Omaha daily bee., 1903-02-25
ROUND ABOUT NEW YoRK.
RippIes on the Current of Life in the
Metropolis.

Metropolis.
Turf investment and grain gambling
schemes have yielded the promoters at
least 1000. 900 within a year. As a means
of Kidding suckers Of their money these
plans are shown to be not only effective, but
as swift as betting on the wrong horse.
tBut they are not swift enough to meet the
demand. Hence a New York genius evolved
a mechanical contrivance warranted to do"
the confding public at a swifter gait. II
was exhibited in a New York court
during the trial OF the man who worked 1t.
The machine consisted Of a copper box
about two feet square, with a false bottom.
Two genuine bills, wet with a secret"
preparation. s%andwiched with tissue paper
and placed in an envelope, would be laid
in the bottom of the box and the cover
closed. Half a dozen batteries attached to
the box would then be set in operation,
the strange noises impressing the victim
and making him believe that some strange
process was going on.
In the excitement the false bottom would
be allowed to drop over the first envelope,
leaving exposed another envelope in which
three genuine bills would be found. The
center bill would be supposed to be the
counterfeit that had just been made. The
prospective victim would be allowed to take
1t to a bank, and, finding that II passed
muster, usually returned to get large guam
titles Of green goods, which we're palpably
frauds. BY this means suckers were trapped
for $50, 900.
Startling indeed is. the declaration made
by Captain Langan, chief Of the New York
City detective bureau.
THE trouble with the average case against
one OF these syndicates," said he, "is that
the great majority OF their victims are
women who speculate without the knowl-
edge Of their husbands"
He was speaking of a concern on Broad
way that had Just been raided. It adver-
tised the investment OF money belonging
to other people on the races and guaran-
teed 3 per cent per week on money sent
them, and a quarterly dividend, according
to their profits.
The detectives add that more than one
staid and trusting husband would be as
founded II the letters found in these places
should be made public.
I'm the borough of Manhattan" saws
Harper's Weekly, "the native whites, both
OF whose parents were born in the United
States, now constitute only 1853 per cent
of the population. Even of the native
whites born Of native parents only about
tvo-thirds we're born in the state of New
York. The largest contingent OF outside
natives came from the New England states,
and, curiously enough, there we're more
immigrants coming to the city Of New
York from the southern than from the
middle and far western states. Not only
are the native-born children of native
Americans vastly o~utnumbered by those
who are foreign-born or the children Of
foreign immigrants, but the racial nature
Of the foreign element is materially chang
ing. Instead of being almost exclusively
Irish and German, as 1t was fifty, or even
forty, years ago. the Irish born are now
fewer by nearly $1,000 than they we're
twelve years ago, and the Germans fewer
by upward OF 5000. The increase OF the
foreign-born during the last decade has
come almost entirely from Russia, Italy and
the Hapsburg dominions. AS the birth rate
among the newcomers just mentioned Is
incomparably higher than that among the
native-born who we're children Of native
parents. 1t looks as II, fifty years hence.
the native American element would dwindle
to a very small fraction OF the metropolitan
population. They will doubtless continue,
however, to possess a greatly disproportion-
ate share of the city's wealth. AS for the
so-called Knickerbockers, they are likely
to be nearly extinct by the end of another
generation. Even now only a very few OF
them can be discerned struggling painfully
on the surface of society-rart nantes in
gurgite vasto.
The report OF the Department Of Health
makes som interesting estimates about
New York's growing population. According
to the United States census, compiled in
1900, the population Of the greater city was
3,4S7, POP. The m population COM
piled by the health department for the
middle of the year 1908, 1882, 900, shows
that the population since 1900 will have
increased 295, 7O1. The health commissioner
believes that the 1900, 900 mark will be
rnanhnd in q year The death rate for the