The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1914-11-27
EASY GRAFT FOR
HURT-SOLDIER
\ fAKER ON LINER
With Rich Lawyers as lncen-
tiva Doesn't Hesitate at
Real Gashes
CROOKS AND SHARPERS
ARE NOT COMING HERE
Inspector Faurot Scouts Re-
ports That They Are-TOO
Close Watch Kept

KEW YORK, Nov. PA brand
new kind OF panhaudler mas been
developed by the European war tt@
sails the ocean blue. lie clusters
! around the quays OF Rotterdam ana
Southampton, with bdndages on ms
| head and on his arms ana itss' re
| shambles and stunts his way hlo me
steerage OF the Dig liners golAe 10
| America And OH the way. over ht
| tells pitiable stories OF the 1rlghttm
sufferng the war has brought upon
him. He IL always a Belgian, for Bel
eian spells the admirable and heroic
now in the public mind ..."
He starts the telling OF his harrow
ing tales in the steerage ana tells
them necessarily, so that finally the!
| ret TO the ears of the steeTagS stew
ards. then 10 the ears Of the second
class, then to the first class stewards,
and presently the affluent passengers
OF the upper deck know the stories.
And these affluent passengers, COM
ing themselves from the scenes OF
devastation, their whole trip Tor days
having been across tragic pano-
rama. may be depended upon, with
their sympathies thus quickened, 10
look up the unfortunate and pour Law
ish charity into their hands. ..
Usually it is quite useless Tor
ships doctors and ships officers 10
Ezteil the passengers that these 'retu-.
gee" are fakes They usually can
show wounds" With rich largess
as an incentive they will cash their
heads, faces and bodies and then are
prepared to stand UP for an unwrap-
ping of their bandages. Some, how
ever, have been detected with surface
scratches barely wadded with ban
dages Ellis Island has detected and
turned back at least dozen OF these
takers. But that is figured 10 be only
about 8 per cent. OF those who have
worked the war victim dodge on
board ships. IT,.
The feature OF their story that al
/ ways calls out the biggest flow OF
gold is when they say they are com
Ing to America TO try TO build new
homes and send for families left half
starving in their wrecked native land
| but that they are without the where
withal-the $50 of cash necessary--to
permit them 10 be admitted TO the
new country. They usually get about
Eve times $50 from the wealthy pas
sengers.
On the other hand there has been
great deal printed regarding the
Influx OF crooks from the old World
TO the New because OF the war. With
practically all Europe a roaring camp
OF war, il has been declared. criminals
have deserted the, continent like rats
and have come In droves to American
portsSprincipally, OF course, New
York The Paris Apache has been
described as pulling his visored cap
well down over his eyes and taking
passage for America. They would
md an Apache colony already in this
y city. The safe-crackers and highway
\ men OF London and Paris were on
their way here. But, above all, the
willy crooks-the swindlers and card
sharps and women baiters and black
mailers from Monte Carlo and the
Riviera, from the fashionable oriental
ports--were coming on our way,
AS TO these reports, Inspector Fau-
\ rot. chief OF the detective bureau or
this city, said:
These reports of a big invasion
(. OF an invasion OF any siZe-of this
country and especially New York, by
foreign crooks is romance pure and
5 simple. IL has not happened and Is
not going to happen. This depart
ment is In closest touch with London
and Paris, and besides ! have my own
men over there, and any crook OF any
degree who tries TO come this way
is spotted. Our work is easier now
In this regard than heretofore, be.
cause the ports are fewer from which
& such undesirables could ship them
selves TO America
Besides, IL stands to reason that
the richest field for the crook just
now is Europe itself. right in the war.
swept district Families have fled
houses and left valuables behind
\ strangers, Germans, are trying TO 90.
lice cities. and amid the semi anarchy
b that exists the opportunity FOR the
thief is enormous. The dead on the
4 fields can supply them uniforms with
which they can walk unsupported
hmong the ranks OF the soldiers, and
everywhere in Europe now are men
who have been driven from their
homes and are wanderers and cannot
reasonably be expected TO give a good
account of themselves or their move
ments. The way | see H.. the war
must make OF the battlc-scarred dis.
tricts crooks paradise
AS for the polite undesirabler-the
gentleman card-sharps, the men who
r ingratiate themselves with women
only to blackmai them-to certain
extent we have always had them with
us. and certainly not to any greater
extent now than heretofore. Certainly
none such who have ever earned po-
lice attention can get past our police
barriers or wriggle their way into
harbor here. Certainly, also, there
have been no complaints OF crimes of
this nature since the war began,
granting that such crimes are often
concealed by the victims themselves
I'M fear of-the- attendant notoriety."