The Banner-Democrat. [volume] (Lake Providence, East Carroll Parish, La.) 1892-current, 1902-02-15
BUYING "GREENGOOjS.'
DIFFICULTY IN PREVENTING tHIS
FORM OF SWlNDuE.


The Methods of the sharpers Arefany
III
8 perhaps every newspaper eadeI
# Knows what a "greengoods" nm is
s put how many people who thir that
j. they were pretty well acquainte with
II the intricacies of metropolita life
nave any idea to what exte; this
|. particular calling of the "pows that
: prey" is now carried? The Ade of
e the "greengoods" man is onsof the
e most puzzling and mysteries with
which detectives have to de. And
r what is most astonishing of a is that
t every day within a radius a few
miles from New York City undreds
: OF daring schemes are bein carried
3 on and brought to full reali1ion.
I A New York Tribune reuter was
, prompted to make inquiriesls to the
: extent and workings of thi practice
Dy washington dispatch. This dis
, patch said that j. L. Bristw, fourth
assistant postmaster geneh in his
recent report, had advtated an
amendment to the interste COM
merce law which would p1hibit tele-
graph and express compans or their
employees from aiding an abetting
greengoods" or lottery sindles, or
any other scheme carried on partly
by mail and partly by comon carrier
In violation of the postal Tvs. The
Necessity for such law, tgether with
the probable difficulty offs enforce
ment, was made evident ! Theodore
w. Swift. chief of the Me- York post
once inspectors. Mr.. Swi said:
The "greengoods" manis one who
promises to give certai amount of
counterfeit money for genine money
He is one of the oilies individuals
With whom detectives bve to deal.
He is difficult to appreheh. and when
ne is caught it is almost impossible to
obtain sufficient evidene to secure
his conviction. Every ear he robs
innocent, trusting men, [ large sums
OF money-how large We have. no
means of determining. He is high
wayman, true freebooter, who
handles his revolver win as easy an
assurance as he does hi chief weapon
his tongue. We haze fought him
sub rosa for years, an we are still
learning his cunning wys. He is the
trickiest, nerviest, mos desperate ruff
fan in good clothes 18th whom we
deal. | could talk to pu for hours of
his Mornings, his tdsting and his
borrowings, but perhss description
OF only one of a hudred different
methods by which he hakes his living
will serve as an ILLUSTRATION.
Practically ali the "reengoods" men
OF the country operatffrom New York.
They work in this ity because the
great volume of mailing which goes
on here makes detectbn more difficult. |
1t after they receie replies they |
could be tracked an, watched, and if |
We knew from whomtheir mail comes,
of course we could Iore readily drive
them out of existene. AS the system
is now worked we have no means of
knowing who send etters to them or
at what point thesI letters to the
sharpers are really written.
Let's take the Simplest case. The
"greengoods" man sends out a circu-
lar to man who's name he finds in
the directory of sohe town. This cir
cular may state tht the writer has a
son who once woE ted in the treasury
department, who perfectly familiar
with the process of making money
The crook adds tat further instruc-
lions may be obtah he'd by telegraphing
to, say, 81. w. Ills, Greenville, N.
j." which, of coupe, is fictitious ad-
1ress. The inndent is told not to
Use the mails. ht to telegraph all
communications b the crook under a
signature, say, ff example, 1885,"
No. 1876 accept the bait and tele-
graphs as instruted. In short time
generous pile of messages from
,ullible persons! addressed to the
rock, accumulate at Greenville. 1t is
asy for us to fitd these kilograms at
hat office, but We can't find the crook
BY collision with the telegraph oper-
tor, copies of these messages are
ent by mail, by express, or by hand /
0 New YStoIwhere the crook has |
II along ke himself. This scheme
revents us Nam capturing him. 1t
J practically impossible to prove that
ne operator, who receives $50 for
is share in tie transactions, is an 3
ccessory to tie operation. {
Of ooD;oc 80 | =
,presents to tie crook a possible
sucker The greengoods man then t
rites again to- No. 736, the weakling, U
Id sends him a genuine one dollar I
II as a specimen of the counter '
it money with is for sale. He adds @
at for $500, in good money, $4,000 t
orth of counterfeit money like the @
mple enclosed may be purchased.
ne innocent is then instructed to t
me to New York, but to first tele n
aph, always in cipher, to the sharp t
S real address in New York tell v
g him when he starts. n
A few minutes after No. 736, the Ii
nocent, goes to room at an ap- t
inlSu uotei,i lHe SteeIeI, Ut dS-
ciate, of the greengoods man ap- e.
ars. The "steerer" then pilots the n
IN with the $500 into the country. g
rhaps to small Pennsylvania n
wn. where the greengoods man s.
,ets them. He is told that safety T
luires such move. The crook Of
N actually gives the Sucker" $4,000 IL
genuine money for his $500.
Then the crook tells No. 1876 that W
would be better if he did not take d
'se five crisp one thousand dollar OF
Is to his native town; that it would pl
far safer to submit them to chem IL
| process. invented by the crook,
It would, after few days of treat
MT make them anuoar oIdar ond