The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1905-03-25
In the department of health and san

business in operation. It was the
'easy graft" of a clever young health
officer, who stood in" with a number
of fashionable physicians. The ordi-
nances and regulations relating to con-
tagious and infectious diseases re-
quired doctors to promptly report cases
which came within the provisions OF
such regulations. It then became the
duty of some health officer to visit
the affected house and nail warning
placards on the o This requirement
was very obnoxious to a large NUMBER
of the Weather class, and the young
in the health department sa"
a large opportunity in this offensive
regulation. He called on some doctors
n outlined his scheme, which, like
all successful CRAFTS. was simple. He
had charge of the reports on contagious
diseases. He proposed hat for a GER
tain sum to be paid by each doctor
monthly he would fail to record n
report which came into the office from
his "clients"-in short. he would in
sure the patients of his clients against
annoying official visits from health OIL
GERS. The doctors saw the point.
The health officer, not the doctors, too
the risk of penalty for dereliction OF
duty, and they accepted the PROPOSE
ton. They complied with the law, sent
in their reports; the reports were re-
moved from the files, and every month
the health officer received a small pay
ment from each doctor. The aggre-
gate, however, made up quite a sub
stantial revenue for the CRATER. The
clever feature of this scheme was that
the doctors and not their patients were
assessed, and this limited the parties
to the grating transaction to a safe
number
In every city's code there are many
ordinances and regulations relating to
the homes and premises of citizens
which for one reasOn or another be-
came lead letters. But as they have
not been repealed they are still in
force. The average householder knows
little of codes, laws, ordinances and
regulations. Whenever he runs foul OF
some ordinance and feels the hand Of
law on his shoulder he generally is
badly frightened. While in this con-
dition of mental distress he is easy
prey lOl Liz ld1tS1 III
in human nature was taken advantage
Of by a clique of city hall employees,
who diligently searched the municipal
code for dead letter ordinances and reg
ulations. Nine out Of every ten house
holders innocently shattered some of
these old-time laws to bits every day,
and as these laws were practically OBJ
solete, no one in authority paid any at
tention to the transgressions.
The clique of grafters had little
trouble in "spotting easy marks and,
having access to all Of those blanks,
forms and official stationery which
erly filled out, signed and sealed, were
we'll equipped to shake the terrors OF
the law before the frightened eyes OF
the offenders. Having descended upon
some person who had violated a dead
law, and the selected victim in most
cases was a woman, the CRATER, assum-
a friendly attitude, explained his, er-
rand and regretted the necessity which
compelled him to perform such a dis
| agreeable duty. When the victim was
in the proper frame of mind he made
the touch" in this wise: He explained
that the penalty for the violation was
a fine, but that he was in a position tC
do a friendly act, and if the court costs
were paid to him it would be unneces.
sary for the offender to appear in our
or to pay the fine. He could fix that
In the majority of cases the costs
were paid and the CRATER took hi!
leave. If the touch" did not work TIT
CRATER, still friendly, cautioned thu
doubling offender not to repeat the Of
Tense, but to be prepared to accompan,
some officer, who would call later, t.
the police court. OF course, this Office
never appeared, and the householde
was not apt to make any e~mbarrass1n.
inquiries. This scheme netted the graft
ing syndicate a large revenue In
might have been worked for years ha.
one of them not tried to hold up a nat
ural born fighter. This ~pugnacious in
dividual started such a hue and CT.
, that the graft was discovered and tn
grafters fed the city.
Two plain clothes men-detective
I belonging to police headquarters detail
r worked a money-making graft wit
thu the ordinance which mad
, it a misdemeanor punishable by a fin
: to carry concealed weapons. They fire
/ uuented saloons in the business dis
2 trict and by feeling located revolver
carried by business men. They worke
this graft only in the evening. Hay
n ing located the person who carried tn
I pistol, one touched him on the shoulde
d and quietly asked him to step aside
Il There the other detective joined thel
and the victim was told that orders ha
v gone out from headquarters to arres
every man carrying firearms witho,
n a permit. He then was asked to Pre-
duce his permit. Of course he ha
n none, and, showing their stars, the d.
~tectives asked him to step over
hoodo,1arforC On the WAY the NfOlch