The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-04-04
MERCHANTSFLE
SMOOTH GERMAN SOLD FAKE AID
VERTISING SPACE.
BUSINESS CARDS ON BAGS
WAS WORKING GRAFT WHEN
LANDED BY DETECTIVE WALL.

Prisoner IL Named VirEine and Adj
mits Tint He Secured Seven Vic
Tins mt SI.6O Each-POIice Think
That Many More Were VictimiEed.
Promised to Print Advertisements
On Thousands of Paper Bags That
Were to BE Used by a Well Known
Grocery Firm-AIwnys Collected
Money in Advance-At First Had
GOatee and Wore Glasses.
After working a graft game for two
weeks, and securing quite a number of
victims, F. W. Virgine, alias Hoffman,
a German, 40 years of age, was arrest
ed late yesterday afternoon in a jew
elry store near Broughton and Jeffer-
son streets by Detective Frank Wall.
Virgine admits fleeing seven mer-
chants out of $1.60 each, but the Off
GERS think the number of his victims
is considerably larger than that, and
are anxious that all of those who were
worked" by the man, who styled him
self Hoffman, report at once at police
headquarters. The man represented
that he had made arrangements with
a printing house and with a we'll
known grocery firm, whereby a large
number of paper bags, bearing adver-
Using cards, would be used by the
grocers. The swindler sold these cards
at $16O each, collecting whenever he
found it possible, and always giving a
receipt.
Been working Three Weeks.
Although. according to his own story.
he has been in the city three weeks and
has been working his crooked game the
few days ago was a report of his oper-
atoms made at police headquarters.
The case was turned over to Detective
Wall. Hoffman was described as a
German with a goatee. He wore eye
glasses in every place that he visited
and the plain clothes man thought that
he had an easy task. The man who
was selling advertising space on inn
aginary paper bags, for some reason,
decided to shave and discard his
glasses, and did not answer the descrip-
ton to any extent when he was picked
up by the detective.
Saw Him at 1t.
1t happened that Wall was passing
the jewelry store while Virgine was
displaying his bag and trying to sell
card. The detective "butted in" and
tried to make a contract for space
saying that he was proprietor of a
clothing store near the City Market
| The man with the advertisement game
appeared suspicious and was frank to
confess that his plan of advertising
| would not do a clothing dealer any
Good. Then Wall made the arrest. Al
the police station house the prisoner
| said that his right name was VirginC
and that he had been using his moth
| ers maiden name. He declared that he
| had only collected $11.20 in the two
weeks that he worked. He made the
! confession to the detectives and a rep.
resentative of the Morning News.
Virgine's story.
While the police are of the opinion
| that Virgine is an all around CRATER
and has worked his paper bag game
/ in Charleston, and other cities, the
prisoner declares that his first crimi
nal work was done here, and tina
| while in Charleston he was in the no
tel business, and ION the square" He
| is a native of Bremen and claims Il
| have run a hotel in South America. HI
says that two years ago an earth
| quake, followed by a tidal wave, sweep
his property away and killed his broth
er, who was his partner. He has beer
| in this country since that time, ac
! eording TO his story and has beel
working in hotels. The prisoner will
be arraigned in Police Court thi
| morning, but the case will probably gt
over until list of his victims can be
| secured by Detective Wall.