davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-10-03

E Has Put $1,000 Them Out Business During the Past Four YeScemes
That Reap Big Harvest From the Sick the Ignorant and the CmesThe Post
Office Departments Big Collection Beauty Recipes and HEALTH app
and Wlhen the GtFc Quick Concerns Made 100000 YeaA
the Fraudulent Ways Of Obtaining ofMals.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-10-03

schemes. Uncle Sam is the possessor of
hundreds of sentimental and heart
rending matrimonial letters unique In
their kind, which he has collected from
matrimonial bureaus. These agencies
for Cupid come in for a large share of
his attention. for he likes a square deal
in all such cases. Woe be to the indi-
vidual who trifies with the affections Of
any of his people, whether they be six
teen or seventy! 1t is remarkable how
many people take an invisible chance
at matrimony by means of the mails,
and send along their guaranteed checks
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-10-03

to close the transaction. The inspectors
of the department find these cases very
hard to unearth. as wounded affections
are delicate things to deal with.
Uncle Sam often finds 1t difficult to
prosecute these dispensers of enchant-
ing beauty recipes and prescriptions.
The promoters have a monopoly in the
get-rich- quick part of the scheme, and
are able to employ legal talent to de-
fend them when they are hailed before
the department to show cause why a
fraud order should not be issued against
them.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-10-03
h America Thinks About the Yankee Trade

LEADING Men Are Receptive and Willing Meet
l. They Do Not Consider Task Of Building Up
Men Think B-Among the Masses However,
"Amn PePels Attitude Toward
Pdos Conception O American Policy.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-10-03

or two of them.
Indeed. it is OF primary Importance
to eradicate this prejudice from the
minds of the Americans-the belief that
the other nations of the Americas live
in continual internal strife, and that
commerce and industry in these nations
have no guarantees of peaceful prog
ress. Nothing, without exception. is
more false than this impression. The
ardor of our political struggles which
at times flares f1ercely. is no more Sc
rious nor of longer duration than. for
instance, the occasional strikes of min
ers in the Pittsburgh coal region And
whenever we have exciting political in
cidents the persons and property of
forei gners within our borders are suf-
ficiently guaranteed from injury be-
cause of these transitory agitations."
DR.. Polo said that the visits Of promi-
nent Americans to South America can
do much to dispel popular illusions in
the United States regarding the stabil.
ity of government in South America
He concluded:
1.-The course to be pursued in pam
American politics by the United States
Is a discreet and simple policy, easy of
execution and certain of good results.
The rule of equality in treatment in our
international relations; the preserva-
ton of the peace of America, control-
ling the more impetuous of some Of tho
countries, which may seek to coerce the
others with threats: the granting of
more liberal rules by the sanitary au-
thorities at the Panama canal: to act
with resolution in defense of the inter.
ests Of pan-America against opposed
interests; not to forget that the United
States is more concerned in the rest Of
America than in the politics of Eu.
rope. Asia or Africa, and finally, to re-
alize well that tho destiny OF the
Americas depends upon the sincere
union Of the nations, with the United
States at the head of it-these should
be the ideals of Americas policy"
Copyright, 1915. by Robert F. wilsou.)
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-10-03

N N NILE SAM is tne largest COL
lector of beauty recipes and
II u prescriptions for health, hap
piness and wealth in the world.
In the archives of the Post
ONCE Department there are thousands
of these recipes which are said to pro-
duce any Of the much to- be-desired re-
suits in an astonishingly short time.
and the toll charged Is all the way
from a postage stamp to thousands Of
dollars. However strange as II may
seem, the fortunate thing Is that after
they reach the department. in nine
cases out of ten they never reach the
public again. but are carefully filed
away for future reference.
This is not because Uncle Sam is op-
posed to the benefiting and beautifying
means, but because from careful in
vestigation he has found that these re-
overtime trying to keep gullible peo-
Of his people who can least afford to
lose II.
During the last four years these over
health helpers, get-rich- quickers and
happiness promoters have swindled
the public out of over s239 200. 900, or
at the rate of about 6o.o00.ooo a year;
and this in spite of the fact that Judge
William H. Lamar. solicitor for the
Post Office Department. together with
his assistants, gets up early and works
over time trying to keep gullible peo-
pie not only from being imposed upon
by quacks and fraudulent schemes of
every description, but from endanger-
Ing their lives and property by invest
ing in the thousands of such schemes
advertised all over the country.
The promoters of the schemes do not
lack victims. for this is proved by the
figures presented by the Post Office De-
partment showing that in four years
the department has dealt with over
$4,000 cases involving fraudulent use
OF the mails for such schemes, and has
received and answered something over
100000 communications relating to the
frauds. Last year alone the investiga-
lions were undertaken in over 1000
such cases, and more than 10000 COM
plants and inquiries were received
The issuance of fraud orders against
swindlers using the mails was prac-
ucally discontinued for several years.
the government resorting to criminal
prosecution. Judge Lamar says:
AT Inc outset OF tnt present ADMIN
istration the attention of the depart
ment was called to the fact that re-
lance upon criminal prosecution to root
out the various schemes TO defraud
the public through the mails had been
ineffective: that criminal proceedings
are necessarily slow. and by means of
appeals and other methods the execu-
tion OF sentence had been deferred for
long periods, during which the con-
Germs and individuals engaged in such
fraudulent businesses had continued to
reap a harvest"
Where the penalty, as in many cases.
was merely a fine the swindlers were
amply able to pay. considering the
large revenues derived from. the bust
ness, and In the meantime continued to
prey upon the credulous.
Even after a term of Imprisonment"
Judge Lamar says, the fraudulent
schemes would be resumed upon the
release of the offender. In some cases
the operation of the fraudulent scheme
vas continued without interruption
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-10-03

that once held enthralled the beloved
eyes are now turned in another di-
are becoming more frequent"
AS the neglected wife or husband
reads this and the alluring literature
which accompanies this anti-fat or
other beauty circular, and learns that
for few dollars-as a starter-the
syiphlike figure Of youth will be re-
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-10-03


viction and imprisonment. during all
Of which time the public had been left
at the mercy of the swtndlers. in
ignorance of the prosecution and in re-
Germ which the government permitted
to use the mails. the very use OF the
mails itself being advertised by some
of these concerns as an evidence OF the
fact that they were necessarily doing
a legitimate business"
So after long and frequent confer
ences with the officials of the Post
Office Department and those OF the De-
partment of Justice. 1t was decided that
enforcement of laws providing for the
exclusion from the mails of this class
of matter was the best policy to rid
the public of the schemes.
Uncle Sam and Judge Lamar got busy
and began to hunt down the compound
ers of fraudulent beauty recipes, health
prescriptions and prescriptions for
making fortunes in twenty-four hours
or less time. and the collection in the
departments grew rapidly.
The 10000 complaints and inquiries
received by the department last year
represent only small percentage Of
there are hundreds of men and women
who have been taken in, but who do
not like to confess.
However. now and then a woman.
TOT example, whose complexion has
been irretrievably ruined by prescrip-
ton from some quack beauty doctor
Will become SO Infatuated that she will
cry out in her rage and disappoint-
ment for help and revenge. Then the
wheels of the Post Office Department
will be set going and inspectors and
agents of the government will rush
calamity to the rescue of thousands
of her sisters to save them from a
like fate.
Thousands Of people have invested a
dollar in lucky stones" which cost
two and one-half to fifteen cents, in
order to make the promoters OF this
whn ie% y snnua Tb,, or stone 10000
said to be endowed with the mystic
rious power by which lost jewelry is
restored. true and false friends pointed
out. the sick healed. the poor come
unemployed get work. hard luck is
banished. and hundreds Of secrets
which have long puzzled the greatest
scholars of all time are revealed
who were bitterly disappointed by the
stones failure to produce the wonder
full results advertised. so Uncle Sam
was notified. the concern was shut out
Of the mails and the business discon-
tinued.
Like mushrooms, these fraudulent
schemes spring up over night. and the
man who was disappointed in the
lucky stone doubtless took turn at
one of the prescriptions which Uncle
Sam now guards SO carefully and
which sold for i've dollars an ounce
IL the first offer was accepted. or three
or two dollars IL the first price quoted
was thought too high by the prospec-
tive buyer. This prescription was an
nounced to cure. by means Of drop
pins, IL into the eye. consumption.
nat foot. the morphine habit. epilepsy
and many other ills that flesh is heir
to.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-10-03

trims its sails pretty closely to what
1t believes is popular doctrine.
Another point is that the yankee
peril idea has gained a foothold chiefly
among the lower classes who, because
Of the peculiar organization of society
in most Of the South American countries,
can be left out Of the picture altogether
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-10-03

stored and all the unhappiness can be
cleared away, 1t is little wonder that
he or she answers the advertisement.
The reader sends for a sample of
the nostrum or treatment and Is
forthwith bombarded with literature
containing testimonials-usually it has
been proved, from an interested party
Then come what Uncle Sam calls "fol.
low-up letters and "come-on para.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-10-03

in the description Of most situations
without destroying the verities. The
business and governments Of these ma
lions are n the hands of very small
groups Of men. These men have well
informed, broad minds and they have
not been caught up by the antf-American
propaganda. 1t is with them for the
most part that the American exporter
has to deal
For the purpose Of showing the atti-
tude Of prom nent South Americans to-
ward American trade I have selected
from the several conversations on the
who was the min ster of foreign rela-
lions in the cabinet OF President Bena-
vides Of Peru. Senior Polo has had
broad diplomatic experience in South
the populat on. He is an ardent pro-
American himself.
In his interview he speaks particularly
Of Peru. but, leaving aside the references
typical. In several talks with me he
brought out so many interesting points
that asked him to write out a formal
statement. and the following is a trans
lation of 1t carried out in the English
idiom:
Peru" began Senior Polo. ''has been
traditionally the friend Of the United
States. In the political structure of the
the earliest times has seen the best ex-
ample Of practical democracy to be fol-
lowed here.
Peru has never doubted the Monroe
doctrine, but has from the first appre-
ciated its importance in its bearing on
the independence Of the nations Of Cen
trail and South America. Nor has Peru
ever subscribed to the belief held, or
pretended to be held. by certain suspi-
cious spirits that there is danger of
American imperialism in Latin America.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-10-03

On the contrary, Peru has continually
abided in the conviction that it is to the
best interest of the entire continent of
South America and of each country in
particular to maintain a frank and open
policy of sincere friendship with the
United States.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-10-03

The government chemists and other
experts have found that the formula
for this remarkable prescription called
for ten ounces of salt and ten ounces
of sugar dissolved in one gallon Of
hydrant water, and that the actual
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-10-03
soLoN POLO. PERUs FOREIGN MINISTER.

disorder and anarchy that disgraces one
or two of them.
Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1915-09-10

feet, though he did awake drowsily
later on at the sound of voices in the
aisle, awoke to realize vaguely that
his two table companions of the Hotel
Chouteau cafe were to be his fellow
travellers In the Pullman.
The train was made up ready to
leave, and the locomotive was filling
the great train shed with stertorous
hissings. when red-faced man slipped
through the gates to saunter over to
the Pullman and to peek inquisitively
at the porter.
Much of load tonight, George?"
mo, sab; mighty light; four young
ladies goin' up to de school in Fari-
bault, Mistah Grierson and his daugh-
ter, and gentleman from de Chou
teau."
ga gentleman from the Chouteau?
When did he come DOWN."
The porter knew the calling of the
red-faced man only by intuition; but
Griswold's tip was warming In his
pocket and he He'd at random and on
general principles.
Been heah all de evenin'; come
down right early afte' suppeh, and
went to bald like he was sick or tarr'd
or somethin'."
What sort of looking man is her"
Little, smooth-faced, narr' enlisted
gentleman; look like he might be-"
But the train was moving out and
the red-faced man had turned away
Whereupon the porter broke his simile
in the midst, picked up his carpet
covered step and climbed aboard.
Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1915-09-10
CHAPTER VII.
GriswoId Emernent.

! Half an hour or such matter after
the hue-and-cry runaway from the
curb in front of the saloon two doors
above, Mr.. Abram Sonneschein, dealer
in secondhand clothing and sweat
shop bargains, saw a possible Gus
toner drifting across the street, and
made ready the graphing hooks OF
commercial enterprise.
There was little suggestion of the
| tramp roustabout, and still less, per
haps, of the gentleman, about the per
son who presently emerged from the
Sonneschein emporium. A square far
Their ON he selected BARRIERS shop OF
clearly promise. An hour later, reach
ing the retail district, he strolled past
many brilliantly lighted shops until
he foGEd one exactly to his liking. A
courteous salesman caught him up at
the door, and led the way to the des.
ignated departments.
BY this time Mr.. Sonneschein's hes.
liant and countrif1ed customer had un.
dergone a complete metamorphosis
No longer reluctant and hard to
please, he passed rapidly from coun.
ter to counter. making his selections
with manlike celebrity and certainty
and bargaining not at all. When he
was quite through, there was enough
to furnish a generous travelling ward
robe; a head-to-foot change Of gar
MEETINGS with a surplus to fill two
lordly suitcases; so he bought the
suitcases also. and had them taken
with his other purchases to the dress
ing room.
All traces OF the deck-hand Gavitt,
and of the Sonneschein planter-cus-
toner having been obliterated, there
remained only the paying OF his bill
and the summoning Of cab. Oddly
enough, the cab, when it came. proved
to be four-wheeler driven by little.
wizen-faced man whose thin, high
pitched voice was singularly familiar.
THE Hotel Chouteau7-yis, SOFT.
Will you Place hand me thin grips?
/ can't lave me harrses."
The drivers excuse instantly tied
the knot Of recognition, and the man
who had just cremated his former
identities swore softly.
All things considered. 1t was the
Griswold of the college-graduate days
the days of the slender patrimony
which had capitalized the literary be-
ginning-who presented himself at
the counter of the Hotel Choutesu at
half-past nine o'clock on the evening
OF the Belle jules arrival at ST. Louis,
wrote his name in the guest-book and
Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1915-09-10
CHAPTER TX.
The Goths and Vandala.

In the day of its beginnings, Wa.
haska was a minor trading post on
the northwestern frontier, and an out
fitting station for the hunters and
trappers of the upper Mississippi and
Minnesota lake region.
Later, it became the market town
of a wheat-growing district. and a
foundation of modest prosperity was
laid by well-to-do farmers gravitating
to that county seat to give their chill
dren the benefit of a graded school.
Later still came the passing OF the
wheat, re-peopling of the farms by
a fresh influx of home-seekers from
the Old World, and the birth, in Wa
haska and elsewhere, of the industrial
era
Jasper Grierson was a product Of the
wheat-growing period. The son Of one
OF the earliest of the New York state
homesteaders in the wheat belt, he
came of age in the year Of the Civil
war draft, and was unpatriotic enough,
some said, to dodge CONSUMPTION, or
the chance of it, by throwing up his
hostler's job In a Wahaska livery sta
BILE and vanishing into the dim limbo
of the farther West. Also. tradition
added that he was well-spared by
most; that he was ill-spared. indeed,
by only one. and that one a woman.
After the westward vanishing Wa
haska saw him no more until be re-
turned in his vigorous prime, a vet
eran soldier of fortune upon whom t65
goddess had poured golden shoEer
out of some cornucopia of the Colorado
mines. Although ruy1or, occasionally
naming him dprihg the years of alb
sence, had Eever mentioned a wife, he
was accompanied by a daughter.
dark-ey>d, hed-lipped young woman, a
rather STICKING beauty Of a type IN
famisas 90 Wahaska and owing moth
ing. 4 could seem, to the grim. gray
wolf Jasper.
since the time was ripe, Wahaska
did presently burst its swaddling-
bands. Commercial enterprise Is
sheep-like; where one leads, others
win follow; and the mere following
breeds success, II only by the sheer
impetus of the massed forward move
ment. Jasper Grierson was the man
of the hour, but the price paid for lead
ership by the led Is apt to be high,
Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1915-09-10
CHAPTER VII-contInued.

McGrath found his handouts and
tried the key in those upon Griswold's
wrists. 1t fitted.
Now ye're fut and hand loose, I'll
say to We what ] wouldn't say to a
cripple. Wan is that ye're not Gavitt;
ye're no more like him than am. Let
that go. Ye've been up to some devil
try. But that's all over and gone.
What'll We be doing next?"
Griswold took leaf out of the past.
Safety in former peril had grown
out of breakfast deliberately eaten
in cafe next door to the Bayou State
Security.
What would do but finish my Job
on the Julie?" he said, pushing the
theory to its logical conclusion.
The mate shook his head. "Ye
needn't do that; the cops might be
coming down here and running you in
again How much pay have We DRAWN"
Not any"
McGrath took a greasy wallet from
his pocket and counted out a deck
hands wages for the trip.
rake TINS, and III be getting II
back from the clerk. 1t might not be
good FIR ye to show up at the Office"
Griswold suffered sudden return
70 the meliorating humanities.
i've been calling you all the hard
names could lay tongue to, McGrath,
and there have been times when l
would have given the price of good
farm for the privilege of standing up
TO you on bit of green grass with no.
body looking on. / take 1t all back.
You say you haven't forgotten; nei-
Their will / forget, and maybe my turn
will come again, some day"
60 along with you.' growled the
rough-tongued Irishman, whose very
kindness had a tang of brutality in 1t.
eff you're coming across the naygur,
Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1915-09-10

matters, but am going to try to make
up for 1t In the future. I'm sorry you
couldn't come to US last evening.
Please tell your mother and sister
that / do hope wen meet. sometime.
should so dearly love to know them
Thank you 80 much for everything.
Good-by."
Raymer watched her as she drove
away, noted her skillful handling Of
the fiery Kentuckian and her straight
seat in the flying cutter, and the smile
which day or two earlier might have
been mildly satirical was now openly
approbative.
"She is a shrewd little strategist.-
was his comment; but all the sams
she is a mighty pretty girl. and 40
good and sensible as she is shrewdy
wonder why mother and Gertrude
haven't called on herr"
Having thus mined the Raymer out
works, Miss Grierson next turned her
batteries upon the Farnhams. They
were Methodists. and having learned
that the Doctors hobby was a strug-
Cling mission work In Pottery Flat
Margery called the paternai check.
book again into service, and the cut
ter drew up before the doctors ofios
in Main street
CTo BE CcNT1NUEDO
Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1915-09-10

Griswold took the handkerchief
bundle, and the mere touch of 1t put
new life into him.
Where is the fellow who was chas-
Ing you, Mose?" he asked.
rs new gwine tell you dat; no, sub.
Las time / seed him, he's des t'arin'
off strips up de levee after turrer fell
lah."
What other fellow?"
The negro laughed and did double
shuttle at the mere recollection of it.
"Hi-yah! Turner fellah is de fellah
what done TUX my Job. Hit was des-
away: when l t'ink dat white man
gwine catch me, ssholy. / des .drap
down In de darkes' cawneh kin fin;
OATS what l done, vas, sub. He des
keep on a-goin', spat, spat, spat, an
when he come out front de Gineral
Jackson over yondeh. one dem boys
what's wukkin' on her, he TUX out.
an dat white man des tu'n hisself
loose an mex his laigs go lax he
gwine shek 'um plum on; vas, sah!"
Griswold suffered another lapse into
the humanities when he saw the list
of participants in his act growing
steadily with each fresh complication,
and he said, "I'm sorry for that,
Nose"
New you min bout dat, Cap'm.
Dat boy he been dom sonepin to mex
him touchous, Tess'n he new TUX out
dat-a-way. no, subj"
Maybe so. Well, we can't help 1t
now. Here is the twenty l promised
you"
TANK you, sub; tank you kin1y,
Cap'm. You-all's des de whites white
man ev' knowed. You sholy is"
What are you going to do with
yourself, now?" Griswold inquired.
Who, me? rs gwine up yondeh to
dat resteraw an git me de bigges'
mess O. fried fish can hol'-dat's me;
vas. subj"
"McGrath says he'll pay you levee
wages If you'll come back to the boat
and help get the cargo out Of her."
Reckon / amt gwine back to de
julie; no, sun. Datd be gittin' rich
too fas' for dis niggeh. Goodnight,
Cap'm Gravitt; an tank you kin1y,
sub"
Griswold went his way musing upon
the little object lesson afforded by
the Negroes determination. Here was
fellow man who was one OF the
feeblest Of the underdogs in the great
social fight; and with money enough
in hand to give him at least breath
ing interval, his highest ambition was
a mess Of fried fish.
The object lesson was suggestive, If
not specially encouraging, and Girls
void made mental note of 1t for
further study when the question of
present safety should be more salts
factorily answered.