Water Valley progress., 1903-07-04

proofs of fraud against the horse
racing concerns recently, when the
police started raids on a number of
places, made great noise and scared
all the schemers under cover. Our
inspectors, who had been very, very
quietly working up the evidence, had
to drop the cases.
''The biggest frauds by all odds have
been in the get-rich-quick lines. It is
such an old scheme, but it is always
being worked again. The plan is very
simple-the same as in the case of the
notorious Franklin syndicate in the
east. Some 'con-man' starts to adver-
tise that he will pay enormous profits
on investments-two, three, five or ten
per cent. week. When the suckers
begin to send their money, he actually
pays out the dividends. A man may
send 500 and before long he has 5000
back. He tells his friends, and they tell
others. Pretty soon the money rolls
into the Golfers of the 'financier' by
the thousands. OF course he pays the
interest out of the capital When he
has accumulated enough the crash
comes. The financier disappears. the
money is gone.
"Fully $500,OO0 was sent to Chicago
in the last 12 months in get-rich-quick
schemes of this character. The VIC
tins have been of all classes, city peo-
pie no less than villagers and farmers,
women as well as men, rich and poor
alike.
Land and improvement swindles are
being worked to-day on an enormous
scale. Do you remember the U. S.
Land Co.? We hunted that scheme
down and punished it. This company
owned some practically worthless land
In tennessee, way up in the noun
tains, where we could hardly get at it.
The fake oil, rubber and gold-mining
companies have secured millions-yes.
millions of dollars-for land not worth
dollar an acre.
Lottery and gambling schemes are
brought to our notice month after
month. There are hundreds of thou
sands of people ready to give up their
cash again and again when lottery
of some kind is advertised, and we
can't always nip these fakes in the
bud"
In the last year something has been
done to put stop to "divine healing,''
absent treatment by mail and one of
the most successful quacks in the lot
Francis Truth, of Boston,-who it was
said was doing a business of $4,000
week, was stopped by the law. Mean
while others who do only $4,000 q
month continue to flourish, and by a
court decision recently made, nothing
can be done to prevent people sending
their money by mail to be cured by any
process they choose.
Have you seen in recent issues of
Chicago mail order paper an advertise
ment of magic gold dip needle that
finds hidden treasures for ten cents?
Possibly thisreminds one of the 'lucky
box" scheme of Lynn, Mass. Francis
Parker manufactured little wooden
box with brass ring in which were
stamped three stars. 1t cost him from
one to five cents, and he sold it for 90
cents. Everybody who bought the box
became lucky, said Parker's advertise
ments; lone broker made $4,000 in
one hour after buying the lucky box:
spinster won lover; woman was
cured of rheumatism; gentleman hob
bled in on crutches; got box; walked
off with crutches under his ARM
The advertisements ran in glaring
headlines, and nobody interfered with
Parker's business until the authorities
noticed his enormous mail When the
post Office inspector appeared at the
lucky box factory Parker fed. Twenty
seven thousand letters were waiting
for him at the Boston post office with
1000 money orders that day.
T. T. GUNDLACH.