Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-09-15

washington, ID. u, sept. lE.-1He
! Spanish swindle, which in the past has
lured nobody knows how many dollars
out of gullible America, is again being
tried, this presumably Oh 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 cor
ner for them just as in the movies and
in magazine fiction. Occasional sto-
ries in the papers also tell of vast for
tunes acquired in odd ways.
So. when an honest American citi-
zen receives a letter bearing a Spanish
postmark and addressed to hin IN
quaint. foreign handwriting, he is in
trigued. If he knows no one in Spain.
he opens such a letter curiously, with
all sorts of romantic possibilities
buzzing through his brain. He reads
the communication, and his widest
speculation regarding it becomes sud
denly tame. He learns that he has
been selected to help a noble Russian
who faces bankruptcy and is in prison
He reads further, GREATNESS, and
learns that "a modest fortune" OF
! $4,000 is practically within his
grasp.
The noble Russian has somewhere II
America 100000 good American dol
lars. and he is generously willing &c
reward the person addressed with one
third of them. if only he Will help III
the recovery of the money. Inc un'
fortunate Russians baggage has beer
seized and he needs d triflng sum t(
reclaim it and to pay the registrar o.
the court for the expenses OF the trlal
In the p~ortmanteau among the nus
slams baggage there is a secret pocket
he says, and in the secret pocket nj
has hidden two checks payable to TN
bearer for that sum"-that IS, Tor TN
100000.
The imprisoned man cannot receiv'
letters in his Spanish prison, but N
has a trusted friend. The American
is requested to cable TINS TREND; IL
|; p Barcelona. who will instruct him how
to proceed. If the chosen benefacto'
does cable. he will be told TO send tn
small sum, compared to S120,00O, nee
essarv to recover the p~ortmanteau
When he has cabled the money, h
/ finds that the noble Russian and tn
. trusted friend have passed quietly GU
. of his life.
Postal Officials Active
The postoffice department has be
i gun lately to receive complaints re
= garding this new form of the old span
ish swindle. 1t is fairly certain
= fhe scheme is being widely worked be
cause the letter that is being sent on
, is photographed. The ink is multi
: graph ink, and under a reading glas
the writing shows that it is not ordi
nary handwriting. Some down strokes
for instance, are faint almost TO lndis
= thickness in the middle of the stroke
, the result of uneven printing.
Spanish swindle letters go to peopl
= in all parts of the country. No spe
cial attempt is made to select million
aires or philanthropists, probably DC
: cause the operators know that sue
: persons would be slow to respond
this particular kind of bait. &,
Judging from cases that gain put
Iicitv. ii seems likely that the names
. n~rospective victims are picked out {
:, directories at random. The swindler
q no doubt figure that less wealthy pei
n sons lead more restricted lves an
= that they viii more eagerly take
chance on this bit of adventure. III
c thrill of being selected to correspon
with an imprisoned Russian nooiemal
n to Senu caDIcS iciolAhs ~ ~
IL rockets and fortunes does not con
. often to the average American:
least. he does not realize how otte
l. this particular thrill is offered to tt
public. -
Many farmers in outlying sections
q the country receive the Spans
c swindle letters. How many fall K
. the hoax no one, except the SPANS
swindlpr. knows.
d The sum asked for when the corr
. s~pondence gets to the critical stat
may depend upOn the person to
]. fleeced. The i~mpersonators OF Il
e noble Russian can estimate close
from the replies Of the American no
: much money may be asked for satel
p and obtained.
The Spanish swindle is a very o
game. but it never seems to lose ]
s. alluring possibilities. 1t mus be pro
Il table. Otherwise it would not be a
tempted now by presumably one OF 7
IS same operators who worked it IN III
That the same persons are still at
is indicated by sample letters.
= Same Swindle In 1918
&c The postoffice department has
o sample of the latest swindle letter, q
20 il has letters of the 1913 series. II
1913 version contained the story of
that have been made by some wes