The Kalispell bee. [volume] (Kalispell, Mont.) 1901-1901, 1901-06-03

educated in the rural districts who are
victimized. 1t is then battle of ig
norance against education and devil
ish ingenuity. Alluring advertise.
ments appear in the cheap country
papers and answers to them bring in
return glowing and deceptive propo.
,sitions, which are masterpieces of
persuasion and convincing to the
worst doubter. A complete outfit" is
promised, with merely a requirement
of $1.O0 or $1.75 deposit, as an levi.
dence of good faith" And so the poor
dupe sends on his treasured cash and
then his troubles commence, which
finally end by some one writing to the
postoff1ce department and laying the
matter before it.
The law clerk of the department
states that the worst cases which they
have to fight now are the ''at home
work" cases and that the way helpless
invalids and old people who cannot
work out of doors and children, are
swindled by attractive propositions
and bright promises, into sending
their little savings is pitiful. If they
can only get something to do indoors,
they think; and SO they fall easy
victims to the work at home
schemes. And they, moreover, are the
poorest people in the country, to
whom dollar is small fortune and
from whom an honest man would
blush to accept a cent. Yet they are
daily duped into contributing first
their pittance and later another and
larger sum, by hopes held out of
good wages for easy work at home.
AS DON as the department is con-
WINGED that money is being received
by concern through misrepresenta-
tions and that good value is not be-
ing returned, fraud order" is is.
sued, and all mail addressed to such
concern is stamped fraudulent and
returned unopened or sent to the
dead letter Office and returned to the
sender. This of course breaks up the
business though the exposure causes
many heart-ache and bitter disap-
pointment. An interesting case OF
bold-face swindling in which the de.
partment has issued fraud order is
that of a SO called grocery supply
company, located in one of the great
cities. The concerns correspondence
is conducted on elaborate letter-heads
with picture of the New York Life
building for head, with the concerns
name on top. Capital is stated at
81 ,0OO,0 900, Ltd.) They handle only
the very finest goods. They desire to
secure the exclusive services of one
good agent in each territory. They
will pay liberal salaries for a live
hustling man and all expenses. They
will furnish their prospective agents
with samples of their teas, coffees
cereals, spices, crackers, etc etc, in
closed cases and arranged in a hand
some travelling trunk for a deposit OF
$3.50. This does not by any means
cover the cost of the trunk alone but
is simply desired as an indication that
the agent is in earnest in the matter
and proposes to go to work for them
The inference is that the trunk is a
large affair which will be expressed
Instead it comes by mail, a paste-board
box, containing six or eight small
boxes, which are filled with tea, cot
fee, hominy, oatmeal, couple Of
oyster crackers, etc. A large number
of these Outfits" have been sold, un
til some man felt sufficiently outraged
to write the department of the swindle
which action has brought this grocery
company to grief.
The profits OF the fraud mail bust
ness are so great that sometimes con
Germs that do semblance of rea
business make a bluff and go int
court when fraud orders are ISSUED