Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-03-26
FAKE JEWELRY PLANTERS
Swindling Game Said to Have Been Planned
in Washington.
Goods Pawned for Amount in Excess
of Value and Tickets to BE
Ohered for Sale.

washington last week. A 1ewelry planter.
it is explained. is a man who visits town
with quantity of fake jewelry. and with
the assistance of dishonest pawnbrokers
enters into systematic scheme for fleeing
the public The plan of the planter is to
take a piece Of jewelry which contains per-
haps $50 worth Of diamonds or other
precious stones and pawn it for that
amount at a pawnbroker's. In writing
ticket the pawnbroker, however, swells the
amount to whatever figure they agree upon,
so that the ticket (which calls for the article
pledged is really much in excess of the true
amount received.
One of the planters who came to w ASH
ington last week visited certain pawn shops,
outlined his scheme. and It iss said some OF
them entered into the plan and took In
pawn many Of the articles presented. Next
week, probably, the partner OF the planter.
will come back to the city, bringing with
him the tickets for the articles pledged
They will be advertised or ''hawked' about
the bar rooms of the city, and judging from
the success Of the enterprise in the past
many persons will purchase the tickets.
The Plan Adopted.
The planter or his confederate in dis
posing of the tickets uses an argument
somewhat after this style:
Now, 1 am selling you this ticket for
SO The goods are pawned, as you see, FOR
$3.50. 1t is well known, and don't have to
use any argument to convince you. that
pawnbroker will not loan more than one
third of the actual value of a piece of per-
sonal property, so that you can appreciate
in moment how much you are really max
ing on this deal. 1 am forced TO sell this
the races and need the money. 1t will cost
you but a few dollars to redeem these
goods and 1 am certain, after you look at
them, you will be satisfied with your bar
M osp,cf 1noc I will on
with you myself to the pawnbroker who
has these goods, and together we will look
at them, and If after an Investigation You
are not satisfied that this property Is cheap
at twice the price / am Offering 1t to you
then the deal Is off,
The two then usually repair to the pawn
brokers'. where the prospective purchaser
is called upon to pay % cents to the pawn
broker for his trouble in hunting up the
goods, and there he listens while the pawn
broker tells another fairy story of their
true value and what he would give for
them. This usually has the desired effect.
and the sale is made The pawnbroker, -
addition to the % cents he has receiVSl for
hunting up the goods, gets hia monthly
commission Of per cent on t.ne amour. of
the ticket, and divides equally with the
which the 8eods were originally pledged.
AS an mIstration, a ring which is worth
500 IS pawned for that amount but the
ticket which is given in exchange calls for
to be divided between the pawnbroker and
the planter"
Met With Varying Success.
The men who visited Washington last
week met with varying success. One pawn
broker was told that he was not up to
the times because he refused to enter into
the scheme. And as an argument in favor
of his proposition the planter" showed him
several tickets that he had obtained for
goods pledged with one Of the most reputa-
BILE pawnbrokers in the city.
A reporter for The Star visited this pawn
broker afterward and learned that the
goods pledged were as far as he knew hon
estly pawned; that he had been approached
by this same man, but declined to enter
into any proposition which smacked of dis
honesty. The tickets he had given were
in exchange for goods pledged, and he ex-
pressed the belief that the man had pur-
pose1y pawned the goods at less than their
real value more for the purpose of obtaining
tickets to exhibit to others whom he hoped
to get into his combination
1t is understood the police department Is
at present investigating this matter, and
will make case of false pretenses If the
evidence is sufficient. The fact that these
people thrive on the public Is due, so a
prominent pawnbroker told representa-
tive of The Star today. to the fact that
somehow or other people wanted to deal in
pawn tickets, believing that they could get
something for nothing. The scheme of the
planters had worked well in the past,
but always to the detriment of the people
who were forced through the stress Of cir
cumstances to sell their pledges.