The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1897-11-13
TEMPTING A COUNCILMAN,
A Seductive Letter Written to Him BY a
Green Goods Man.
A CHANCE TO GIT UNTOLD WEALTH.
Htus Of the Denomination oil SIS anu
$40 Made So Perfectly That Uncle sam
Cam, Tell the Dinerence--A
Large Fortune for $500

..o.,,,o,, member of the Common
-. ~ 49,, f,et received a letter from
Nm, Vork holding out TO him the NEST
ten,tipg offer. whereby for the sHall
ann of $500 he can put himself beyond
want for the balance Of his natu''l "'o'
THE TEMPTING OFFER
The document which Is markeu 0o"'
ndenuar reads as follows
(Confdential)
A., noar sir-Your name was sent me
bv NV son Cwho Is my travelling repre-
sentafivel as shrewd. reliable ana
trustworthy man for me 10 cooperate
with In your vicinity and therefore lahe
the liberty OF making you proposl'oh
that nincty-nine out Of a hundred up-'o-
date men would gladly grasp II 'n,S
could personally examine my WoIN'
therebv convincing themselves OF INC
absolute safety Of my offer
The writer Is an expert engiaNeI' nav
ing for twenty-five years been thpiu g."
in the bureau Of Engraving. NasiliB-
ton. -. G., and for twelve years was su-
porintendent Of one of the largest Bank
Note Companies in the country. DURING
my leisure / took up as "A side issue inc
duplication Of ones. Elves and Ten S.
and as these were the original denoml-
nations / had worked upon. YOU can
believe me when / say they are perfect
duplicates.
Now my dear sir. am fully aware OF
the suspicion and prejudice that you ma
urauy Will entertain for my proposition
as YOU Will on first thought class IL as
coming from a. gTeen-gOods or sawdust
svyiudler. but il you will lay aside mat
preitdics. amply common sense and look
al nv proposition from a business stand
point compare it with the methods OF
these petty swindlcrs and you VIII credil
me with not being FOOL enough 10 waste
nv time addressing man OF your INTEL
ugence and standing in the community
Tbe methods Of the sO-called green
goods swindlers nave been exposed from
time 20 time i'm the daily papers. lhey
send out seductive circular letters TO ~
aoraut farmers. with a newspaper emp
ping in regard TO counterfeit money
exc. falsely pretending they are the par
Ties spoken Of in the article ana offering
to sell that which they have not lndIt-
ing them to send ON their hard earned
money and sending them vaise OF saw
dust OF "A brick or some such return
OTHER RASCALS
The reason these Iascals ina ll pio-
/ stable to work .nis game. is because they
know and they take 1t for granted that
| the people i'm general know that lieIe
are hundreds of thousands of dollars
I gOUnfHlLelS.
! nave no neral scruples against Increasing
/ the money circulation Gin fact me ma
ioritv of people arc in favor OF doing 10
/ bv law. as witness the late grcen5lck
| craze and the present silver agitauoW
| they are induced 10 send on their money
on the very liberal terms held out 10
/ them-5 cents buying dollar or come
/ such al.Lrd price
/ No intelligent man would do g.. Tor
| their very proposition is ridiculous NOT
] alone the buying of pig boo q lag bd'
| a man has only 10 stop and cDn. ldcr the
/ cost OF engraving presses. printirs pa-
per. etc, 10 see the absmdity OK the
! offer.
Now. compare these methods with my
/ uroposition. Firstly. J am not addressing
! am ignorant farmer Secondly, J 90 nol
/ want you to send me one cent. Nhal
/ want to know is whether you VIII Dee
| willing TO cooperate with me in the
| disposal of my goods providing ] prove
/ to YOU beyond an doubt that my work
| is am I claim for d. that 30 cannot DE
/ told from the genuine. even hy experts.
! I-nderstaud 1 do not want YOU to invest
| One dollar until YOU sive Examined my
! entire stock from one 90 one hundred
! thousand dollars. compare them with the
| genuine and in fact submit them 10 any
/ test YOU SEQ dt then after You are
| thoroughly satisfied OF every point. You
! can decide whether you accept my pi'lo-
! sitiou or not The fact is, am invest
| mcnt of 500 will give you am immediate
| return that "a life time Of toll in your
! present us.ness would not do. this with
| out njurng friends neishbors OBJ your
fenoNmaa. TO convince you of the
| safely of the business / WILL upon zee
ccipt OF telegram. as per enclosed note,
| send YOU a. sample Of my work ana Will
| also appoint a. place To- meet you SO
| that YOU can personally examine my
! entire stock.
II for any :eason you decide not 10
/ cooperate with me 1 trust as am hon
| orablc man. YOU will honor the 2rotcc-
| zion that The word confidential ln~uies
| TO an communications and not Dc so
| heartless as TO destroy my lies work.
! So kindly burn this and Oct the matter
drop. Trusting however TO near from
! YOU Immediately / remain
Conhdcnually yours
OLDEST STEEL PLATE ENGitANEI'
IN THE UNITED STATES.
=. S.-For obvious reasons have omit
Ted all names dates. ctcr .rom this let-
ter
THE INSTRUCTIONS.
Accompanying this letter are the roll
lowing Instructions or open sc'dmc
90 this mine of wealth.
Gnsuuctons)
The only way YOU can communicate
| with me is 10y telegram over Western
| Union Company line. between the hours
of i'm the morning and at night Pre-
nay your message so as 90 i.sure deliv-
cry. If you send me the following ci-
pher dispatch. ] will know who it is from
and appoint a place TO meet you. / viii
also send you "a sample.
Copy of telegram mo letters for you
TO send;
a. b. Crum,
| PocanticO Hills.