Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1899-10-17
CAUGHT IN THE TRAP
THE GREAT SMALLPOX SWINOIE AND
HOW IT WAS WOROED.

n Brazen and veil Planned scheme
by Which Two Sharp Confidence
Men Bunkoed "A Hotel Keeper Out
OF $1,000.
81 dare say you never heard of the
great smallpox swindle." said the no.
tel manager. The facts of that re-
Iuarkable affair We're withheld at the
time for the most urgent reasons OF
policy. and even now i prefer TO tell
the story without names or localities.
II happened in the fall of 1886, when 4
certain hotel i'll Il large western city
was crowded with tourists. One day,
at the height of the season, two gen
Ilemanly looking strangers put up at
the house and We're assigned to what
we cali Il double room About 4 week
later one of them appeared at the Of
flee and requested 4 private interview
with the mana ger. / regret to inform
YOU lie said. after the door was clos
ed, that my friend is down with Sc
we're attack OF smallpox
The proprietor nearly fell out of his
chair. There was known to be small
poX in the city, and the bare suGges-
ton that the disease had appeared in
the hotel was enough 10 empty 1t i'll Il
tWinkling. To let the news get out
meant the loss of thousands upon thou
sands of dollars. 1t meant the ruin of
the seasons business. He must be
quietly removed mt once, said the pro-
prietor. trying To control his agitation
Removed" exclaimed the other.
Taken through the cold air to laze-
retto, Why, man, that would be muir
der! I'll not permit it"
1.-THE hotel keeper was thunder
struck. DO you mean TO say lac must
stay here" he Gaspcd.
"'Certainly,' said the stranger.
at was ticklish situation. The no.
tel keeper dare not enforce his suSges-
ton, willie to let the case remain was
like storing GunpOwder in II furnace
room. He pleaded. protested, begged,
threatened and clustered, but all i'll
vain. The man was firm as Il rock. IF
you attempt to eject my sick friend he
declared. IN publish your inhumanity
20 the entire community.
FINALLY it occurred to the distracted
proprietor to see. first, whether it was
really a case of smallpox. SO lie sent
FOR Il physician, Swore him to secrecy
aud hustled him UP to the room. The
doctor took one look at the disfiGurcd
the maIa,ly was there in malignant
type. lie advised the mans immediate
removal mt any cost. If you keep him
concealed he said. the disease may
spread, and It would ruin you for life.
You owe something to your guests
Again the proprietor interviewed the
friend. and again the latter refused to
bulge from his position.
I f.tL- hn 1nmpn1-
ed. You know very we'll l can't get
pose, and l won't have him butchered
in pcsthousc 10 please any landlord
OH earth" The hotel man felt his hair
stand on end, but concluded to let
things stand as they were until morn
ing.
Next day he sent for the sick mans
friend and asked him whether he had
any suggestions TO make.
Yes he replied; L thought up n
plan over night. which you may adopt
or not, as you like. As l said before
he continued. 1T is useless to try to
rent quarters for such a case. We
might. however. buy small cottage
and take him there. | have figured the
thing up and the total expense would
hand over that amount, l will take him
away and assume all fuSther respon-
sibility. l make the offer entirely out
OF sympathy for your guests
The landlord looked him in the eye.
I. too. have thought the situation
over he said, and I'm convinced it's
a confidence game pure and simple.
I'm convinced there's nothing the mat
ter with Your dear friend up stairs,
but am also convinced that the slight
est breath of the affair would greatly
damage the reputation of the house.
AS Il business proposition / consider 1t
worth 5000 TO get rid of YOU
1.-The other man smiled ironically.
Call a cab and get out your money
he said. and inside an hour the incubus
had been spirited through a side door
swathcd I'm blankets and driven away.
.AS the landlord shrcwdly surmised,
the whole thing was a confidence game,
and he learned the particulars later on
through sport he had once bcfricnd-
ed. There was nothing the matter
with the rascal up stairs except that
his face had been pricked q little with
n quill dipped in croton oil, something
that makes Il horrible looking pustule.
which disappears in 4 few days and
leaves no mark. | always thought the
hotel man showed good sense in TAX
ing the course he did. He was caught
in Il trap and took the cheapest way
out. The bare rumOr OF even Il Sus-
pected case would probably have in
yolved Il loss of $4,000 or 100000. 1t
was far better 10 pay the 5000 and
charge IL to education New Orleans
Times Democrat.