News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1892-06-16
A pEsplcABLE KIND OF swlNDLINe.
The Free Crayon Portrait swindle and
Its Thousands of Victims.

The Free CrayOn Portrait Swindle ana
Its Thousands of Victims.
Really am of the opinion that Of all
the numerous devices for swindling con-
iding people that have been exposed
from time to time that which promises
a life size crayon portrait for nothing on
the receipt of photograph is the most
despicable- A few days ago received
a note from lady of Washington ask
ing me to go to the "Crayon Portrait
House" ip certain building in this city,
ind get photograph that had been sent
that concern in response to its advertise
ment in various magazines and period
icals.
A copy of the advertisement was for
warded. knew at glance that this
was another of the free-crayon-hfty-
cent-fve-doll schemes. several
of which have been broken up in Brook
lyn, Chicago and New York. but |
thought | might recover the photo
graph. The latter was the only portrait
of dead son, and as such was beyond
price The seductive advertisement
promises to return the picture, but this
lady had written repeatedly, inclosing
stamps for its return, and got no reply.
| afterward found that was only part
Of the game.
Under the plea of getting a crayon !
procured information enough from the
crayon portrait concern to justify "A call
upon Captain McLaug hlin, of the Ten
derloin precinct. He told me that he
had received two complaints from peo-
pie who had claimed TO have been
swindled by this company before he had
been in charge of the precinct three
days.
"Of course they are crooked" said he,
"but we can do nothing without a com
plant These people work the out-of-
town racket-they don't swindle any
body here. where their dupes can APP
pear against them at any time. have
written these persons who complain
that if they will come TO this city and
prosecute I'll raid that place in FIVE
minutes. We can't do anything with
out complaint and a complainant"
When | went back three days later
the crayon portrait house was packing
up. The scowling young woman in
charge permitted me to search among
several thousand photographs for the
picture of the lady's dead son while she
told me more contradictory stories of
the free crayon business than | could re-
member in a week. The rough shelves
were crowded with these pictures packed
on end in boxes. There were thousands
of them Most of them were of loved
ones who had departed this life. The
tender inscriptions. the elaborate in
structions about care and return-the
aged parent. the short lived infant,
brother, sister. husband. wife. faces
photographed after death, tintypes. old
cherished ambrotypes in plush velvet
cases, forgotten and covered with dust.
If the owners had written as often and
inclosed as many stamps as this one in.
quirer whom happen to know has done,
what a golden harvest these dusty por-
traits have yielded
Many of the pictures were in their
mailing covers, and these bore the post
marks of every city in the Union. They
had just been torn open and the money
and stamps extracted, and, if no order
for a free picture in five dollar frame
had been given. were chucked away in
the dust, as many Of the originals have
doubtless been years ago. While | was
there the letter carrier delivered mail
containing money and stamps, and the
scowling woman scowled more because
the amount was not larger. Verify the
crop of fools is perennial, and there is a
sucker born every hour.-New York
Herald.