Evening star., 1902-01-09
How They Are Worked Upon the
Public.
INDICTMENTS ARE DIFFICULT
A Detective Tells of the Methods
Employed.
POINT OF ION

'-Tne pubtic should be very wary or new
and successful graft which we have as yet
been unable to reach through the courts"
said one of Major Sylvester's clever de-
tectives to a Star man this morning, "but
We will keep on trying to suppress the
nuisance in Washington until we finally
succeed.
II refer to the traffic in fake pawn tick
cts, and I will tell you how they work it,
both from the grafter's end and the pub
lies.
Tickets representing diamond pledges are
almost invariably used, first, because dia-
monds are articles of jewelry which catch
the eye and attack the purse. are difficult
Of Identification. easily handled and not
one person In thousand can Judge the
various grades of the stone Don't lose
sight Of these points in view Of what have
to tell you.
1T Is a matter Of general underst andng
that pawnbrokers do not advance on a
piece of diamond jewelry more than one
half of its market value, some not even
this much and If you think they will ad-
vance, except in exceptional cases, two
thirds of its value, just try to pawn piece
of jewelry at that valuation some day.
Not Bona Eide Tickets of Real Pledges
"a pawn ticket legitimately issued to a
bona fide Pledge will always and anywhere
among men bring it's face value and fair
advance over for the ticket itself and the
interest. This is because the intending pur-
chaser knows that If he can redeem the
pledge under these conditions he is getting
the stone below the retail market price and
can himself realize upon it in case of need
without material loss.
This general knowledge upon the part of
the public causes the unscrupuous among
pawnbrokers to make lot of money by
issuing fake tickets to cappers who dispose
of them in various ways upon the unsus-
pecting or the uninitiated in the value of
diamonds.
1.-The game as it is worked in Washington
is like this, and the same practice holds
good in other cities:
These pawnbrokers cause to be manu-
factured rings of attractive setting in
which are placed off-color defective
stones Pawn tickets are issued for these
rings to cappers, who give their names
and addresses for recording on the books
of the dealer as is required by law. The
ticket is issued for an amount practically
up to the full value of the ring. For in
stance, a stone worth $50 is alleged to have
been pawned for s45, according to the face
of the ticket No honest pawnbroker will
loan $45 on a diamond worth but $50. He
is obliged to hold 1t for a year, If not re-
deemed and the interest would amount to
SIS. Before selling it as an unredeemed
pledge 1t must be advertised with his other
goods for sale. and the auctioneer's fees
paid. He would stand to lose, then, at
least $40. Pawnbrokers don't do business
this way. They only loan enough on a
pledge which will make them safe in case
of the pledge being not redeemed, by a
good margin Of profit. They are in busi-
ness to make money, and they make it.
hence the half value or less given when
the pledge is put up.
How the Cappers Work 1t.
"Once the ticket is in the possession Of
the capper he hands it to a second cap
per, SO that, in case Of arrest or other
trouble, the latter can swear that he
bought the ticket from the first capper IN
good faith, while the first capper could
go on the stand and swear that the ring
was originally. and. in fact, his property,
duly pawned by him, that he received the
money thereon, and sold the ticket to the
second capper for certain advance. On
all of these tickets the interest is never
allowed to run over month or so, else
the purchaser would consider the total
price too high, unless exception was
made to deceive him into buying.
"Such testimony in court would establish
a regular transaction, but when I tell you
that in recent case of arrest a quantity
of pawntickets were found upon the per-
son apprehended, and all were alleged to
have been bought of men who frequent
certain pool rooms and resorts not fire.
quented by the kind who buy or wear dia-
monds, you will understand what this kind
of evidence is actually worth, since these
men were mostly engaged in the same or
similar transa ctions for a livelihood.
''Once the tickets are issued and the
transaction made regular to meet further
legal or other inquiry, the next step is to
dispose of them to the mutual profit of the
dealer and the capper.
1.-The latter uses two methods, first, by
an attractive advertisement in the news
papers of the sale of a pawn ticket for
diamonds of a fine quality, and. second. by
approaching men who may be stanolng in
front Of the windows of jewelers. or pawn
brokers' stores, exhibiting the ticket with
the statement that it Is great bargain.
THE difficulty lying in the way of con-
viction in these cases. and upon which the
dealers and the cappers rely, Is that on the
face of the transaction everything is reg
| ular. Expert testimony in court however.
of other pawnbr0kers and jewelers. would
be relied upon by the prosecution to offset
this allegation, and such course would
undoubtedly be pursued by a determined
man who had himself been victimized.
Another way to reach the parties would
be their arrest on the charge Of conspiracy
to defraud. Thus far, however, in cases
which have come under the notice Of the
police, the evidence has not been deemed
in each individual case OF sufficient strength
to secure a conviction in court, though the
fraud is apparent, but with a number of
instances the grand jury could be called
upon to investigate the matter, and an in
dictment and arrests and convictions might
be secured.
Schemers From New York.
"a year or SO ago couple of slick graft
ers emigrated from New York to Washing
ton, and with them came lot of jewelry'
This Jewelry was alleged to have been
pawned here, or. at least, tickets were is
sued upon it here for a large amount
think about 81, 400. The New York grafters
then sought out woman in the Division
told her that the jewelry was worth at
least 5000 or $1,000, and offered the tick
cts to her for. 1 think, about $780, This
would have been picking up money. She
bit hard at the hook, the tickets were ex-
changed for the cash, and the New Yorkers
took the first train for the metropolis.
when the pledges were redeemed the
woman found to her CONSERVATION that the
'iewelry' was practically valueless being
composed of set colored glass and diamonds
of an inferior quality and of paste In
brief, she was done and done brown.
She placed the gems In the hands of the
police. The pawnbroker insisted that he
had advanced the sum the tickets called
for to the PLEDGES. and showed his books
When asked why he had advanced such
large sum. or any sum at all, upon worth
less jewels, he merely stood by his original
statement.
Meanwhile the two grafters were caught
in New York, brought down and locked up.