The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1897-10-18
OUT FOR THE DUST.
CONFIDENCE MEy ARE BEGINNING
To FLOCK To SEATTLE
Three smooth ones Came Up From
Perftand-Jehn Anderscn.s Ex-
rerfence with Them i'm That City

parts % the world who expect % rear 4
rlch reward from the thousands cr arg -
aats who are % pass through hare % tns
famous mining regtons Of sks north All
sorts OF trades and professions are repre-
sentea IN Ire throEg 90 arrivals business
lo1atsoas are rapidly filing NJ. rooms IN
eascWre blocks are beng sought tor ard
6Ne&irg houses are n demand bath by
renters and buyers. The big crowd Is rot
neFe bat every one believes that K {. soor
70 arrive Al thess trnuiwrsrss have
more or less money ard 50 VIII these WHO
are coming Httie later "a embark FOR
Alaska, after fitting cur In Seattle Af-
FsakuEsrs are On the ground to tempt the
hnwary with schemes OF various sorts FOR
getting their money
among the new Corners are three accom-
pished confidence men who are COW in the
city and WI doubtless AZ once attempt 10
get some OF thu shekels that single in the
pockets OF wonld-h@ miners These three
men have Just arrived from Portland
where they vietimixed several ranehers.
and II IS hoped that this warning VII pre-
vent them from doing any work here
The police have been spprsed OF their
presence in the city ard are keeping close
eye upon their movements. Il Is better.
sowevsr. that the public should know
about them IN time % prevent the neees-
sity OF calling on the police 10 recover the
money taken from some victim.
The gp-to-date confidence man Is not a
dealer in hogs or cattle: he is Kl7adiker
or q partner Of one. and he soon gets his
victim Interested by mentioning something
about the all-shsnrbing topic. John An
derson, 2 clerk In one Of tire leading luna-
Der mills OF Puget sound. had an expert
enes In Portland the other day with these
three accomplished confidence men and il
IL bis experience which put the police on
their track when they came here. Evident
II they left Portland very soon after their
experience with Anderson.
Anderson's experience ia interesting and,
as .t0id By himself. Is as follows:
II took short trip down 10 Eugene and
got back 70 Portland with my valise and
started up the street 10 my hotel. About
halfway UP Sixth street I met a we'll
dressed, srloofh-faced young man, who In
CURED the location OF Wells Fargos ex-
press office. I told him l did not know
where It was. az the same tine Informing
him that / was a stranger In the city. We
walked up the street together chatting
Familiarity. He told me that his father
had been 10 the Klondlke on a trading ex-
petition and had brought back lot OF
gold In dust and nuggets. Some OF the
nuggets were 10 be seen in his friends real
estate Office UP town. and my ne. found
fr'"nd asked me II I would Ike to see
them.
as was a most anable and innocent
young man. and. completely taken of my
guard. followed him To an Office across
the street from the Chamber of Com
merce building. AS we stepped into the
door to go upstairs overheard one man
say TO another. There goes one more
farmer This aroused my suspicion, but
I went on. and at the top OF the stairs
my friend raped on a door and was told
n fr fxn me-
IN elderly man with English chop vhis-
kers. the other apparently a Hebrew.
perhaps % years old. with a black mus
tache. There was a cheap sign In one
corner. a cheap table IN the center OF
the room and four chairs. There were
absolutely no papers or maps such as are
usually found In a real estate Office. My
friend inquired OF the elderly man II Mr..
Smith was IN. Being answered Ia the
negative we sat down 10 wait for him.
As soon as we were seated. the elderly
man took a newspaper from the table
where Il had been lying open, and ex-
posed pack Of cards scattered about, as
II game had been interrupted. The
elderly man explained that they had been
playing Just before we entered. but lie
had covered up the cards thinking that
Il was his wife who had knocked.
ITO pass the time away While waiting
for mr.. Smith. q game OF poker was pro-
posed. My friend urged me 20 take a
hand. and agreed 10 back me II I should
happen 10 lose. I told them that I did
not know how TO play poker: hardly knew
one card from another. which was a fact
The Hebrew meanwhile had dealt out a
hand around. and / was soon holding my
cards with the rest. although hardly
know how they worked me into the game
unless It was BY hypnotism. NV friend
evidently did not have a good hard, for
he threw down his cards ard came over
20 where I sat. I had an acc and some
other cards I don't remember, but my
friend told ne that / had an excellent
hand. He urged me 70 bet g. and
hliEdiy followed his advice. The elderly
man was the only ore who remained In
the game. He met my bet and raised
me a small amount. Yielding 20 the ur-
gent advice Of my hacker. who seemed
confident that my hand would win I dug
up S. bin and placed II on the table. be-
ing assured by my friend that II I lost he
would make the amount good The elder
~ man raised me s7e. ard my friend as
suref me that I could beat him. The
man with the black uustache appeared
20 take nv side. and offered the Jubllant
advice that II I had an ace I had him
beat or course 7 knew that had an
ace. but hy this time having come TO a
rezliEat ton o. the fact that I wss up
against a brace Of confidence men, de-
clin@d 20 Pat I'D any more money. My
attitude caused the Hebrew 20 exclafnn sx-
cifeaty. Haven't you any drafts or checks
or money! what have you got IN the
satcheI7 You are sure winner
when x became evident that I would
rot bet more. the man seemed 20 lose In
tsrest Ia ne. The elderly man swept in
the money % the table. and my friend
arising. said. Wei. let's get cut % thfs;
I've lost 81 already He grabbed my
sstchel and hurried me outside. where hs
paid ne the s. had lost AT the Foot OF
the stairs. on the street. he asked me for
the loan Of s., saying that &c was about
broke 7 advised him 70 a. back "a his
friends upstairs who had tots OF money
BE sad, I guess I Will and vanished
~ came 20 Seattle ard was surprised
yesterday 20 see ny three Portland 'ac-
guam szucss' eonvsrstrg fntsreSfedly On
TIRE stree, corner. I asked Detective
Cudfhee. whom happened 20 meet no
rusnt later who TIRE elderly man with the
ruuttoa-chop whiskers vas. ard cudihas
replied that re was ere Of the saothsst
o. couh6encs men"