The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1901-05-24
CRATER FLEECES A CROWD
Sold Lot Cheap Jewelry and then
Failed to Hand Out the Expected
Silver Dollars.

1t Is easier to start a mob in lola
now than it was before May 8, and
that is usually the result of mob
monstrations. Monday afternoon
a willing mob stood in front of the
Hotel Pennsylvania painting to get
hold of travelling fakir who stood
inside, white and scared, uncontrolled
by the twenty or more dollars which
he had just ilnched from the pockets
of the crowd.
The CRATER sold jewelry. Solid
jewelry. Solid gold rings, worth
twenty dollars, that his "house"
would break his neck for had they
known he was selling them SO cheap.
The first rings he sold for 25 cents
an gave the 25 cents back. Business
picked up. He hadn't begun to get
liberal yet. Bye-and-bye he pushed
the price up to dollar, but made the
promise twice as large. Through
each ring he twisted bit of tissue
paper on which he scribbled charac-
ters, presumably indicative of the
varied sizes of the piles of gifts he
was to hand to the purchasers.
81 want you to stand right STILL my
friend" he informed each buyer $50
these stingy beggars can see what |
am going to do for you! I'll make
them ashamed of themselves, that S
what Ill do. Now who will take this
ring-only.a few left! If you do wrong,
blame meV'
1t didn't take long to sell fifteen or
twenty. Trade became slow, the
crowd began to josh good naturedly.
Skilled in his craft he knew the tide
was turning.
"Now gentleman" he called after
failing to make the last sale with a
vague promise OF great gifts at 81, 81
have not promised to give anything to
any of you. But am good hearted
fellow and 4 am going to give this
gentleman these lead pencils. He
bought ring that would have cost
him 81 anywhere else, and l give him
the pencils. And this gentleman who
bought two rings will give this fine,
gold watch chain" And he doled out
about fifteen cents worth OF cheap
jewelry as premiums. Then Harry
Grubbs who had held his horse dur
ing the twenty minutes it took to col
lect the $50 jumped in the buggy, and
away they drove.
The crowd stood minute and then
someone got sore and there was a
general movement after the buggy
which had disappeared.
The graft was worked at the corner
of Washington and Madison avenues
at the park corner and the buggy went
down West street. Tbecrowd randown
West street and stood at Walnut un-
decided what to do. Someone saw the
rig appear near the Santa Fe depot
and away went the crowd, only to find
that the rig had doubled back on
Madison and into the alley behind the
Pennsylvania hotel, where the CRATER
got out and entered the hotel. The
crowd returned and swarmed about
the walk in front of the hotel, but the
police were on hand and nothing was
done. Mr.. Crater was scared white,
but hung on to his money. The crowd
had decided it chad done wrong" and,
taking him at his word "blame him, "
but he felt differently then.
II there was man in that crowd
who hasn't heard about grafters and
that old, old game of giving money
back he ought to be bumped for not
reading the papers. And any man who
knows of such things and still bites
who is to blame? OF course the graf
ter is little better than thief, but the
surest, safest way to buy goods is to
buy them of the merchants who pay
taxes here and don't get in a buggy
after you make your purchase and
drive off. If he skins you stay away
from him aud tell your neighbors
about him. He will either bust up in
business or quit skinning people.
There were two great, big, obvious
truths in evidence that day. One lis
that lola people should make it 9
strict practice to leave street fakirs
alone; and the other is that there is {
better way to do things than to ''mob'
people.
Ben Monroe Robbed.