Rocky Ford enterprise., 1909-01-15

~ but recently retired from a
~ position high in the United
4 T[NI States secret service, I
WV found him seriously engaged
in reading the afternoon pa
per. Amazing yarns. you newspaper
men WRITE" he greeted me cheerily.
What gives you that thought?"
queried. thinking how much more
amazing were the experiences in the
life Of this man than anything he was
likely to find In the paper which he
held crumpled in his hands, and hoping
to get him started telling one of his
adventures.
Il was just reading about a green
goods swindle pulled of In New York
'oity yesterday. 1t is strange how men.
who have sense enough to accumulate
a sum of money, can be so foolhardy
as to part with 1t on palpable swindle
like this one. And yet you know" he
continued. there are some shrewd
. business men, roped In on this self
same proposition-men who are re-
spected in their home community for
their business sense"
I knew in a moment there was q
story ready for me. SO ! quietly filled
my pipe. he pushed over the bottle OF
fAvorite sherry. and this came from
him: -.
The king OF the green:goods Sharks
was Hank Bonner. alias Red" Mad
ison." Shorty" and a hundred others.
He worked in New York city. and It
was my pleasure TO make his acquaint-
ance In a picturesque manner.
Hank didn't do indiscriminate ad.
vsrtising rs do the green.goods sharks
of the present time. Not Hank. He
picked out his victims with care and
made the selection Of them a personal
matter. He would make tour
through the provinces" as he ex-
pressed It, and one OF these tours that
failed to land two e hree victims was
the rankest sort o. i failure. When
Hank had spotted his man he would
return to the city and write him a
personal letter. in which he hit out to
a dot the mans weakest point OF
character. whether 1t was cupidity.
vanity. or downright criminality. Hank
wasn't taking chances in these letters.
for he had seen his victim. talked with
him. tried him out, and SO studied
him At close range that Hank gen
orally knew more about the man than
the latter knew about himself
He kept a close tab on the men
whom he had worked and never tried
10 pull on two Jobs in the same neigh
borhood. He would nab a sucker from
Maine one week and one from Texas
the next. In making his tours he as
sumed different characters, sometimes
a gentleman Of wealth seeking q bit
of recreation. sometimes an itinerant
minister or q book agent. Whatever
character he assumed he acted It to
perfection, and never made a false
play In all his record until he tangled
up with . lanky swamp-angel from
Louisiana
Hank had been down there selling
patent churns, and at q county seat
some distance from the railroad he
had spotted q victim named Simon
BogEs. The sharp characteristic of
Bosgs' nature was his suspicion Of
everything and everybody. He must
have been of Missouri ancestry, II
there is anything in the slang express
sion that is current to-day. A really
\ suspicious man Is the easiest victim
Dof q swindle in the world. He Is SO
careful to investigate every detail Of a
proposition before he bites at II, that
II you can once satisfy him In this In.
vcstigation. he takes everything for
granted after that and you don't have
any further trouble with him.
Boggs had been written just the
right sort of letter. II was a master
piece. It IL over there in one of my
scnapbooks. and you can read It some
time II you think II viii interest you.
Il had the desired effect, for Boggs
answered with a cautious letter, in
which he said that he would have to
be shown" before he would invest in
the money. but that he would take a
small quantity II 1t was the real stun.
BHggs had more ready money than
any man In his parish, and Hank knew
that II he could rope Boggs in he
would prove well worth the plucking.
An appointment was made with the
witty Boggs and he came on to New
York to look the situation over Hank
mrt him at the depot and took him to
his rooms by a roundabout way in a
hooded carriage so that Boggs never
could have found 1t again. He was
carried into a room where money |
seemed TO be the cheapest commodity |
in the world. 1t lay about in piles on |
tables and chairs and the bed and |
floor were Uttered with 1t. His eyes
grew as big as saucers at this vulgar |
disregard for Uncle Sans currency.
He was told the customary gag
about the stolen plates and the diff |
dculty In working the money on In |
zoo large quantities in New York city. |
ut was assured that every bill In the
room would pass at the governmera |