Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1907-05-30
MAIL ORDER FAKES.
Some of the Familiar Advertising
 Tricks Shown Up.
BAIT FOR HOOKING SUCKERS.
Beware of .he "s3n3 Poems Wan.ed.' Don't Bite al the Bona Eide Business Secret"-Steer Clear Of the Prize For Selling Cao-s.

1 Selling Goes.
 The "nIa.i orisr magazine }s ide4ti- fed at o4e lE the initiated, but tue average reader does not know t under this designation. Many little Iaasa- zines. published 1t very low =a'= scriptiou rate. have no other pr.gto-e than to carry nai order advertise. ments. TAeE are able to work ua aa cnormous circulation =because Of tlfe low rate far subscriptions. The cifeu. lat.oa br=.gs them large prices for ad- yertiSiHg Ihe hall order people, lot oal5 tlla idrge houses which do q Gae eraI business, but also the cheap s..ss ss fake concerns and individuals. patron lze the advertising columns. They SC; entcius hooks for suckers. They catcA maaF suckers. It belIooyes the reaief Of these publications to do q little thinking before biting In thi, connec- tioa the following article from the New York Herald is timely and helpful
 In these days of bunxo and graft a man should look before he buys, That he does not Is clearly shown by i the thousands of fakes which we hear of and read of daily.
 The cleverness of the mail order man is wonderful There is always a way to avoid the law. As soon as one fake l Is exposed and a law made to cover 1t i fifty fakes suggested by that law 1 spring up.
 For instance, 1t would take more elastic clause than the famous one ill our constitution to cover this latest bit 1 of mail order wit
 l In almost any mail order magazine you may pick up you will find adver- tisements similar to this
 MAIL ORDER MEN ATTENTION. 1 I have bona fide business which pays ! me $2OO per month. Nothing to make, 1 nothing to sell. I guarantee results. Yo,, can do 1t just as well as I. Five dollars Is 1 the price of the secret. Money back If you are not satisfied or if this advertise | ment is misrepresentation.
 If you are of the great once-bunkoed. always class, you might an. swer one of the alluring offers If you did, you would in all bability re- ceive a reply by the first mail The 1 letter would contain a clipping of the advertisement you had answered, with 1 a statement on this order:
 One month from today will withdra V 1 the inclosed ad Place your name on 1t l and insert it in your mail order maga- zine or other advertising medium which you use. l have made s20O month from this You can do as well as l. You can l readily see from my success with you what your success will be with others
 During the bicycle rage some years back bluing concern coined money from an advertisement similar to this, accompanied by cut of a handsome 1 bicycle:
 BOYS AND GIRLS. THIS BICYCLE FREE. To every boy or girl selling one gross Of our superior bluing we will give abso- 1 lutely free the bicycle represented in this cut. Send for the bluing today. When you have it all sold. remit the money, and you will receive this beautiful bicycle l absolutely free. State whether boys or l girls bicycle is wanted.
 It is safe to say that thousands of children slaved for those free bicycles md turned in their money to the l work was, however, not without con- pensation, for each child who sold a gross of the bluing received a minia ture bicycle, not two inches high, but perfect representation of the cut. This idea of toy fakes is old A part her in one of the foremost mail order houses in the world owes his start in fn ar iol, extensively some years ago. His offer was to send furniture enough to con- pletely fit out one room for . dollar. Cuts of the articles were shown, and the offer had the appearance of bei1., legitimate. For every dollar received 'he sucker" was sent complete set ,f doll furniture.
 Recently the law became aware of the fact that there were hundreds of small music publishing companies do ing business entirely on their nerve. Their method was to advertise for song poems. showing the enormous profits made from popular songs As the song manuscripts flowed in they either had music written for them or "borrowed" music already written and sent letter of acceptance to the per son who had sent in the song poem. The letter stated that preliminary cost of from $10 to $3O would be nee essary for making the plates. In most instances the money was sent The plates were made cheaply, the publish ing house sent a professional copy to the author, and there the matter drop ped. No effort at marketing the produc tion was made. The law is gradually getting after these publishers, but there arc many of these wildcat insti tutons still tlourishing
 Another clever and profitable mail order fake is that of reading the char ncter from the handwriting. There are as many possibilities in it as fortune telling, and there are as few chances of being convicted for obtaining money under false prctenses