The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1929-01-10
PUBLIC CYPPED
BY MAIL SHARKS
Post Office Department Il
Taking Measures to
Hook "Hookers."


MISUNDERSTANDING the pub
lie against the mail-order shark is
one Of the duties of the Post Office
department. Men, and women, too,
with elastic cOnsciences are con-
stantly engaged in coaXing money
out Of the pockets and bank ac-
counts of the unwary. Writers Of
smoothly seductive and convincing
advertisements, men of ability and
imagination, enlist under the stand
ard Of the mail-order crook and
victimize not only the credulous
and lOOse-fisted but also the con-
sentative investor and the so-called
burnt child. For this species Of
burnt children dread not the fire
but seem eager to be scorched
again and again. Indeed, it is we'll
known to certain kinds of swim
dlers, notably sellers of fake oil!
stock, that sucker lists of those
who have already bitten on blue
sky promotions are more valuable
than lists of the unexpected.
The dishonest promoter fully ap-
preciates how well it pays to adj
vertise. He sends out sensational
circulars by the half million know
ing that some will believe his lying
statements and part with their
cash.
Brazen Work.
One Of these brazen advertise
ments said: eff you throw this in
the wastebasket-put the waste
basket in the SAFE" The very bold
ness Of this mans assertions lured'
on many. He even employed the,
transparent pretense of limitingI
each persons investment to $780,
$50 large numbers may share myI
prosperity" The oil well he fea-l
tured in his circular did not belong
to him. In fact it had gone dry
and the drilling rig had been rel
moved at the time he was OfferingI
fabulous fortunes for small invest
ments. This man added many a.
name to his sucker list, but he is
now in Jail.
For a time there was a mush-,
rOOm-like growth Of firms Offering
new, used and bankruptcy sales
goods to those who were persuade
ed they could start a secondhand
clothing or rummage sale business
A Chicago concern asserted that
$50 day could be realized even
by persons having no previous ex-!
perience' in such a business. The,
merchandise sent to the victims of
this scheme was filthy, rag-bagI
stuff, utterly useless, unsanitary,I
unwearable, and, certainly unsal-I
able. Investigation developed the,
fact that the promoters bought this
junks in the Chicago ghetto.
The work-at-hOme scheme is one
well known to the Post Office de-
partment. Its victims are poor,
Woodworking women, housewives
who hope to add a mite to the fam,
lily income. Whether they are
duped by offers of $40 to $50 a
week sewing smocks at home or by,
an offer of S. an hour addressing
cards and copying names, the!
scheme is the same. The promoter
sells a cheap working outfit for
several times it's actual value and
seldom, if ever, buys any work
from his customers. Usually he
has no market for the product he
features.
To a poor and needy woman It.
seems splendidly simple to sew to-
gether a plain garment like q,
smock and get $50 to $50 dozen
for doing it at home without hav-i
ing to purchase materials. In
reality she must pay in full for the,
materials only to have her COM
pleted work rejected for some.
spurious reason. In fact, the pro-
moter of this scheme could get no
more than $11 or $12 a dozen
wholesale for his smocks with a
limited market, but he never BOTH
ers to get even that. He simply
takes his large profit on the work.
ing outfit and rejects the finished
work.
Schemes Are Endless.
If you are poor the mail-ordert
crook will show you the way to!
riches with a hand-me-dOwn astrO-I
logical reading, copies Of which,
are printed by the thousands and,
sent to everybody, whether born
under Cancer, Pisces or Taurus. It'll
is all the same to him, though he
probably prefers Taurus. If your
eyesight is bad he will restore it,
almost by magic; and one indi-
vidual protested to all the world
that he could grow new eyes in the!
blind; while another affirmed he
could not only cure the sick but
also settle all domestic difficulties,
by his occult power-if you paid
the fee. Another insisted that if|
you were short he could show you
how to grow tall. Those who took
the course made no permanent in-l
crease in height.
Nor are the religious neglected.
An ingenious fellow hit upon the
scheme of mailing G. o. d. parcel
post packages to persons whose
names were carried in the death
notices. Each of these packages
contained a $1.5O Bible, but the c.
o. D. charge was So plus postage.
Usually the sorrowing relatives ac-i
cepted and paid for the package,
supposing the deceased had ordered
the Bible. Some relatives hap
pened to know better and the I'M