The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1909-05-19
Uncle Sam Hot on the Trail
Of the Mail Order SwindIers

: to be bits of floss a foot in length
and absolutely valueless for use in
fancy work.
There's a sucker born every min
Ute was the axiom coined long ago
by far-seeing mortal. That was
good in it's day, very good, indeed.
But it was much improved when
some time later an observer of man
/ kind-and some women-added land
some are twins"
Little Chance for Skin Games"
Strictly speaking the offers men,
toned were lived up to. In every
case the agreement was fulfilled, and
that was supposed to end the mat
ter. The government thought 9TH
erwise, however, and proceeded to
put those thoughts into execution.
| While every promise was literally
carried out by those who had separ-
ated gullibles from their money, the
advertisements were so worded as to
! be misleading. Taking cognizance
Of this the pOstoffice authorities in
augurated a campaign that has been
I productive of results. From a Skin
/ game" of the most fragrant type the
|
thrives to an astonishing extent, has
been reduced to a legitimate basis,
and only those concerns whose prop
ositions are well within the rigidIy
drawn lines laid down by the depart
ment are supposed to exist.
There was no limit to which these
mail order grafters would not go in
the old days. They are not extinct
! by any means, though those still at
| 1t are careful 20 keep under cover.
Not long ago a Detroit woman
saw an advertisement in a magazine
of a beautiful parasol sent prepaid
upon receipt of 81. Selecting the
color she preferred she mailed a dol
/ lar bill, and in a few days received
; small box. Opening this she was
chagrined to find that the parasoI
was a dimunitive Japanese affair,
the frame covered with paper, and
which could have been duplicated in
a dozen local stores for 10 cents.
She carefully hid the box where 9TH
er members of the family would not
see what had happened, but in an I'M
guarded moment cOnfded to a friend
in the strictest secrecy how she had
! been caught. OF course the friend
had another friend, and in the end
the bargain-seeker had to undergo
a lot of good-natured chatting.
No less brazen are the adver-
tisements that occasionally Green
through Offering a thoroughly re-
liable time-piece" for $2.49, or what
ever price may be charged. When
it arrives the recipient discovers
that he is the possessor of a sun
dial put up in a cheap case to re-
! semble a watch-actual value 90
cents.
Crooked Schemes Can't Last.
There are scores of ot66r schemes
| sprung, but they seldom get farther
than that. Almost before they an
! pear the columns of the mail order
magazines are scanned by pOstoffice
inspectors, and every offer that looks
the least bit suspicious to the trained
eyes of these men is investigated
| forthwith. If found to be irregular
the individual or concern is put out
of business at once.
| For a stated figure you can each
month receive from firms which
make speciality Of this class of work
lists of those engaged in the mail
order business all over the country.
Comparing the current list with the
one of the previous month you would
ind that possibly IL per cent of
these mentioned were newcomers.
If all these were to be answered in
the return mail you would in the
course of a few days get back at
least 10 per cent. of the letters sent
out, with the word "fraudulent'
stamped across the face of the en-
yelope That is as far as most of
these concerns get, the postofffce au-
thorities closing them out before the
returns on their first advertisement
begin to come in. Even if they get
by safely the first month the second
advertisement does not appear, and
they are listed among the undesira-
bles.