The sun., 1901-08-11
GREEN-GOODS TELEGRiuS.
One Wsv In which Swindiers Get Messages
In spite OF Police Watching.


If the officers Of the law engaged in
hunting down grecn-g goods men were famil.
lar with telegraphy,' said a veteran opera.
tor, more swiniers would be arrested
and fewer telegraph operators would 10
made to suffer for crimes Of which ,h.v
are entirely innocent. Let me give you
an illustration:
-rhee Is a certain large telegraph station
and from II telegraph lines branch out In
all directions. One Of these lines stretches
out along one-track country railroad
for about forty miles. There are about
twenty-five railroad stations along the
road The twentieth railroad station
was named, let us say. Llkeview.
-One Of the new summer bo6rders stop
ping at its hotel was John Smith who
said he did business in a noighboring citv.
He came up late every evening and went
away early every morning When he
arrived, he told the telegraph operator
t. send any kilograms that might arrive
for him To the hotel, as he often got home
after the telegraph Office was closed
HE got several messages saving. I
will call at your Office at $40 A VI or I
expect Jones back on the 29th inst or
containing some other ordinary iuforma-
After few DAYS he told the telegraph
operator that he was travelling, and would
send a messenger with n note asking for
his kilograms. In few days. notice cana
70 the operator from the Telegraph COM
pany. that his Office was being us"d by q
grean-g goods man under the name Of John
Smith and 70 deliver kilograms 10 him,
If properly identified,
@Detectives we're then sent 10 watch this
Office They saw a boy call one day and
the operator bundle up several kilograms
that had arrived for John Smith during
tie past month They followed the boy
TO his home, but John Smith did not cal
for the kilograms Yet John Smith knew
what was in those kilograms even before
tn boy called for them and was doing
business with those who had sent them.
"The detectives noticed the operator
opening a registered letter one day and
saw him take green goods circulars out Of
IL They noticed n bill In the letter also.
The operator was arrested and sent a. prison,
and vet he had nothing 10 do with the green.
goods game Any one who Is telegraph
operator or who understands the operating
of the telegraph would never believe him
guilty In this case IL was an extra opera
tor who did all the green goods business,
1T must be remembered that there IS
only one telegraph wire stretching from
the central station forty miles along TINS
road and passing through every one oi
these twenty-five railroad stations. and
whenever the key at the central station ~
pressed down every one OF the twenty-five
telegraph Instruments along that line goes
click II the key Is pressed twice every
one of the twenty-five Instruments says,
click, click In other words, every mes
SAGE sent to one station is heard In every
station along the line. Postal cards and
telephones ara not suitable means for con-
ducting n private business, but they arc
private In comparison with the telegraph.
Nearly every message that is sent over the
wire is heard by about fifty persons.
NEARLY every day of the north some
one of the operators on tho lakevlrw Inc
wanted a day OF and tho extra "prralor
took his place. One day the extra was az
the first railroad station. the next day he
might be- at the end Of the line. On the
third day he might be NJ the third station,
and so on Now each day, no matter at
what station he might he, If m'Fage
came for John Smith he heard i. me
majority Of operators hearing a message
for another station than their own pay
no attention 30 II, but this extra lls'en"d
attentively whenever he heard any message
10 Iakeview for John Smith. Nholl"r
ho wrote them down or kept them in his
mind is not known; but every m"s,a -
that came for John Smith got 70 its d"''l'a,,
tion. Tho telegraph company sGsI""'"h
the extra md found some eycuS" FIR O. =
charging him. Thor suspcions w"r" con-
frmed by the fact that very few messages
for John Smith went over the lines a''"r
he left. Why did the grCcngood, men
send circulars and even q dollar WIl in
registered l"tter 10 the innocent operator
at IakeNirw2 Simply to cast -'I,H''n
on him, and help 10 hide the real operator
in their employ.
"The moral Of this is that detc"'iv", who
hunt green goods swirdIers should he
men who have been operators thF'.'i"s
or who are thoroughly familiar VITA ne
telegraph huslnes, If such i'' 7H.S
We're employed on a case like ''' m.' .,''t
spoken Of tho last operator on td' mo
they would suspect would b" 'h" on" AZ
I.akeview, for they would very Justly com
Clude that green goods men n." uol ."'n
fools as to advertise the uan inaL lh'E
have induced 20 aid th'm. IN" s"E.ns
would say, II may ho one oi the 'tdpr
twenty-four telegraph operators On '.s
lire, we will watch them; hIt We are -'t'
that il * not this one whom they are -rh-
ply using as a blind 10 mslead people "ot
familiar with telegTaphy.