The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1910-05-03
Copyright by Rorsor Publishins Co

i pears, q COW That gave
milk for the boarders -
at the summer hotel and hens that 10
laid eggs for them. John was making e
what the neighbors called good liv-
ing for himself and wife and three
children
One day John went to the postofhce
and was surprised to receive a nice,
CONFIDENTIAL letter from James w.
Snowden, of t he Rio Vista Banana
Company of New York. whose planta-
tons were In Ell Campo, Brazil, offer
ing MIN shares In the company at low
ngures that were soon to be advanced
SO per cent There was prospectus
accompanying the letter explaining all
about the plan John didn't know Mr..
Snowden, but Mr.. Snowden seemed to
know him. and as he required but a
little money, only $40 MONTH and
guaranteed him two per cent month
on MIS- investment, 1t was easy for
Jonn, on his way home, to sketch
future OF purple and gold, especially
az the circular said that the food prod
uct OF the banana is to that of the
potato as A to and to that of wheat
- 1913 to l. Z
Next day he sent the first SO to
the Rio Vista Banana Company and
by return mail received ten shares of ,z,SF(~
the STOCK and contract which he #zzz1z
signed and forwarded to New York
for 20 months he kept sending $40
month. but no dividend was returned
Inen ne wrote to Mr.. Snowden, max
ing anxious inquiry as to why he was
receiving no profit on his $3.50 invest
ment. Mr.. Snowden replied that IN 0S=
the spring the Rio de Janeiro had T2c
overlooked its banks and the nlan+o- eI1S
ton had been flooded This had k,l,oa ne
the banana trees and they had all had
to be replanted; but the prospects were hrioh+
ior big crop the next season and tho nlar+o.
ZION would probably not require renewa, for
10 or ~ years. He must be a little natient a md
meantime bear In mind that the product of an
acre OF bananas was A times that of wheat
jonn shook his head, but sent two more
ten-doliar installments the last of which was
returned to him unsealed with the word "Fic-
t1tlous" stamped in big type slantingwise
across the envelope. Dazed, he asked the vii
lage postmaster what that meant
Means there amt no such company or
that It's fraud" explained the postmaster
John said nothing, but went home looking
very thoughtful. Two hundred and seventy dol
lars gone!
But out of this experience John derived
one satisfaction. When he received circular
from the Inland Seas Copper Mining Company
OF New York. Offering him large profits on
small monthly investment. he pencied the
word Fictitious" across the top of it in big
letters and sent 1t back. But copies of the
same circular caught three men in his county.
Now. II John had but known it. Fictitious
was stamped all over the banana bait upon
which he had bitten. just as 1t is stamped
upon the literature Of many advertising COM
panies that offer large profits to outside in
vestors, only the dupes don't see It
John 10 the type Of sucker who was for
op1v nv he nod
though in paying good money for secondhand
sawdust he would have said nothing about 1t
to Jennie. The only reason why John and
thousands of others throughout the country
are becoming part owners In Coffee banana
and rubber plantations, gold mines, cotton
fields, irrigation lands. timber lands, oil wells
and many other enterprises instead Of pur-
chasing green goods and gold bricks and get
ting into and out Of similar games is because
these latter schemes are no longer profitable
to their operators on account of the extreme
risk in conducting them.
Evolution in fraud. as in everything else
10 the order Of the day. The crooks have been
educating themselves They have yearned for
higher order Of things and they have at
tanned to It. Besides the higher order OF
things IL the safer order. To sell man q
brass brick for q gold one IL crime and no
valid defense for it can be set up in court:
OUT 00Ill08 UuaIe3 III y TuUO0r company, WHICH
IL an easier game, 10. on the face of it, not q
crime. and to convict such an offender Of fraud
IL often very difficult
In getting his education the surething op
orator has passed through various stages Of
progress. The now unsafe shell game, gold
brick and green goods swindles which he oper-
ated with such profitable results In the eight
les and the early nineties made way for the
half-interest game which hourished ten years
ago and the employment game which is still
going on, though not to its former extent. The
half interest advertiser sold you partnership
IN anything from a peanut stand to a piano
factory and when you had bought 1t the next
thing was to find it. or If you found 1t you dis
covered the it belonged to somebody else, who
knew nothing about the man who sold 1t to
you. The employment game consists Of an
opportunity to sell on high salary the goods
or stock of q company In which you must hrst
buy shares. Then when you have paid over
your money you are assigned territory. gen.