The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-08-12
CLEVER SWINDLES
 WORKED BY MAIL
GullibIe Americans Who Are
 Trickedby Advertisements
SOME OF THE BAIT OFFERED
"Ten Yards of SIX for Ten cents," But It Was Sewing sllk-offer to Subscribers cf Fake
 Magazine.
From the WashLhgtOn Post.

From the Washington Post
 The records of the Postoffce depart ment are rich with examples of the guilt bility of citizens of the home of the brave and the land of the free. No matter how often some one may think of a new de- vice for fooling the people he can always find ready market for his wares. Old stories about the singed moth do not hold good when the average person l hears that he can make an unusually large amount of money by investing a I correspondingly small sum. Previous ex- 1 perienees have taught him nothlng-he Is willing to pay for another very expen- sive lesson, which will have, in all prob ability, as little fleet on him as the previous one
 Puzzles and the reward which their so- lution may bring have always appealed l very strongly to the American public. | If man can be made rich for life, by 1 solving a mere puzzle he Is more than willing to risk the amount of sub 1 serlption to the paper that makes him such magnificent offer.
 l When the postoffice department learns that a person is engaged in using the mails for such fraudulent purposes an
 
 mail to him or his agents. The matter of preventing the continuation of the project so far as he is concerned is not so easy
 1 Very often in cases of this kind the pos | tai authorities say that persons who have | been patronizng man affected by a l fraud order resent the action of the department in directing that their letters shall not be delivered. They argue that if they care to invest money in his pro- , posed plan 1t Is the business of no one to interfere.
 An instance when the government re- ceved no complaints from the persons defrauded and no thanks from them for exposing the swndle was that of the Franco German Electric Pad company. This alleged company advertised for agents to sell its goods, offering to pay large salary and expenses, but before one could qualify for such a position he was expected to buy two Of the electric pads, | the electricity of which consisted of mustard plaster, These were to be sold | and testimonials secured celebrating their virtues. After this had been done the prospective representative of the com pany was supposed to be on the road to wealth.
 That was as far as he got The next communication from his future employer stated that he would now be able to sell the pads for $4 each, and, as they would cost him only s2 he would make a clear profit of 100 per cent on his investment The salary and expenses had vanished. Upon the discovery of this fraud it's author was arrested, gave $l0OO ball and skipped He had made enough out of his Utopian scheme to allow him to indulge in this little extravaganza. Not a word was heard from his victims. By Ameri- can greed they had been fooled by Ameri- can spunk they would stand for It. The fiddler always has to be paid sooner or later.
 Another undertaking that had for its sole object the benefit of mankind was instituted by a magazine, "The Preside Favorite," will be it's designation, for charty's sake
 The men back of this publication thought 1t would be quite a nice little l thing for them to offer a puzzle to the public for solution This thought was parent to the action. and in a short while | the puzzle appeared with the advertise ment that the solver would receive quarter of the money which 1t brought l to the owners of the paper. And then 1 the inevitable stlpulation-a subscription I costing s1.
 1 The puzzle was solved The fortun- l l ter of what the advertisement brought | from each reader. The residue of the profits was spent by the propretors in l the law courts defending themselves | against the order issued by the postoffice | department.
 Ten yards of silk for 10 cents was bait that no feminine fish could resist. The | originators of this project made tremen-
 dous haul. What woman could afford to | miss such a chance? Ten yards of SILK to l Haunt on state occasions! Alas and alack! | They received silk. and the promised ten
 yards-but 1t was sewing silk. It might l have passed muster as material TOT a
 dress in the Pacific Islands, but hardly In
 this country.
 Clairvoyants and fortune tellers seem
 to have the greatest hold upon the pub
 lie. These persons change their names | as often as they can think of new one.
 Exposed from time to time, they never
 theless continue to make good iVihg
 from men and women who are anxious
 eul 10 uoupIq quo sI II '9Iuln1 9ul uIpeI ol
 prophet business in which there is no lack
 of profit in it's own country.
 These readers of the future seem to tn-
 shirt the greatest faith in their followers,
 and no amount of advice or caution from
 inc authorities seems able to shake 1t.
 Time was when the magazines and pa
 pers were flooded with advertisements
 which purported to represent get-rich-
 ouick company The persons who an-
 swered this little notice were informed by | return mail that the best possible way
 to get rich in a short time was to work
 like the devil and not spend cent
 Good advice ths was too. and If It
 were followed the schemes of charlatans
 would be much more apt to "gang-a-