The morning call., 1892-11-16
A FOOL FISHERY.
Prompt Capture of Two
Tricky Swindiers.
AN OLD DEVICE IN NEW FORM.
An Offer to Send an indispensable
Something Through the Mails for
Fifty Cents.

Two swindlers In this city who had started
in to work the most gulible section of the
public and who had succeeded in securing a
few dollars out of their fool fishery are in
the custody of the United States authori-
ties.
Their names are II. p. Nowlin and Thomas
Simonds, ana their Office and place of abode
was on Bush street.
Slmonds furnished the CAPITAL. fifteen
dollars. for the firm and Nowlin the brains
that devised the iniquity.
Their scheme was similar to that worked
by the man who advertised that for fifty
cents he would inform his patrons how to
write without a pen. The victim upon
forwarding his fifty cents received in return
slip of PAPER upon which was printed the
words, Use pencil" Several well-kno wn
cierGymen were taken in by that trick.
Nowlin u SimOnds had caused to be
printed on large number of half sheets of
legal cap paper at the upper left hand cor
nef TINS superscriptiOn "Nowin &
- searcher Of records, z. o. box
2IlS, San Francisco"
The following typewriter letter was
added:
SAN Francisco. Nov. Z 1892
,, Ded. or: we nave III our possession some
is lndlsne nsabe, we feel we should return il TO
you. III You Will send us a postal note tor fifty
cents 10 bay transportation charges We VIII for
"dId IL 10 you. respectfully,
NowLIN s. >IJoNDs.
Inc unwaTy who tell into this trap re-
eelved small slip of paper on which was
pasted the printed word ~ ou."
among those who received one of these
House, 1uba County. He exhibited it TO
the Postmaster, who forwarded 1t to Chief
Postotfice Inspector Seyb in this city.
N0wlln attended to the business of calling
al the PoStoffice for the letters and cashng
The postal notes. A decoy letter was mailed
to the firm. and Nowin was Swallowed from
the POstOffice to his domicle.
Before breakfast Yesterday Inspector IT.
win called at the hotel and inquired for
Simonds. The bellboy awakened him and
told him gentleman desiren to see him at
the office. Dressing hurriedly be came
down and was arrested. SImonds told the
inspector how the scheme had been WORKED
ana that Nowlin had induced him to join in
II. representing how easy it was for him to
clear SIS or 500 a month with very little
labor. Simonds thereupon agreed to invest
S15 to rent typewriter and pay for station
cry and printing.
When NOwlin came down to the office he
also was arrested, and both men were taken
before COmmi Missioner Sawyer where their
bail was fixed at $1,000 each.
From the fact that neither of the men had
sufhclent money with which to pay for their
breakfast, 1t Is surmiSed that they had not
been long enough engaged in their peculiar
operations to capture many victims. They
began business on the I'd inst, and most of
their letters had been mailed to Yuba
County. For names of possible victims they
had Tes0rted to State directory. As far
as ascertainpd they had secured only ST 90
from credulous correspondents
Simonds took his arrest with glacial COM
pOsure. He asserted that he had done moth
Ing wrong aud asserted that he was sending
out the letters to win bet of So that he
would receive not less than twenty re-
Plies accompanied by the postal note for 90
cents Tor every 100 letters he sent out