Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-12-05
TRAPS SET FOR CREOULQuS
FRAUDS DISCUSSED BY A POST
OFFICE INSPECTOR.
How the Mails Are Utilized to Get
Money From the Unwary.
Styles of Bait Used.

I'm spite of the vigilance of the pos
tai authorities and the energetic efforts
| of the inspecting force concerns and in
dividuaIs engaged in systematic defraud-
| ing and swindling of the credulous and
unwary through the mails continue.
though not to the extent as was once
practiced, thanks to the never-letting-go
policy successfully pursued by the de-
partment," said an old post Office in
spector.
Now that the election is past and
better times are in sight the public
should be more than ever on it's guard
| in the avoidance of specious ADVERTISE
ments and alluring prospectuses pub
| lished and issued by those who find 1t
easier to prey upon the gullible than
| to make an honest living, and particu-
! larly as regards the alleged big fortunes
which may be made out of mining stocks
| provided you purchase of course, the
| particular mining shares which the
sharks hold out in tempting terms for
| the innocent minnowS among the great
general public to bite at.
"1nVeStmentS in mining enterprises
are from necessity attended with great
| risk, and very often the honest well
| as the dishonest mining properties turn
out to be absolute failures. 1t is easy
| 10 HlfSfepIGStllt lItSt properties ana eX-
| tremely difficult to show the falsity of
| such representations. as even expert
enced mining engineers are often miSled
| or mistaken as to the extent and value
| of ore deposits, and our inspectors do
not pretend to possess the technical
knowledge and training required to de-
| termine unfailingly whether representa-
| lions as to the character OF mining prop
critics made in selling shares are true
or willfully false and misleading. In
hn tinc, oP i,,,a
| ton are increased by reason of the fact
| that the alleged mines are located in
| Mexico, South America or other foreign
| countries.
Beware of the Bait.
| Hence. these glittering circulars
which you may receive through the mails
representing fabulous profits in mines
concerning which you have no knowledge
| should be discounted in advance, and
| careful inquiry instituted before you
| there is a mine actually in the ground
and outside of the office of the concern
| sending out the printed matter which,
by the way, is usually prepared in the
most attractive manner.
"A single instance will furnish the
public with an apt illustration of the
character OF some of the fraudulent
mining schemes which are sought to be
eSpiOlleu by means OF the mails
"A company was incorporated Under
the laws of a western state with a very
| high capitalization--they usually run
the capitalization high into the millions
to befog the public into the belief that
| the mine has an intrinsic valuation
somewhere in approximation of the can
itallzation- Then they place the price
| OF the shares very low, which induces
the investors Of small means to rise to
the bait. as those schemers know in ad-
hn how
vestors and capitalists: these are not the
kind of fish they are seeking to land ,
Ihls one particular company Melted in
SIX months before the inspectors landed
them IN the governmental dragnet always
set for these fellows about $4,000 They
stated that the company held a recently
rediscovered old Spanish gold mine of
enormous proportions and wonderful
wealth located in a southwest territory.
1t seems that the discovery of this re-
markable mine was made by an old pros
pector from a story told his son by an
old Yaqui Indian whom the son had saved
from starvation in the desert and tina
inasmuch as the property had been inves-
! tigated by no less than three expert
| mining engineers and found to be rolling
in gold, as it were, all that was necessary
to roll up big individual bank accounts at
home was to send the company your
money in exchange for the stock and live
happy ever afterward in affluence.
How It Turned Out.
FINALLY the attention of the depart
ment was directed to this concern, and
when the inspectors who were detailed to
investigate the case called at the office of
the company in western city bullion and
Stag were shown Which it was alleged
were actually found upon the property.
! The inspectors had no means of disprov-
ing this statement or the other elttering
representations made in the advertising
matter of the company circulated through
the mails except by personal visit to the
mine itself. This was made in the COM
pany of an expert mining engineer and If
was found that the so-called old Spanish
mine was merely a natural cave with
nothing to Indicate the presence of yalu-
able ores, the legend regarding the dis