The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-09-08
raE RING FAK1Rs GAME.
People Who Pay SIS and SO for Kings
Worth 10 Cents.


Worth 10 Cents.
snares ALWAYS await the unsuspecting
in great and wicked city lie savannah
The negro fskirs ore now prac'lc'ng upon
the old ring game, preparatory to getting
IN thair work this fall. The ring game is
ono of cha most successful OF the many
Sro,,J,Isnt schemes for deceiylng the I'M
wary. as it plays upon the rapaciF Oh 1ne
dupes ,bo+ tbis ring ia
- ., sstad a countryman Of prominent
ieweler on Broughton streeI yesterday
"a bout 81 50 q dozsn" was the reply.
uTVhv lust paid a negro IS for t..
HWei YOU are out just thai much, less
about IS cents" replied the Jeweler.
The man explained that he met negro
IN the wharyes who said he had found the
| ring and wanted TO dispose of it. He said
| the pawnbroker would give him more than
! IS for It. but be didn't like to go around
there. Thinking he had good thing the
gentleman from up the river handed out
''fyen and then hurried around TO the 1eW-
eler to see whnt his prize was worth
That's the third or fourth case OF the
kind we have had recently, sold the Jeweler
to a MORNING NEWS reporter who dropped
In to see what was the matter.
ter and il has begun again. We bad about
forty inquiries of The kind last year. In
one instance the purchaser paid SIS for a
ring worth about Is cents. Another paid
$40 for the same kind of ring.
Five dollars is what they usually
strike the victim for, though, and
IL be is very doubtful they will drop down
as low as 81 80. The rings used are OF the
very commonest kind. There is a thin gold
wash on it and it usually has big stone
setting. The setting is brilliant backed
IN as in the gypsy rings, so-called, ald SO
arranged that you can't detect its character
by examining it from the inside. 1t Is
stamped '1Sk.' This makes the buyer
think he is getting an Is karat
ring with fine stone setting There
is regular business in the swindle, and the
rings are made to closely initiate the fash
ionable rings Of the day. There is rolled
gold ring with hard gold shell, with a
brilliant setting, that we sell for 80 or 50.
which these rings closely resemble. The
fake rings are so cheaply made, though,
that don't see how anybody can be de-
ceived by thsm.' Tho game is worked in
a very shrewd manner. The negro, usually
a Young fellow, will stand upon q street
corner or in front Of hotel, and eye the
ring in his hand as If he were
puzzling over it. As soon as he attracts
somebody's attention he will hold out the
ring and say;
BOSS, can you tell me what this ring is
worthf'
Some colloquy ensues and on being asked
where be got the ring, the negro will say
he found it in front OF the Dc Soto or the
theater or some other public place
where it seems likely that such a thing
might occur. he sizes up his victim and
reckons that the ring is worth S25 or $50 or
more. He knows a man who will give him
SIS, but if the victim wants it he will let him
have it for $40 The conclusion is usually
jumped at that somebody's fine ring is being
got for tr1fe and the $40 is paid over. The
buyers curiosity soon gets the better Of him,
however, and he investigates the value of
his purchase, with the result already de-
scribed.
1t Is seldom that one OF these swindler5 is
caught. They move off to another neigh
borhood as soon as they dispose of ring.
They do thriving business 10 selling the
rings 70 the country negroes for 81 so TO IS,
and many of the purchasers never discover
that they have been swindled