The Washington times., 1908-02-23

Z me dtLehIlOn OF Inb secret otiNANS
/ Bureau and the POstonice Department
/ has been directed TO the operations Of
I "a gang OF alleged swindlers whose head
quarters are presumably in Pittsburg.
I From the circulars ISSUED and for
warded TO their prOspec i've victims.
counterfeit money is their stock I'm
4 trade. The authorities. however. are
OF the opinion that the me1 are not
/ engaged in the manufacture OF green
goods"
1t is believed their scheme is 70
arose the interest OF unsuspecting cOun-
try merchants by plausible tales OF
wealth easily acquired. and after ex-
hibiting genuine money as a sample of
theri handiwork. TO palm of on their
victim a bundle of worthless paper. The
purchaser is warned not 10 investigate
the contents of the package until after
leaving Che ci1y as the sight Of so much
money is apt TO arouse suspicion. The
advice is usually followed.
Victim Cannot Complain.
When the package is opened on the
train and found to contain nothing but
paper there is no recourse but to pocket
the loss unless the hitherto respected
citizen desires Il. confess to the author
tiles and the world in general that he
has attempted to enter into a swindling
game and has been bunkoed himself
It was 10 a scheme of this nature that
the attention Of Claude n. Bennett
manager of the Congressional Inrorma-
tion Bureau. was directed by a com
munication from a merchant OF Milo, s
{. Incfosed was a circular letter ad-
d fflr1I
and marked Confidential" which ex-
plains itself
The letter is as follows:
My Dear Sir:
your name was sent to me by my
son (who is my travelling representa-
tive) as a shrewd, reliable al d trust
worthy man 10 cooperate with ia your
vicinity. and ], therefore, take the lib
ertv of proposing a scheme 20 you that
ninctY-T inc out of a hundred up-to-date
mea would gladly grasp If they could
personally examine my work. thereby
convincing themselves OF the absolute
safety of my offer.
Expert Engraver?
Il am an expert engravcr. having for
twenty-five years been employed i'm the
Bureau Of Engraving. Washington, ID.
c.. and for twelve years superintendent
of one OF the largest bank note com
panies in the country. Every moment |
of my leisure was spent in practicing
the duplication of the one, five, and ten
dollar notes. and as these were the
original denominations lad worked
upon you can believe me when 1 say
they are perfect.
Now, my dear sir, 7 am fully aware
of the suspicion and prejudice thar you
naturally VIII entertain for my PROPOSE !
ton, and YOU viii on first thought prob
ably think the matter not worth your
consideration. but II you viii postpone
your decision and look upon my propo- /
sitiOn from a business standpoint YOU
viii certainly give me credit for not
being idiot enough 10 waste my time
addressing q man Of your standing ia /
the community on a subject such as 4
this, unless i could beyond the posi- /
biity Of "A doubt, substautiate every
word l write.
SWindleTs in Business.
''There are swindlers representing /
that they can furnish Just such goods |
as / am Offering you, because they know /
and take IL for granted that the people /
in general know that there are hundreds /
Of thousands of counterfeit dollars IN /
circulation.
Their various methods and schemes |
have been exposed from time to time in /
The newspapers throughout the entire /
country. and their inability TO furnish /
the goods is clearly demonstrated the
moment they are requested To submit
them to examination.
Ny proposition TO you IN plain terms
IS this. Would You be wiling TO co
operate with me in the disposal OF my
goods, providing that I prove 10 YOU
beyond all doubt that nv work is an
exact duplication Of the originals, and
that ii cannot be told from the genuine /
even by experts.
TIE almost Impossible chance of de-
tecJlop WoulC occur only in case Won
should attempt To deposit in bank one |
OF Tie Government notes and one OF |
NINE Of The Same denomination, check
letter and number at the same time (
A discreet man can avoId this. Under