Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-01-22
t
nsofh n Prison tFnubTla

to be in step with his times. prisoner
wrote The Sample Life" which he
dedicated to our friend Joe:
Would you like 10 know how to dodge
all woe.
How to duck all care and strife?
Then do like Joe, the gimme DO.
And live the sample life.
When you're on the bum and tired OF
'Slum.'
Just follow Joe's example:
Sit down TO a meal that's bound to
appeal
A delicious roasted sample
Blu; should YOU fear that food so queer
NAV result i'll your removal
Then try Joes trick and you can't get
sick
Just cat it ON approval
A MOTHER peculiar "grift" was that
4 of a prisoner named Frank Shue.
who. because of the line" which he
followed. was known AS Dead Mans
Shoes" by the prisoners. Shue would
watch the death notices in the papers,
selecting the names of those who had
lived in the poorer sections of the city.
Then. after waiting about a week he
would call at the house of the deceased
and say that he had come for the
photograph" Invariably. of course. he
would be asked. What Photography
Thereupon he would say. with sur
prised air. why. Mr.. -" ,naming
the deceased expressing surprise and
sadness when told that Mr.. Blank had
passed away. He would then go on to
explain that the deceased had commits
stoned him to make cr2yon portrait
of himself from photograph which ne
had promised to furnish. Naturally. in
nine cases out OF ten the family OF the
dead man or woman would want to
respect what was practically last wish
and you'd give the visitor the photo
graph and tell him to go ahead with
the portrait.
Mr. Shue. after collecting q few dol
lars on account would give the photo
graph 10 some cheap artist who would
dash off a crayon portrait for So or So
When the portrait was delivered to the
bereaved family an additional few dol
lars as much as the family would
stand tori. was collected. and Professor
Shue went on his way rejoicing, Il
was shown at his trial that he had
averaged more than 500 a week in this
manner.
Incidentally. Shue was tried three
times before he was finally convicted,
AS he insisted that he had actually re-
ceived commissions to do these por-
traits. He felt quite sure he never
would be convicted because the only
ones who could give direct testimony
ing He was finally convicted. however
on circumstant.al evidence When he
arrived at the penitentiary the prisoners
made his life unbearable BY yelling al
him; Look pleasant. pleass.' Watch
the little birdie" and other Standbys
PUT very often the successful work.
ing out of one of these schemes re-
ouires an expert knowledge OF the par
ticuiar lire in which the scheme Is
worked. Indeed. the manipulation has
often to be so expert as TO be able to
fool others with established regulations
as experts in the same line. This was
the case in rare book swindle of sew
eral years ago. The hero of this.
man named Hartman. would take a
book abroad-of course. classic OF
some kind--and then spend several
thousand dollars and weeks OF time
altering II in such way as to make II
appear a hundred and fifty or two hum
dred years old.
To work this successfully required
vast knowledge of the worlds literature.
and careful attention to literally hun
dreds OF minute details. such as water
MARKS. grades of paper. certainty that
the tyne was font that existed at the
date the book was said to have been
made. that the particular kind OF bind
ing was then in Use and other things Of
a similar nature The pages had TO be
artificiailv yellowed. as with age. ink
and other markings placed here and
there small pieces torn of the corners
Of some of the pages and the fresh cut
paper properly aged with dirt. and
so on.
For years Hartman was equal to all
the exacting demands which his pc
cuiiar business made on him. Repeat-
eddy he sold rare frs. editions" for
thousands Of dollars apiece: sold them
To experts who had traded In these
commodities for many years and could
tell almost at glance whether a book
YVES really rare edition or just fake.
But he slipped up at last by falling TO
notice that certain kind OF glue used
In the backbone Of book had not been
invented at the time the book was sup
posed n have been made
In prison he proved he was a man OF