The morning news., 1899-12-04
HOW THE PUBLIC IS FOOLED.
ContInued from EIehth Pare-
hs home s he fnds that he has an old plug on

MS naDlS.N
There is a class of frauds known as
Good Things, said the inspector They
get this name from the fact that they are
usually worked on people who think they
know good thing when they see il. Peo-
PIE Who dabble in stocks occasionally and
are looking for a sure thing are the ones
oltenest caught. Business and professional
men, clerks and bookkeepers. who hope to
uouoie their small savings, bite at these
advertisements. Inside tips on deals In
STOCKS are usually promised Circulars
are sent out announcing an opportunity
10 get in on a deal TO advance the price
OF some stock. The names used in the cir
cular as composing the firm of operators
are well known in the financial world
out the initials are changed, and investi-
cation Will show that the names al the
TOP OF the circular are not those of the
Kings OF finance to which they bear such
ctose resemblance. Here is a circular
which offers a chance to clear 1000 per
cent. inside of a month, and yet it is very
plausible. 1t makes the Franklin Syndi-
cate scheme look small"
The worst class of skins" said the in
spector, are those which defraud poor
people by leading them to believe that
they can make good money working at
nome. These are the Home Work" ad-
Vertisements. Offering good pay to persons
VINO will copy pictures, photographs, make
artificial flowers and other things of this
sort at their own homes. 1t is always
stated that no experience is necessary.
Poor people in need of work answer these
advertisements and are told that 1t is
necessary to send on a small amount to
pay for outfit. The amount may be only
81 or less, though 1t is frequently more.
If the amount be forwarded a reply is
sent, inclosing some cheap articles with
instructions how to make others like 1t
Wi hn aferfa
Many of the poor dUpes spend their time
in making up these articles, but when
they forward them to the company the re-
ply is that the work is unsatisfactory,
The meanness of this fraud consists in
the fact that ii not only deprives poor
people and invalids who hope to make
something by working at home, of their
money, but causes them TO expend their
labor for nothing as well.
There are many matrimonial schemes.
Some of these agencies do a legitimate
business and others are frauds. One fell
low was taking in 5000 to $1,000 a month
when we broke him up. Usually a fee is
demanded, If this be paid a photograph
is sent, and If the chump concludes that
he wants to marry the girl, he is asked to
remit travelling expenses. l have known
men to be worked for traV-
cling expenses two or three times
on various pretences that the
young lady's father was i'll or that she
needed money for her trousseau or some
thing of the kind.
about the slickest scheme that I ever
ran across was that of fellow who got
out newspaper in which ne pretended
to advertise offer of a free doll An
advertisement set forth than any one who
would send on 20 cents for three months
subscription would receive the paper for
that length of time and the free doll Of
ar 10 81 rurop in. AZ,
the rest of the ad, describing the doll, was
in large type. Naturally everybody who
read the offer took it for granted that a
handsome doll would be sent for every
three months subscription The fellow
received so many answers that he had to
give up printing his paper in order to
have time to open his mail. His plan was
to send everybody who responded to the
ad with the 20 cents a circular offering to
send the doll described in return for a
certain number of pald-up subscriptions.
His mail had gotten so large when we
broke him up that he had quit sending out
circulars in reply"
There are so many of these frauds"
said Mr.. O'Bren, that / haven't time 10
enumerate them all have had some que II
surprises too in ferretng them out have
run up against people vino were promlr eat
politically and socially and 1 have had
men who We e wen known in natioral pol
itics appear 10 testify to the good char
acter of the swindlers. In one case a man
who was a candidate for justice of the
Supreme Court in one of the Northern
states was compelled to retire because of
exposures connec ing him with fraudulent
schemes. TIE Morning News alluded 10 the
incident editorially some time since AS
/ have said, every man is a sucker some
time or other. have known men who had
gotten their wealth by means none too
honest to be taken in by fraudulent
schemes"
Mr.. OBrien has a scrap book con aiming
articles from the New York papers on i'm
portant cases which he worked up in that
city and elsewhere. The scrap book was
kept by another member Of the family as
Mr. OBrien did not attach any importance
TO the pub icatous al The time
Tracing down frauds is only a portion of
the work which falls to the lot
of the postofice inspectors. AS
their name indicates, it is their
business 10 inspect postoffices and
this means that every office, no matter
how small, must be visited al regular in
tervals. The inspectors examine the ac-
they are dealing squarely with Uncle Sam.
They also see to it that the postal laws
and regulations are observed both by post
Office employees and the public. The whole
country Is covered by about 125 inspe tors,
tie country being divided into thirteen di-
visions. Savannah is in the Chattanooga
division, which includes Georgia, Alabama,
Florida, Tennessee and South Carolina.