Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1914-03-13
swINpLEs WITHIN THE LAW
AIluring Schemes With Which Sharp
ers Ensnare the Unwary.


ers Ensnare the Unwary.
Two suave young men presented
themselves at the entrance Of home
in the residence district of st. Louis
and with a show of Difference intro
/ duced themselves to the girl who open
ed the door, Would she accept a
chance, they begged to know, by
| which she might obtain valuable por-
trait of herself, genuine aquarelle,
for nothing?
They displayed cards representing
themselves as agents Of an art gallery
which purported to have been estab-
Ilished for the respectable period Of
80 years. 1t appeared that they had
two envelopes, one Of which the girl
was to draw. II she chose the lucky
one the picture would be hers And If
she were so unlucky as to draw the
other envelope, she would be under no
obligation to buy the picture. That
could be discussed later.
The girl yielded to the temptation
which makes the word free" almost
Irresistible to human nature. She drew
an envelope. Wonderful to say, she
picked the lucky" one. The agents
complimented her upon her good for
tune and then casually asked her to
sign a receipt for the picture, as part
Of their daily report at the Office. They
gave her a printed blank and showed
her where to place her name. In her
joy over getting a work Of art" for
nothing, the girl signed without read
ing.
Before departing the canvassers in
cidentally informed her that there
would be an expense Of $1.9S just
ito cover the cost Of material" etc.
Later on, it developed, she was expect
ed to buy a twenty y-four-carat gold
frame" which would be supplied for
IS.
No such art gallery as they profess
ed to represent was listed in the city
directory. The address given was that
of another firm. The names of the
managers Of the firm printed on the
contract were not in the city directory.
This is one Of the methods Of max
| ing a living, frequent in large cities,
which Detective Chief Allender, Of St
Louis, says are within the law" On
numerous occasions, he says, he has
presented evidence of this same pic
ture- frame graft, only to be informed
by the prosecuting attorney that there
was no case against the swindlers. The
only safeguard, he believes, would be
for men and women to learn to call
policeman whenever they are offered
something for nothing"
A variation Of this scheme Is to So
| licit orders for enlsrging photographs
of deceased members Of families. The
victim does not learn until later that
| the order which he or she signed in
cluded an order for an expensive pic
ture frame. To compel collection the
original photograph is held, and, as 1t
is often the only one in the possession
of the family, the game frequently
succeeds.
A similar dodge was used in sub
scription campaign. A woman who was
already a subscriber Of a publication
was informed that II she would enter
her name for another IS months she
would receive a silver percolator. OF
which she was shown an attractive
picture. She agreed, and in due time
received the premium.
1t was a percolator and 1t was silver
plated, but it was so small as to have
been better suited for dolls cup
board than for the family tea table
To cap the climax the victim discov-
cred that, in signing the subscription
order, she had also agreed in writing
to pay so cents extra for Is months,
or 50 in all. The percolator cost per-
haps $3.50. This plan has been vari-
ed by using a carving set, OF pigmy
size, as a premium. Both are declared
to be within the law"
The most prevalent of these legal
crafts is declared by Chief Allender
to be that of overdrawing bank ac-
counts. There are more complaints
under this head. says he, than under
any other Of the class, the extent OF
the practice being almost incredible.
Not once, but several times day, mer-
chants, shopkeepers and others report
that they have accepted checks in pay
ment for purchases, invariably giving
cash as change, and then had the
checks returned with the mark, mo
Funds"
The police investigate and nearly
always learn that the sharper has at
one time had an account In the bank
drawn upon sufficient to redeem the
check. Amy honest man is likely to
make the mistake of overdrawing his
account" Is the defense, and the Of
fender, although it is morally certain
he knew his account was without
funds, is given the benefit Of the doubt.
OF course, the money may eventually
be collected, but there can be no GRIM
inal prosecution.
A new swindle, which is not literal
ly within the law" but is practically
so, because the victim not only does
not know he has been robbed but apol-
ogizes profusely to the sharper, is de-
scribed by Allender as being prevalent
in Chicago, and as likely to spread to
other cities unless merchants are fore
warned. He calls the operators ''sure-
thing thieves"
A man enters a store, makes a fifty
cent purchase, tenders twentydollar
bill, gets his change and departs. An
hour later, when the shop is at its bus
lest, a second man. Of prosperous ap-
pearance, enters and also makes half
dollar purchase. He pays with dol
lar bill, but when the change arrives
exclaims, not too loudly or indignant
| ly, that a mistake has been made. He
gave the clerk twenty-dollar bill, he
| declares.
The flustered clerk calls the floor
walker and the fioorwalker summons
the proprietor. They all attempt to