davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-23

Commissioner of Docks. He offered coal to them at the same price he rendered it to R. Hoo.S Co. The Health Com missioner startled him by accepting the offer at once. Hanney had explained tho character of the. coal and the Com missioner said it was satisfactory. As a matter of fact, the department had less than two days supply of coal on hand, and the Commissioner was over joyed to have any kind offered to him.
 Hanney told the Commissioner pay ment would have to be made promptly. The Commissioner said he would guar antee payment within 24 hours of de- livery, as the money would be drawn from the city's emergency fund That being satisfactory the Commissioner, al MT. Hanneys request, made out an or der for 100 tons, immediate delivery and sent the order by special messenger to MT Hanney's office. A little later R.
 Hoe & Co. telephoned an acceptance for 30 tons! This was increased to 300 tons when Haney informed them the Depart ment of eHalth was taking 100 tons. They, too, sent written order by spe- cital messenger. Four or five other firms when told of the Health depart ment's action, ordered various quanti- ties of the fuel.
 Day & Hibbdrd to whom Hanney communicated late in the afternoon an order for total of $50 tons, said they would be pleased to fill it if MT. Han- ney would pay in advance or have a bank guarantee the payment. Day & Hubbard never had the pleasure of re- ceiving an order fro mMr. Hanney be- fore, and must be pardoned for their conservatism but MT Hanney must ap- preciate their position. They had been unable to find MT Hanney's name in the Mercantile Register and he was unknown to such gentlemen in the coal trade as they had inquired of. In fact all they knew of MT. Hanney was that he had called them on the tele- phone, asked about the price of coal and now was telephoning an order amounting to a good many thousand dollars
 MT. Hanney said he would go at once to Day l& Hibbard's office. MT. Day said
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-23

MT. Day said that while MT. Hanney ap- parently had orders for $50 tons of coal the firm of Day x Hubbard would be Mir Haney would give a guarantee Day x Hubbard would not hesitate to take the other persons and if there was any development that was troublesome Day & Hubbard would be the sufferers. Now, if Mir Hanney would not hesitate to take the orders off his hands. No doubt his bankers would give satisfactory assurance of his financial standing Possibly that would suffice.
 Hanney looked at his guests. They were past middle age, ultra-conservative and bit suspicious. He had only one card to play.
 MT. Day." he said, addressing himself to the senior partner. "I can give no guarantee or bond except my good name. You are doubtful about me on account Of my youth and because what I have done today is a little out of your routine. I cannot refer you to my banker because l drew the last $35 had in the world out of the bank this evening to pay for the dinner we have eaten. I did not need so much, it appears for neither you nor MT Hubbard took wine, although I had method in my madness in urging you have stazed everything on this deal. The everything is not much, perhaps, just the $35, the work I have done today and the hope that went with it, but to me it means just the same that your banks balances, your energies, your plans, your hopes do. Let me tell you my story. It only takes in two days and I'll make 1t brief" And then he started. From the worry he felt over the lowness of the coal in his bin in his modest home, and his visit to the dealer in Cranford. and his talk with him, and his accidental finding of the postal card advertisement, he carried his narrative along stage by stage, until he brought 1t to the Delmonico dinner. He had meant to make it short, but he did not. He was so full of the subject and felt so strongly about it that he developed every detail that had an important bear Ii ing on the story. He even told of the
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-23

holes and put up a derrick or so He takes out a claim and goes through all the operations that he would with legitimate enterprise. There may be some photographs taken and money spent in printing. Then the stock is gotten out at s1 per share. and the ad vertisements are put in the paper. Some such schemes are sold for mil lions, and then a report is made that the gold lead has played out.
 Tt Is the same with rubber planta : tions in Mexico, many of which are paid for in installments until the time the trees are supposed to come into bearing. Often the title is no good to such lands, and the photopraghs of the plantations are those of other rub Der dictricts. perhaps far away. Not frequently the man who hand les stock has his office in his carpet bag, where he carries the seal of the company, and moves about from place to place. One man tried to sell me $4000 worth of stock in fake mining scheme. He came here to Washington, and we afterward found that he had the seal with him, and that he signed with his own hand the names of both secretary and president on the certif- cates. We had draft for si000 sent to him to Chicago, and he went there straightWay to receive 1t. In the meantime 1t was so directed that some one else opened it. You see, we never open mans mail except by mistake. This draft was on a bank which did not exist in Chicago. and we had our man there to arrest him. He is now serving term in the penitentiary.
 Side Lights on the Wireless
 "1t is impossible to know how wide .ly these schemes extend" said Inspec- tor Sharp. They swallow up the saw
 rgs of army officers. the insurance money of widows and the savings of all classes, even to the government clerks. Take the Wireless Telegraph company. 1t has cost the people mill lions. One of the first evidences I had or its extent occurred shortly after l came to Washington. We had al- ready begun to draw our nets around it and the Washington Post came out With a great scare head saying that the scheme was a fraud and would be investigated. At that time I was liv- ing al a quiet boarding house here. and was eating my breakfast there when the paper was delivered. An old lady sitting next to me took the Post and held il close to her eyes. She then dropped it and put her hands over her heart, saying:
 ''I wish the government would stop meddling with legitimate business They have attacked the United Wire less Telegraph company and they will hurt the stock. have $500 invested in it."
 At the same time young girl on the opposite side of the table. q clerk in the treasury, said: I hope so, too. have got $50 in Wireless. I took it as q flyer.
 "These people thought I was a clerk in the Postofrice Department and they
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-23

spasm of weakness that shot through him
 when he saw the looks of astonishment
 chagrn and antagonism that his guests displayed when they discovered 1t was a were youth they had come to meet. He
 told, too, how he had studied them
 throughout the dinner, hoping to find
 some show of warmth or unbending, but
 they had given no evidence of thawing. And now, gentlemen" he said, in closing, you may accept these orders or not, just as you please. I have act ed fairly, honestly and legitimately throughout, l saw an opportunity that you gentlemen did not see, although it was your business to see 1t. If you do not want to fill these orders l shall notify each of the concerns from which I obtained an order of the reason why | I cannot fill it. Meanwhile let me call
 your attention to the fact that your l cigars are out. Let us have fresh | ones." With that he summoned the | waiter.
 1 Messrs. Day &s Hubbard looked al
 each other MT. Day was angry. He had l been in the coal busness nearly 4C
 years and he resented being told by a 1 boy that he had neglected fine op-
 portunity which as an alert coal mar
 he should have seen at once. He re-
 scented it particularly because it was | absolutely and abominably true. He l threw the stub of his cigar on the car pet and glared at Hanney, as Hanney
 not accepting his refusal of fresh
 cigar insisted on his taking one.
 l MT. Hubbard, who never was known
 to oppose his senior partner before, had
 been touched more than Mr. Day had any realization of by the simple, graphic
 story told by the young man, and he
 said bluntly that he heartily favored
 the taking over of Hanney's orders. He accepted the fresh cigar from young Hanney smilingly and graciously. and
 then when he had 1t smoking to his
 satisfaction turned and with an ag- gressiveness that made Mir Day sit up
 said: William 1t would be almost dis honorable for us to reject MT. Han neys orders. We must carry out his l contracts. for he made them relying
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-23
FRAUDS UNCLE SAMS MAILS-By Frank G. Carpenter

ment service and they were proof of the general rule. Once rascal, a rascal again."
 "Take, for instance. the case of a millionaire lawyer, now in the peniten- tiary. He thought he could not be touched. but he wound the coils around him until he finally gave himself up, saying he would rather receive thou sand penitentiary sentences than suf- fer the wear and tear on his nerves while waiting for the ax which he knew must certainly fall This man could not post letter without we were aware of it. He could not pay his in- surance policies, he could not make a step but it was reported The re- suit was he gave up.
 The Sucker List
 You would be surprised to learn How well this swindling system is or ganized,p continued the chief inspec- tor. "I do not know that there is any fixed combination, but there seems to be a brotherhood by which the men in the business can communicate with one another more quickly than by. tele graph. They have their own cod8 and if man is arrested in San Francis co today 1t is pretty sure to be known to all the swindlers over the country
 "All of these men have lists of ad dresses of people who may be easily victimized. These are called sucker lists, and they are classed according to the ease with which the men may be swindled One list may be headed hard suckers. another easy suckers and third will take any, fool thing. The big swindlers- have their agents
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-23

he was cory, but he had an engagement up town which he could not break This would engage him until after p. m. MT. Hubbard would not care to close the deal without MT. Days approval.
 Hanney was desperate. He had antici- pated trouble with the firm, but not de- lay of this sort. Unless he could close the transaction promptly his orders would not hold good
 "Mr Day" he said, still talking over the telephone, '1 am in a most embarrass- ing position. I have been too busy today to go to your office. Now that I am able to go there you have an engage ment up town. In view of the size of my order and the circumstances attending 1t think you should decide regarding it today. Why cannot you and your part her have dinner with me at Delmonico's s at D. m? You can telephone to your homes and explain how you are delayed in town"
 MT. Day was reluctant at first, but when lIarney urged to the point of in- sistence he accepted for himself and partner.
 When Mir Day and MT. Hubbard asked for Mir. Hanney at Delmonico's and were escorted to the table that gentleman had eneaeed they looked the astonishment they lelt at tne youth ol tHeii Host. u was the first time Hanney had been in Delmonico's, but he was well bred, had excellent manners and talked delightful ly. By common consent there was no mention of business until the dinner, which was excellent. was over. Then Hanney introduced it.
 "Gentlemen," he said, "I see no good reason why you should not fill the or ders for coal which I have obtained. I am not a coal merchant, but in this case I certainly am a coal broker l have writ ten orders from some of the city depart ments and from some of the largest in- dustrial establishments in the city These guarantee payment on delivery except in relation to the city departments, and there the payment is practically im- mediate. I got your assurance of SIP alton rate before accepting any of these orders"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-23

and branch offices scattered over the country to whom they send instructions and sucker lists
 Take, for instance. c. E. Mitchelll of Spokane, Wash, whom we convict ed last May. He was an X-mining newspaper reporter, lecturer and theat- rical manager who dealt In fake mines, taking in hundreds of thousands of dol lars for stock, and paying dividends out of the funds received. In writing one of his agents he said: This includes all the people who have ever bought shares of me. l give them our best propositions and use follow-up letters. I am sending you letter 1 have just received from Mrs. Blank. She is not a heavy investor herself but has broth CTS who are well healed and 1t is worth while to cultivate the family In an- other letter this man wrote that he had a wealthy German in Iowa who would take $50,0O0 in German American stock if we (MitchelD would answer his questions. He. continued; Will I? I should say so! We will make 50 per cent on this deal.'
 Fake Mines
 We have all sorts of fake mining swindles," continued the inspector. They are backed by men who send an agent to Arizona or Nevada or some other state of the west well known for it's copper, silver or gold. This agent is instructed to get some land near the gold mines, and he, perhaps, spends S1O0 or so to buy the side of noun tain. He then has fraudulent min ing engineer to make a report on tho property, and he may even dig few
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-23

ernment and the people, and I would like to have you say that it is Uncle Sam and the Postoffice Department wbo are con victing the rascas The government IS bigger than any one man, and we wahjl to make these swindlers know that it is' the government and not individuals who are after them. We want them to know that the government is bigger than any individual, and that no matter how rich or influential the rascal may be, he IS on a level with the poorest of his kind in the eye of this institution.
 'These were the instructions which the postmaster general gave me when took charge. He urged us to be sure that we were right and to then go ahead without fear or favor. That is what we are doing. When we arrest man we follow the same procedure. it makes no difference whether he is a millionaire or a pauper, whether he is the head of the policies of a city or an individual voter. I have in- structed my men to make no change in the arrest of a millionaire over that of negro stealing a ham Thepatrol wagon is back up to the door of the palace, and we take the rich swindler handcuffed to jail. He has all of his rights at the trial, but if he does not make good i,e goes be- hind the bars just as surely as dues the negro who purloins ham,. It is this pup licity that the millionaire swindler ob- iects to and also the fact that his in- fiuence and money count nothing.
 This is the only way to treat these' fellows" continued the chief Inspector. "The department has tried again and again to put down swindling through the mails, but in the past every lime man of prominence and good banking connec- tions was arrested he could command his politicians to have the department ease him. and the that the work could not go on"
 Professional Mail Swindlers
 But are there many men who make a profession of swindling the public through the mails?'
 There have been thousands of them,' said the chief inspector. "and there are hundreds who are working in that way today. We are now engaged in prose- cutting some of the richest and most powerful, with the idea that if we sup press those at the top we are bound to get the smaller rascals by and by AS result the smaller men are fright ened. We have. located many of them, and we get reports every day or so from the ostmen that their offices are closed and that there is no one to receive their mail'
 You ask about this class of swind- ling as a profession. We have life rec ords of the chief swindlers, and we can trace them from one fraudulent scheme to another. Now it is a fake rubber scheme. now a fake mining scheme and next, perhaps, fake land jobbing scheme. Take Huston, who was once treasurer Of the United States. and who we recently convict-- ed. In going back over his records, we found tracks of his swindlngs long before he came Into the goyernrl
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-23

Copyright 1911, By Frank G. Carpenter.)
 Washington, D. c. one of the back rooms of the big
 postoffice building here in Washing
 ton sits a man who is unknown to the tal, but he can go the length of Penn sylvania avenue without raising his hat in response to a bow. He has but few acquaintances, and almost no intmates Nevertheless, he is one of the most i'm portant men in the United States govern ment, and to many who have guilty con- sciences he represents the ghost of the penitentiary, which haunts them day and night.
 The man is the chief inspector of the Postofice Department, a man who has not only to watch the four hundred odd millions of dollars which go in and out or that office in the course of the year, but to keep track of the crimes of it's 300,0O0 employees, and to see that every bit of its IA billion pieces of mail is hon. estly carried. e This in itself is job; but when to the crimes on the inside are added all the crimes and swndles carried on through the mails, all burglaries of postoffces. all stealing of stamps and padding returns, you will see that the wires of his influ- ence reach to every man, woman and child in the country, and that upon him the most of us depend for protection
 The Chief Inspector
 The name of the chief inspector is Rob ert s. Sharp, and, singularly enough he is the son of A. c. Sharp. who held this same office when MT. Gresham was post master general, and who at that time put down the Louisiana lottery and wiped out ali sorts of chance games through the mails. MT. Sharp recently acted as one of the internal revenue commissioners and it was his work among the ruoonshin- CTS of the Tennessee mountains that caused Postmaster General Hitchcock to ask him to aid in putting down the mail swindlers. He took charge only about !, year ago, but since that time he has al- ready convicted and punished men who nave defrauded the people of perhaps S2O1O00.C00. He has today score of such miilionaires under the harrow, and a ha,s dozen or more have already been put be- hind the bars.
 should like to introduce you to the chief postoffice inspector. but that is im- possible. He will not allow his face to be published, does not like to have his name mentioned, and I doubt whether the apartment house where he lives here in Washington knows that he is anything more than a mere government clerk He does not like to talk, and it was only through suggestion from the postmaster general that it might be well to let the people know what Uncle Sam is doing to protect his children from the wIcs of the swindlers that he gave me an interview.
 Uncle Sams Work
 Tt is my business to keep in the back ground, This work. is done for the gov
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-23

profit in big way by taking advan- tage of the smokeless bituminous ad- vertisement of that New York firm. He hurried from the station to his home and told his wife all about it. She had unlimited faith in Hanney and thought his idea splendid. Her enthusiasm de- lighted Hanney at first, but he knew his scheme at best was wild one and on his calm second judgment he saw so many chances of failure that he all most lost heart. His mind was so full of his scheme that he slept little that night, but rolled and tossed in bed In the morning he ate hurriedly and went to the city by an earlier train than usual. When his employer arrived Han ney told him what he planned doing and the boss. who was a kindly man, gave permission to the young man to take as much time as he needed in try ing out his scheme.
 Tt may work said the boss. At any rate. there is no harm in giving test to it. Good luck to you"
 Hanney used the telehone that morn ing as he never had employed it before. First he called up Day x Hubbard. Yes, they assured him they had goodly quantity of smokeless bituminous-two boatloads in fact. The price? Twelve dollars was the quotation, but that price held good only for one day.
 Next Hanney called up R. Hoe & Go. Did they want coal at S14 ton? They did. Who was offering it? MT. God frey Hanney, coal broker, was offering it. No, the strike was not ended, and there was so sign of it ending. Mir Hanney was prepared to furnish to R. Hoe & Co. smokeless bituminous coal coal of the best quality-coal that would not involve the company in trouble with the city departments.
 Hoe & Co.,, although desperately pressed for coal, asked time to think the proposition over, and would com municate later. MT. Haney gave his tel ephone number to them, and a few min utes later was talking to the president of another concern.
 About II a. m. he called up the Com missioner of the Department of Health, the Commissioner of Charities and the
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-23

on the fight. During the fight some unforeseen thing always happened and the money was lost. In some cases one of the prize fighters held rubber bag of blood or red ink in his hand which burst as he struck his opponent. giving claim to the statement that the man had hemorrhage and was, there fore, defeated We convicted Mabray and nine of his associates, and made them pay a fine of 1000 as well as serve two years in the penitentiary."
 Burglarizing the Postoffice
 "Is much money stolen from the post offices?"
 Yes. We have professional burglars who seem to deal only with postoffices. They have stolen great quantities of stamps and at times considerable money a s well. Not long ago a robbery occurred in the postoffice at Minneap- oils, where S00.000 stamps were carried away. The thieves entered the post office at night and opened the safe with a diamond drill. They took their plunder to Chicago and disposed of 1t there through men who acted as post age stamp fences. They had still about s4ooO worth of stamps left when they were caught and convicted
 "One of the largest postofflce rob- berries Of recent times" continued tho chief inspector, was that which occur red at Richmond in March 1910. In this case stamps to the value of oyer sS4,OO0 were stolen. the vault being entered by drilling whole under the combination knob This whole was threaded with a steel thread cutter and then by a jimmy and screw the lock was forced back. The inner doors of the vault were opened in the same manner.
 This work was done by Eddie Fay, a man who escaped from jail in Wis consin short time before, while await ing trial there for the robbery of the postoffice a West Superior Fay was known to be the leader of the gang which had robbed the postoffice in Chi cago of s74.000 in 1901. He posed as a retired business man living at Taco ma, Wash, under the name of R. J. Cummings. He owned real estate in Tacoma and was considered a respec- table citizen. We got on his track by tracing his trunks. one of which was sent to the Grand Central station, New York Inside the trunk was 327,O00 in two-cent postage stamps. It was claimed by Fay. who was thereupon arrested, and, to make a long story short, was convicted of burglary, fined s6000 and sentenced to serve ten years in the federal penitentiary at Atlanta. Ga