The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-08-28
GREEN GOODS IN CUBA.
Tho Allentown GauE Now Flooding tho
Island With Circulars.

Island With Circulars.
WASHINGTON. Aug. 27-The operations OF
the green goods men are no longer confined to
the United States. Bucolic visitors from nte-
rior points have been educated to such an ex-
tent that 1t requires too much exertion to
defraud them by selling them bundles otnews-
paper clippings for counterfeit notes. SO tho
en,erprising bunco man has reached out for
new worlds. He has invaded Cuba. and. as
might have been expected his plans speedily
became known to the secret service men.
Havana. Santiago and even towns In the in
terror have lately been flooded with circulars
advertising the wares OF the green goods men.
and as a sample OF their methods one OF the
| circulars has been translated by a mem Der OF
the secret service staff.
All such confidence mon operate along the
| same limos. They are always selling their
goods" outright. never attemp ting to shove"
any Of It. and they are always printing their
notes from plates either stolen from tho Gov
eminent or from plates engraved by a man
formerly in the Government employ. As every
one knows these men never really deal in
counterfeit money. but always have some
good money to Hash" and the probabilities
are that they never saw counterfeit note and
would not know one il they saw IL. Manufac-
turers OF even passably fair counterfeit money
have no difficulty in disposng OF it to members
OF their own fraternity. but the Green-Goods
men operate along other lines. and rarely. II
ever. get their hands OH bogus money.
With characteristic enterprise the green-
goods men desiring to catch Cubans baited
their HOOKS with circular In Spanish aad en-
poyed Spanish name. J. Roderiguez. Senior
Roderguez. unfortunately for him. writes
abomnable Spanish and the translator had diff
ncuty in putting his phrases into English
His headquarters arc ct Allentown. Pa. where
the come on" as heis known in sporting par
lance was to reach him by cable. Allentown.
by tho way. is a favorite town with green goods
men as base OF operations.
Your name was sent to me by my repre-
sentative traveller" says the circular. who
was recently In your section OF the country
He tells me that you are ingenious. learned
very faithful. man who can be trusted and In
whom confidence can be placed"
What descendant OF a grnndee or hidago
| could resist such an appeal to his confidenoe2
| Senior Rodriguez then speaks Of his goods"
| which are perfect. and refers to the paper used
for notes. the secret OF which In IN his possess
| eon. He explains there is one way In which
| his notes can be detected. namely. by the du-
| plication Of the numbers. but as their
| character would not como to light until
| they reached the treasury. the original
possessor would never be detected SefIor
| Rodriguez is a careful man. however. He
| would not trust the m ails or the express COM
| pany. He must see his client face to face. sub
nit his goods and have them tested In what
| ever manner the client desires. To do this 1t 10
| absolutely necessary the come on" should visit
| this country. bringing with him his money.
| Roderiguez promises to lay before him tho
| stock OF goods and he can select any notes he
pleases OF any denomination.
In case my goods do not prove satisfactory
| to YOU" the circular says. and they do not
| como UP to what have claimed for them. will
mako you present OF 81, 900 gold, aud will
gladly pay all the expenses incurred in your
| trip"
After carefully impressing on his mind the
necessity OF not writing letters. he says that on
| the receipt NJ the cable he will send samples OF
| his goods and instructs him to cable as follows
-. RoderGues. Allentown. Pa. u. &. A.,
| enderezo de la casa do Carlos es Gale Obispo
| No. $685." This in English reads: THE
address OF the House Of Charles Is No 536
Obispo street"
Tho numb Der $40 furnishes the means OF iden
| tiiying the sender Of the cablegram. as each
| circular 10 numbered and green goods men
thus tell which ones bear fruit Tho remain
| der of the message. of course. has no mean ing
Ho is carefully instructed to pay for his cable
| messages in advance. and IL a reply is not re-
| ceived in a week or two he is instructed to re-
| peat the above message.
| So far as the department has been informe cd
| no como ons" have arrived from Cuba but as
| the game is now to that territory it is more
than likely some "good-thng" will journey to
| the United States with q pocketful OF Spanish
gold and journey back with a vaise full OF
| paper or sawdust