The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1909-06-20

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things followed.
The average swindler who uses the
mails is a willy fellow. He has learn
ed the art of wording his offers so
they attract the remote and indiffer-
emily educated. and SO plausible do his
statements sound that he finds easy
and ready victims. One is frankly
amazed at the credulity Of the human
race. A typewriter company of New
York induced persons to send $3.50 as
a guaranty of good faith in a copying
at home" scheme. in which the pur-
chaser was to have a typewriter and
500 sheets of paper and copy letters
at $3.50 thousand. The typewriter
proved to be toy affair that was USE
less for the work. The purchaser is
out about 50. and the firm in that
much.
One clever New York firm bought
up a lot of letters from an agency to
get addresses. then wrote each person
that he or she had won a prize. which
would be sent on receipt of $1.37. to
cover cost of boxing and packing
charges Each delighted person in
variably sent the amount, and receiv-
ed a piece of cheap iewelry worth a
few cents. A bluing company offered
a new automatic tension sewing ma
chine" to persons selling thirty pack
ages of wash blue at 10 cents apiece.
The machine proved to be toy affair
and the letter in answer to woman's
threat to sue is filed away as mark
of genuine cleverness on the part of
the artful dodger who originated the
scheme. Bogus detective agencies
were thick in the land for while.
would send star. certificate of mem
bership, credentials, ETC., to the pur-
chaser, and not until the astonished
victim had been hauled up before un-
feeling magistrates for carrying a
weapon. or for impersonating an Off
Ger, did the luckless fellow realize
that he had been the victim of
scoundrel.
The south was wrought up consider
ably few years since over the opera
tions of 1.-The National Industry Coun-
Gil" which extorted money from the
negroes under the pretense of helping
them get pension money. BY request
Of the organization q bill was introduc-
ed into congress providing pensions
for ex-slaves. This was used as
means of swindling the trusting negro
out OF his hard earnings. It was de-
clared that 500. o0O, 900 was to be sent
at once into the southern states, and
under one pretext or another money
was obtained from those who were ex-
pecting a large share of the pension.
This and several like organizations
we're suppressed by fraud orders. An
other set of enterprising folks who
found the negro an easy prey followed
on the heels Of these. A Chillicothe,
Ohio firm advertised fluid that
would turn the blacklist skins white,
and others offered liquids that would
make kinky hair straight Many Of
these were injurious preparations. and
fraud orders have put most OF the
firms out Of business.
A Dallas firm found a ready market
for mineral rods" which were sup
posed to discover gold and silver be-
low the surface of the earth. In or
der to stimulate interest in them the
firm offered to buy up all old coins
that might be revealed by this magic
Other schemes Of this kind have had
surprising success in the south. but
they, too. have been suppressed by the
government Nevada and Missouri
sprung q wonderful school Of magne-
tic healing on the public. The presi-
dent Of the institution guaranteed to
devote q certain time each day to "ab-
sent treatment" of his patients for the
sum Of s. month. payable In adj
vance. Nobody appears to have been
healed. because the president was