Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1894-02-06
The GREEN GOODS GAME.
~ oLp riur swlSpLr AMI now IT
WORKS.


WORKS.
The exhibition of genuine green
goods or confidence circular by man oi
some prominence In Washington, ac-
nompaniei by the statement that he had
received II through the malls, led rep
resentatiye of the Star recently to msks
some Inquire. as To the manner of oper'
alton resorted To by confidence men la
securing victims.
4 call ou Capt. Jas. \. M,Devitt, the
detective. va. all that VAS ncccssary io
obtain the desired Information.
$50 YOU want to know something In
regard to the methods of confidence men
In the conduct II their business, a'd
he. "W,ll, 10 begin with, they naturally
take the simplest aud most effective plan
for finding out the name oi prospective
victim. They usually accomplish this
through the medium ~ the coaft clerk,
tn whom they write for spoll li.t giving
IN. name aud address of every voter Ia
hi. county. \ confidential letter IL then
written to several of them, stating that
.hould they .o desire, they will he
Furnished with counterfeit notes that
the treasury expert. ate unable Ia de-
i.ct, aud In evidence oi thl. statement
they will inclo.c clipping from news
paper, usually Que of some prominence.
The clipping IL, of course, favorable "a
the scheme, aud Il usually gotten up by
the conhdenc. msn themselves, although
they can sometimes run across paper
containing an article favorable Tn their
business. The clipping thu. arranged
by them usually give. an account of
some .hr-Nd fellow Who has been ar
rested charged With having In hi.
possession counterfeit money. lie Ia
tried aud acquitted ~ th. ofi' nee, FOR
the reason that " cannot De definitely
dstermlnoi whether or not the money
found Ia hl. possession u genuine. Ac-
cording Ia the bogus story u IL after
ward found cat that the msu u a boto-
rious countcriclter aud pssser ~ .pu.
rious coin. The circular shows further
that IL l. folly to work hard for money
when the same can be- procured NJ q
very small cost Ia the purciassr, and he
1. also assured that noe,il consequence.
will snsue.
response 1. reviewed from these letters,
but Occasionally = favorable answer u
received, AMI II the victim appcaT. At all
Inclined % bite, be will bc .ent . genuine
dollar note. aud told that II IL sample
~ the money sold by them, usually At
about ~ per cent ~ the face value II the
notes. The uuwsry countryman is In
.tructsd To mix the blll Ia with other
money he may have aud pass " on some
Que, thus trying u. efficacy As good
Imitation. The money bsing genuine,
of course goes through all right. This
naturally encourages the victim, aud
more corrr.pond.nce snsues. lie !.
cautioned ah0ut talking Ia any one, and
Ia bc exceedingly careful In the conduct
10 hi. correspondence. \ cipher !. ssut
him to use In hl. correspondence, aud be
I. told 10 nail hi. letter. from som.
other town than the one IN which he ~
sides. Wh.n the matter has reached a
focu. the victim !. directed Ia 20 to-
certain city not far removed from New
York, 20 Ia certain hotel, register
under n crrtaiu nsme, provided by the
coufceuce man, and Ia r'main closely IN
hi. room until visited by one ~ their
agents, Who win give him signal.
"The agent upon hi. arrival keep. a
strict surveillance over hi. man, aud
caution. him against holding intercourse
With any one, telling him that he |. Ia
danger Of being capture', and that he
must conduct himself according Ia di-
r-ctions or he will have trouble. After
th. wOuld-be pa--er of counterfeit money
l. thoroughly frightened aud In CON-
ple,e subsection To- the will II the agent
be- I. PLACED on a train aud taken Ia New
York. lie 1. 1t Obcc taken Ia some OBJ
.curc hotel, aud, after being kept there
for period oi about an hour while the
agent |. arranging for hls reception At
into an out-of-,he-way place sud Into y
shabby Office, a. far removed from the
street ~ possible. sitting la the Office
l. usually found an elderly man reading
a paper. Who, after being introduced Ia
the victim. lsps~s into quiet again, sim
ply referring the party 10 hls sou, whom
be- state. attends Ia the business for him.
The sou, a dapper young man, Il then
introduced, aud after some conversation
IL INDUCED In, aud the victim again ~
ducei Ia a state of fear bordering on in-
sanity, large amount ~ money, vary
ing In the siyes IL the notes from one to
ffty dollars, 1. spread cut on the table,
and the purchaser told to select the de-
nomination. which he may think he can
use Ia the be.t advantage. This usually
result. In hi. selecting notes rangin. la
.lIes frOm one to i've dollar. The
money shown him IL, of course, genuine
money, aud an examination always
proves satisfactory. After the bargain
|. made, aud the victim has given up hls
good money for the supposed spurious
money, the amount purchased by him u
placed In a satchel before his eyes aud
cir.fully sealed. Thi. IL placed on the
table. which, by the way, has false
bottom, and conversation IL again enter
ed into. During thi. conversation the
victims attention IL attracted To some
thing which requires him 10 turn his
head In an opposite direction from the
satchel, and BY the use of an automatic
spring attachment in the table another
.stchel, contsining sawdu.t ar some
other substance weighing the same ss
the one la which the money !. placed, '.
substituted. The satchel being exactly
similar In every detail, no suspicion !.
aroused on the part of the countryman,
and he departs with the sawdust. not,
however. before having been csution ned
not, under any circum stances, to open
the ssichel until after he has gotten
outside of New York. Ninety-nine out
of every hundred cannot re.ist the temp
tation Ia take peep Ia the sstchel after
they get back To their hotel, and the
deception Il discovered. IL he has the
nerve to sque,l be- has no clue With
which To capture the swindler-, Tor he
3. unable To locate the place In which
the transaction was conducted, aud even
.bouli be be the chances are very much
against III. catching them, as they have
flown ere he can return. The police
knowing this, and also having very li'-
tie sympathy for the victim. don't nsu-
slly make much effort To assist him.
Numbers there are, who, after having
been thus swindled, keep their mouths
shut. fearing danger themselves.
.rhe men Who usually bite at these
confidence games are often men of some
prominence In their Respective neighbor-
hoods, aud II Il surprising to me Why
they do not reason With themselves that
II the money IL 80 perfect In every detail
aud can be- 40 easily passed why u is
that the confidence men Themselves do
not pass ir, instead of selling u to others
at = great reduction. Hut guess u is,