The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1909-01-19


in reading the afternoon pa
per Amazing yarns. you newspaper
men write" he greeted me cheerily.
What gives you that thoughtY
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 on IN New York
city yesterday. II is strange how men.
who have sense enough TO accumulate
sum OF money. can be so foolhardy
as to part with Il on palpable swindle
like this one. And yet YOU know" he
continued there are some shrewd
business men roped in on this self
same proposltion-mon who are re-
spected in their home community for
their business sense"
knew in a moment there was a
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 II
was my pleasure TO make his acquaint-
ance In picturesque manner
Hank didn't do indiscriminate ad-
vertising as 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 tie would make a tour
through the provinces" as he ex-
pressed e. and one Of these tours that
failed to land two or three victims was
the rankest sort Of a failure. When
Hank had spotted his man he would
return 70 the city and write him
personal letter. In which he BIT out to
dot the mans weakest point OF
character. whether II 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 al 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
Tnfu
the next. In making his tours he as
sumed different characters. sometimes
a gentleman Of wealth seeking a bit
OF recreation, sometimes an itinerant
minister or book agent Whatever
character he assumed he acted 1t to
perfection, and never made false
play In all his record until he tangled
up with a lanky swamp-angel from
louisiana
Hank had been down there selling
patent churns. and at a county seat
some distance from the railroad he
had spotted victim named Simon
Boggs. The sharp characteristic OF
Boggs nature was his suspicion Of
everything and everybody. He must
have been OF Missouri ancestry, IL
there is anything in the slang expires
sion that is current to-day. A really
suspicious man is the easiest victim
OF a swindle in the world. He is so
careful TO investigate every detail Of a
proposition before he bites at it, that
IL you can once satisfy him in this In.
vestigation, 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. It was master
piece. It is over there in one or my
scrapbooks. and you can read it some
time If you think IT will interest you.
It 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 stuff
Boggs had more ready money than
any man in his parish, and Hank knew
that If he could rope Boggs in he
would prove well worth the plucking
An appointment was made with the
willy Boggs and he came on to New
York to look the situation over. Hank
met him at the depot and took him to
his rooms by roundabout way in a
hooded carriage so that Boggs never
could have found it again He was
carried into room where money
seemed to be the cheapest commodity
in the world. II 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 gas
about the stolen plates and the diff
ficulty in working the money of in
too large quantities in New York city
but was assured that every bill in the
room would pass at the government
treasury or any bank in the city
Boggs had to be shown. He was dl