Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1912-08-17
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Z Chicag0is o paradise Tor swindlers,,
says an sl6kchHngei4Hiaq Att 10. III Hei
Those si4atel persons. who sell stock
In mines that don't exist, ten-acre
tracts where, nothing htt sea,weed ana %,
typhoid germs will thrive and those
nrooping iblack, mustachsd felioWss
whose games is lone variation 9r an an;
othernof the, old which shell - the
pea under" game, find easy ickings
here. = To those indiyiduals who use
the mails to. defraud Chicago is notn.
ing more than .Jayyille- on the Lake. ~ ~
This. all became known today when
James. H. Wifkerson, United States
district attorney, and half a dozen
United States postofffce. inspectors IN
the Chicago district commented on the
annual report of Postmaster General
Hitchcock, made public in Washington
to-day. The report set forth that swim
dlers during the fiscal year that CLOS
ed July / reaped the record harvest or
500 100000 by fraudulent use OF the
mails. During the year the postoffice
inspectors trapped. 1858 of the, come
on" men at their games, but, In the
words of Davy Crockett, 1.-THE woods
are still full Of 'em: = 2
4one-Tenft Operate tiere.3r S..s:T { 9,
More than 10 per cent. OF the con-
fidence men who are so ,successfuI IN
the United States operate here in Chi
eaeo.n declared District Attorney VIII
kerson. I'VE have cases OF all Hnas:
The green goods man, the fake golo
mine, the rubber plantation on which
no rubber grows, the, farm lands tnat
are under water-oh, yes, we have EN-
an There Are bucket shops, WI
ards. mail order concerns, manutae-
turing plants" and every concelVaDie
scheme, the sole object OF which Is
to separate. the fool on his money
I'VE had a case not long ago III
which the defendant contracted
through the mails to sell the come on
whole satchel full OF counIerlel'
money for few real dollars. Inen
we had a fellow who advertised tnaC
he could grind 81 bills from a macnlhe
of his invention faster than Mll"au-
kee avenue butcher can grind out I'M
uorted German frankfurters.
"con Games" Numerous.
FAKE mail order concerns are hu-
merous. You can't count the nnmoer
of mining companies that are golu
bricks When people get 'stung tney
rush to the government to see II they
can't somehow get their dollars DacK'
when the patrons 'squeal is Wnen we
get on the swind1er's trail. There are
so many varieties of con games WORK
ed. that it is a difficult task 10 caIa'
Iogue them all. -,
"Swindlers? Say, the town Is 1uii VI
EN-" said one Of the postoHlce N
spectors under General James T.
Stuart, inspector in charge; 1T strikes
me that Chicago people will ouy eV'
-erything. When l see crowd In tne
street blockading traffic l, eXpect "
find a man selling stock in the Geioeh
Moon Gold Mine Company. II ne gets
arrested for blocking the street. INC
fellow will probably sell the cop q
block of stock on the way TO the sta-
ton. All the fall guys aren't IN Ine
little towns. Most Of them are mere
in Chicago.
Schemes Are Simple.
The schemes these fellows "olN
are simple. The victim STANDS ho
show. He is sold stock in gold mines
where there is no gold, and stock III
rubber plantations where the only
rubber for miles around is the little
hand that keeps the incorporation pa,
per from unrolling. The come Oh
buys land to which the seller never
w