The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1908-12-08
DIRECTORY SWINDLERS.
Harold Byrnes, Last Of Famous
Gang, Caught
Operated In Many Big Cities and Said
to Have Melted Over Eight Million
Dollars.

Chicago, Dec. S.-The last member
Of the old Stanley Francis gang of
fake business directory swindlers,
whose operation netted them $780,
600, was caught when Harold Byrnes.
a pupil of a Philadelphia criminal,
was arrested in this city last Satur-
day evening. Two men who were as
ISOLATED with him, Emory Hartzeg
and Walter Romans are now in the
Joliet ClllJ State Prison Francis
and several of his co-swindlers are in
the State prison of Pennsylvania and
Philadelphia.
Francis was the head of the Storey
Cotton Company, which was finally
compelled TO suspend through the
action OF the secret service depart
ment in 1905.
Hartzig, Romans, and Byrnes oper-
Ated as the American Directory
Publishing Company" According to
the police who have over $4,000 can
celed bank checks aggregating $780,
600 and representing the profits of
the swindle during the last two years
the band of swindlers secured 81 ,600.-
WV tAAtb6NAAlfAs NY OINl dltu III Aul-
cago, New York, Philadelphia. st. Lou
is, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Kansas,
City Omaha, San Francisco, Boston,
and scores of other cities in the Uni
ted States.
The method was a simple one, but
almost always succeeded. The men
worked through solicitors and collec.
tors. These agents would appear al
the Office of business man or manu-
facturer carrying under their arrange.
ment a big business directory, three
or four inches in thickness. These
men agreed to insert the business
card of the firm they solicited for any
amount they were able to secure.
Then they would ask the victim TO
sign an agreement which read.
Il have paid the following amount
for a certain number of inches Of dis
play advertising in the directory.
The agent would then disappear
Within thirty days a collector would
come around with a note signed by
the merchant showing that he had or
dered a certain amount Of advertis
ing, for which he had promised to pay
a certain amount an inch. The mer.
chant knew that il was his signature.
It was finally discovered that the
agreement that the merchant had
signed had been SO arranged that 1t
could be cut in two, and would then
appear to be an order instead of a
receipt.
Francis who was the originator of
the swindle had scores of imitators
over the country Byrnes HartZig,
who was the head of the Chicago swim
dlers, and Romans, according To- the
police all were connected with Fran
els bureau When he became in
Volved they managed to escape and
came TO the west.
Money rolled into their strong box
es and they branched out far and
wide. According TO the checks that
are now in the hands of the police.
enc firm paid this gang $4,000 in one
year for advertising.
They were finally discovered by the
arrest OF Charles Schwartz in Aurora,
III. He was a collector for the Hart
zig commission at salary Of s. and
expenses a day When the evidence
become so positive that his conviction
on a charge Of swindling seemed GER
tain his employers abandoned him to
his fate Schwartz's sister. who was
the wife Of Romans, came to his assis-
lance
The police finally convinced her
that her brother was about to be sent
70 the penitentlary and when she was
made sure Of this, TO save him she told
all she knew OF the operation OF the
directory company" Romans and
Hartzig we're arrested, convicted aud
are now serving indeterminate sen
tences I'm the penitentiary.