it developed
in the brain of Tunbrdge. The next
step was almost forced upon him. Orders
from customers were so exceedingly
numerous that it became impossible
for him TO supply the demand. His
presses wouldn't do the work. One day
he found himself without single fac
smile, and with barrels of orders and
bushels of money. In despair he sent
packages of sawduSt to his customers.
Whether he wanted them to regard
that too as a valuable curiosity | do not
know. The point is that he had worked
the first SawduSt game. OF course the
dupes made no protest, and Tunbridge
made IA fortune
| must supplement Mr.. Purdy's ac-
count of Tanbridge by saying that
financially he has prospered, but that
morally he has gone steadily downward
until now he is Wall street broker.
Nothing could be done with Tun-
bride, y" continued Mr.. Pnrdy. I'VE had
no law then concerning the use of the
mails for such purposes. He was dis
charged. But the green-goodS and saw
dust secrets were out: and other men
went into the business. An act OF Con-
greSS was then passed making ii unlaw-
full to send circulars advertising the
green-goodS business through the mails.
The act has been amended as the meth
DDS of the green-goOdS men have i'm
proved, but they have generally man
aged to keep just little ahead of il.
The act. however, is curiosity of En-
glish. There is no way TO describe
these practices except in the language
used by the men who engage in them
and by the police, so all kinds of slang
appropriate to the subject got ncorpor-
ated into the august statutes of the
United States, and thus gained official
recognition.
The next step in evolution was to
bnnco. Men were enticed to the city,
and all sorts of tricks were gotten up
to relieve them Of their money. The
most acute crooks in the country ex-
hauSted their ingenuity in getting up
circulars which should evade the law.
One of their tricks was to have slips
printed like newspaper clippings. On
these slips would be stories of men ar
rested and carried to the Tombs with
their pockets full of money, which they
had bought. Then the story goes on to
say that Government agents were sum-
moned and that they pronounced the
money to be as good as the product of
the United States presses.
In this stage of the game appeared
one Elias, a clever operator, who kept
what purported to be a dollar store on
Broadway. He was an English Jew,
tall and impressive We raided him one
day and found a force of SIXTY girls in
his store engaged in doing up circulars.
Ii was clear green-goOds game, but we
couldn't do anything with him. A
curious incident occurred in connection
with the affair. OF course, the one
thing which green-goodS man, dealer
in alleged counterfeit money, never al