Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1922-09-15

Washington, d. c., Sept. 1.-THE
Spanish swindle, which in the past
has lured nobody knows how many
dollars out Of gullible America, is
again being tried. this time Spresun,-
ably on a larger scale.
This celebrated hoax is based on
the human weakness for easy money
and for adventure. Many people see
no reason why adventure and great
wealth should not wait around the
corner for them just as in the movies
and in magazine fiction. Occasional
stories in the papers also tell of vast
fortunes acquired in odd ways.
So, when an honest'AmericaLn citi-
zen receives a letter bearing a Span
ish postmark and addressed to him
In quaint, foreign handwriting. he is
intrigued. If he knows no, one in
Spain, he opens such a letter curious
ly, with all sorts Of romantic posi-
bilities buzzing through his brain.
He 1eads the communication, and his
widest speculation regarding it be-
comes suddenly tame. He learns
that he has been selected to help a
noble Russian who faces bankruptcy
and is in prison . He reads further.
fortune of $4,000 is practically
within his grasp.
The noble Russian has somewhere
in America 100000 good American
dollars and he ia generously willing
to reward the. person addressed with
one-thtrd Of them. il only he will
heir in the recovery Of the money,
The unfortunate Russians bapgage
has heen seized and he needs a trif-
ling sum to reclaim it and to pay the
registrar of the court for the EXPENSES
of the trial. In the ortmanteau
among the Russians baggage there
ia a secret rocket. he saws and in the
secret nockat he has "hidden two
checks navah le to the bearer for h a
snm',-that ia. for The s360 q
The Imprisoned man cannot receive
lettera IN his Sna nish nr,son hit he
has - +r,,.tad friend The America
ia r]anuasted +o cable this friend IN
Rarce,ona who will instruct him hnw
to nroceed IF the chosen benefactor
does cable. he will b etofd to send
the smaIl ann compared to $500 O
necessarv to recover the portmanteau'
when he has cabled the money he
IND that the noble Russian and the
NJ his life.
Postal OfYacdals Active
The nostoffice denartment has he.
gin latelv to receive COMPLAINS re-
eardina this new form Of the old
Snan,sh swindle. It ia fairly certain
hat he scheme il being widely
worked hecausa the letter that is he.
inp sent oft IL mnltieranhed The
inI 10 mmltipranh ink and Under a
reading glass the writing shows hat
# ia not ordinary HANDWRITING. Some
down strokes' for instance. are faint
aimost II ind~istinctness in the mid
die ~ the stroke. the result Of uneven
printing
snanish sw;ndle letters ~ n peo-
ple i nail parts Of Inc country. No
special attempt is made to select mil
Iionaires or OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES. proba blv
beca,,sa the know that snch
persons would be slow to respond Tia
this particular Kind Of bait.
,JudRinR from cases that gain pub-
licity. Il seems likely that the names
of nrosnective victims are picked
swindfers no doubt figure that less
out OF directories at random. The
wealthy persons lead more restricted
lives and. hat they viii more eagerly
take a chance 81 this. bit Of adyen-
|ture. The thrill Of being selected "a
correspond with an Imprisoned Rus