New-York tribune., 1905-06-11
CONFIDENCE MEN.
Ingenuity of Their Schemes Enceed-
ingIy Great.

The confidence trick, though 1t is now 40
climatized In all civilized countries Is uhoouol
edly American in origin. 1t is only In the e4-
pansive air Of American institutions that con
fdence" in its double sense can blossom ''s
brightest Whether confidence" be taken 10
mean ''impudence' or ''trustfulness" 1t is equahy
indigenous to American soil. and all other YER
sions are but limitations In Paris TINS genesis
is so thoroughly realized that this specles Oh
swindling is called 'le vol la American, any
the operator always speaks bad fTehch ai'i
poses as rich and eccentric 1ankee. o.. .,.
That character is not unfamiliar too, 10 lhe
operators who hang around the DIG hoteis al
Charing Cross, but of late there mas peen 9
Perhaps it is a tribute to the imperialism a that
is In the air that these specious' shaiow
swindlers find 1t their most enectVe cioah- "a
few months ago case came before Loia0r i
police court In which the swindlers were posihs
as Australian sheep farmers who mac m niaoe .
pile Of money and were seeing ne, n pun Ior no
recently corporal in the South African co
stabulary was actually swinoled out Vi .i Its
money at Waterloo Station as he was "aitins
for his train for Southampton. In TINS case lne
operators were men from the Rano VINO WEI e
anxious to give South African sooo seI,o-oi.'
In these instances the confidence tTick as
sumed the form most familiar to US. one " .t ee
swindlers has a large sum In bank notes, the
proceeds of a legacy. which he proposes 10 haIu
over to the dupe to administer los @ cue. shenId
hand over his purse and money as seGuIlly
while he is going some fictitious errano- "ne.
on" Cas he is called in Amerfca1 finds that ne Is Is
the holder of a parcel of Bank OF Eiegalce
notes, and that his confidence" has been mis-
placed Whatever the excuse. this is always
the result.
Closely related to the confidence trick is ths
Spanish prisoner" swindler: The spahish Isl
swindler circularizes innocent householders. Of
fering them a large fortune-which ne cahho.
get at because he is in a debtors prlson-oh
fer. Sometimes it is the treasures Of the ex-
Empress Eugene which he offers; sometimes
it is the war chest of Don Carlos Many Eng
lish people have sent sums as high as tioo o.
Sl50 and arriving in Barcelona discovered
they had been duped. The persons conductins
the swindle have been repeatedly arrested at the
instance of the British consul In Barcelona but
as the victims all trying to grasp at fort.
to which they are not honestly entitled
they invariably decline to prosecute. and after
a few days detention the swindlers released
But America is the real home of the con-
fidence man: II is his native air, and he nour-
ishes like green bay tree. 1t Is not swindie
there: it is g syndicate. Tom O'Brien, the con-
idence man who shot his old pal kid" Waddell.
another American crook" at the Care du Nord
Station In Paris, just ten years ago, had in his
prime two or three dozen men In his employ.
who used the funds he provided and turned over
to him the profits, Just like commercial travel
lers They would wait outside hotels and rail-
way stations for we-to-do visitors from the
rural districts-"hayseeds, is the slang term.
1t was easy enough for these plausible, well
dressed fellows to strike UP an acquaintance,
and then the 'hayseed" became "come-on."
The confidence trick in their hands had end
less subdivisions There was the man whose dear
est friend had invented electric plough that
only wanted $1,000 worth Of Improvements to
sell like hot cakes. The farmer who put UP
some Of his good money for this enterprise
learned afterward that the stock certificates
were bogus.
Then there was the gold brick game" In
which Tom oBrien personally exceled. He
would. when at his best. sell two gold bricks
day for weeks at stretch. He was returned
miner from California, Australia or Klondike,
who had got all his cleanup" melted down
into solid gold brick. He was tired of carry
I'm showing
with United States assay mark. and he would
sell il for 5000 to get rid of II. The purchaser
learned too late that the United States Assay
Office mark only guaranteed the character Of
neat three-inch plug of gold which had been in
serted into an otherwise leaden brick, and the
whole suitably gilded.
Another branch of the confidence trick IN
America is the ''sawdust game" or the Doodle
game" as II is variously called Here the
"bunco steerer" persuades the smart Aleck''
from the country that he knows who
make counterfeit greenbacks good that they
cannot be detected. He is "steered" to the
Joint" where the other operator is waiting. In
the early stages of this trick the dupe in
clamped with iron bands. and then hustled
off with much secrecy In order that the police
more shy, 1t became the fashion to substitute a
roll of dollar bills, Of which the upper ones were
genuine currency and all the others counter
since the victims had become parties to q plan
to pass counterfeit money.
Their only danger that occasionally the
'come-on" would return and give them good
hiding, but they generally able to take
good care of themselves. Such large
made by O'Brien and his like that they wore
diamond wafstcoat buttons and invested largely
In real estate. For shooting Waddel in Paris
O'Brien was sent TO Cayenne. but is reported to
have since escaped
Another famous American confidence man who
has just been sentenced to a long term is Ross
RAYMOND who school fellow OF President
Mckinley. Ross Raymond is not his real name,
but he bore 1t in Europe and Asia. He
aged to attach himself to the encourage of the
ex-Khedfve Ismail In Paris a few years ago,
and ordered large quantities Of Jewels in Ismairs
name which the Paris jewellers could never get
pay for. Ismail repudiated liability but the
American confidence man did not repudiete the
gems About the time they disappeared from
the Khediye's hotel Ross Raymond vanished
too.
Mike Ryan another famous New-York conf
dence man. used to provide the roll" (as the
genuine greenbacks are called for several other
minor operators. IT is said that In few years
he lost $4,000 In good money owing to these
unfaithful rascals decamping with the roll
James McNally, another famous American
operator used to theatre in an Eastern
city and always dressed like millionaire. The
confidence man. trades on the reluctance of the
'come-on'' to prosecute. and IL often serves him
well-(London Leader.
aTHE SINS OF PUBLfSHERs.s
Not long since Simeon Ford addressed the Ameri-
can newspaper publishers at their annual dinner.