The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-05-28

! By giving him some Information
about stock which he already own
cd.
Eyes, I'm afraid you're rixht
about that" said the pleasant voice
confirming one of the importer
worst suspicious. ats due for 4
drop. Now about this other Offer
ing-you simply can't miss it-its
the chance Of q lifetime. The oil
IL there; I've seen 1t myself"
Followed many oily details, and
finally the importer agreed to take
500 shares at 81 a share, as much
to get rid Of the salesman as any,
thing else. If 1t doesn't 20 up to
81 q. share In 30 days. l guarantee
to return your money" concluded
the salesman. as he finally relin-
Quished the receiver.
A month later. much to the i'm
porter's surprise, he actually did
receive . dividend check for SO,
This was an immense relief as well
as a prop to his dropping self
esteem. He had been remarkably
sstute in buying that stock after
all, he thought. This impression
was strengthened the first Of the
next month when he received an.
other dividend check for $40. Nov
he began to regret that he had not
taken more Of the stock. Perhaps
it was not too late. He would find
out. He called up the Office of the
alleged brokers and asked for the
salesman. No one OF that name
was associated with the firm, he
was told. That was very strange,
he thought. He did not know that
the phone salesman never gives his
right name:
The Come.On.
But in a few minutes the sales
man called him up. Glide explana-
tons followed, together with add
tional selling facts, with the result
that the importer bought 5000 more
shares of the stock. The next month
came a check for $l10. with a let
ter explaining that the stock had
gone to 81 a share. The importer
was Just in the right frame of mind
for the last choice bit of bait. The
salesman brought it, in a hurry, in
the form of a telegram which he
waved excitedly before the import
er's expectant gaze.
Read this" he said, read this."
Then he read it himself. Stop
sales. Buy everything in sight
Well shooting over derrick. Try,
ing to cap.
"The chance Of a lifetime!" he
cried dramatically. "and haven't
the capital to buy. See here" he
pleaded, III you will only finance
me ON this we can buy the rest Of
the stockholders out, and in a few
days-well, you can see for your
self, it means a clean fortune"
That afternoon the importer and
the salesman went into the impor-
ter's bank. They came out with
$25, 900 in cash, which the import
er handed to the salesman.
Better use my car" he suggest
ed, pointing to the limousine wait
ing at the curb. But the salesman
declined with thanks. He would
use the company's car. But Just
which car he used is a matter that
has never been ascertained-even
by the police. For somewhere on
the fringe Of Wall street the trail
of the salesman disappeared from
view. The importer waited pa
tiently for a few days, then quietly
charged the $25.O00 up to expert
ence. He was glad that only few
people knew. He could not az
ford to have his credit injured by
stories of wild speculations.
What succeeded with the import
er. q seasoned business man OF
strong financial backing and sup
posed excellent business judgment,
succeeds even more easily with
small investors Of slight business
experience, who are dismayed to
find themselves practically without
redress when their cash is gone.
Even If the swindler is eventually
apprehended it is hard to prove
that he did not actually himself BE-
lieve bogus facts which he sold.
Under the new Martin anti-fraud
act, however, it will not be so oil.
ficult. The attorney general will
be on the swindler's trail, with the
Savings Banks association OF the
state of New York and various Wall
street brokerage concerns helping
him. With all Of these agencies at
work, there is every reason to be-
lieve that the public may yet be-
saved from the results OF its own