Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1894-03-01
GREEN GOODS VICTIMS.
They Deserve no Sympathy, for They
are Criminals at Heart.

Chief Dr1lmmond of the treasury
department. secret service is an eX-
cellent officer and his latest annual re
port records evidence of pleasing actiT-
ity, says the Washington Star, but the
document betrays a weakness with
which there will be little, if any, pub
lie sympathy. Pathetically the Chief
calls attention to his inability to move
against those men whose wits are eX.
ercised in green goods" swindling
The officially referred to as sWindlers,
villains, raScalS, rOgues, robbers, ruin
workers, and human yultureS, although
they do nothing worse than deceive
men and women who are quite as Grim
inal in their intent as are the tempterS
The victims over whose losses 50 many
tears are shed plan to purchase what
they believe is counterfeit money,
which, of course, they expect to cir
cuIate with tremendous profit to them
selves and corresponding loss to limo
cent felloW-beings; at the outset OF
their endeay0r to defraud they are
themselves robbed of the capital they
so foolishly invested and because other
thieves are smarter than they the 20
lice are frequently called upon to inter-
fere. One amateur rascal whose home
was in Juniata, Neb., writes to the
secret service.
Yours received and I will leave OFF
all prellminaries and tell you all
straight and honestly, inclosed you
will find a copy of a letter I received
and so I answered it, done just as the
instructions say and I went down to
New York City and met the agent and
he took me to the head man and
there 1 seen the goods as they call
it and l picked out the amount
I wanted to buy, which was $4,000,
for which 1 paid $1,000 in New York
drafts and the agent went to the eX-
press Office and there I sent Or intend
ed to send it to my address, but the
scoundrels changed boxes on me and
when I got home and received the box
it had nothing in but blank paper. -
Another of these miscailed "unfortu-
mates" sent to the Treasury Depart
ment from Easton, n. H, the fol-
lowing appeal:
IL have been swindled out of 5
hundred and 70 dollars by those Green
goods men of New York and l have
been there twice and seen them in
Broadeday light and I should know
them again as I HASN'T sufficient money
now to look them up with I take this
course hoping you will try assist ME
to base them taken and punished to the
full Extent of the Law, if you could
see my papers and hear what base
been through then you could Judge
what best to do [ am StrtSing and Hop
ing in him who is greater them all
that 1 may hear from you soon and
that we may bring them to Justice.
yours in Haste
Plain people, who have common
everyday ideas about honesty, will not
share in the indignation expressed by
the somewhat illiterate gentleman
from New Hampshire, who, having
failed in his effort to be a successful
rascal, prayS to the Supreme Being
that confusion and great discontinue
may fall upon his constituencies asso-
GATES. The man who starts out to
accumulate wealth by passing counter
felt money is every whit as bad as
the smooth operator who rObS the IN
sophisticated criminal. SO long as the
green goods men confine themselves
exclusively to the business Of steal
ing from more cowardly thieves the
honest man has little reason for con,
Germ.