The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1932-03-05
FINE SMUGCLED
GOODS RACKET
FOOLS BUYERS
College Boy Fake Also Is
Put Across by Many
Statesmen.
BY LOWELL NUSSBAUM

toulouse rackets IN indianapolis
One of the oldest and most sue
ceSSful of the houSe-to-h house rack
cts is the struggled goods" sale.
The housewife is approached by 3
furtive man, perhaps having for
eign appearance. He whispers con-
fidentially that, because of need for
funds, he is forced to sell valuable
furs or other merchandise which
he has Smuggled into the country
without paying duty.
After much haggling, he agrees
to sell at a price below the value of
"high-priced furS."
Almost invariably, the buyer finds
he has paid twice as much as the
article would have cost in a local
store. Many times costly Snug
gled furs" turn out to be merely
goat or dog skins.
Sell Irish Lace
There are many variations to this
racket. Sometimes it is worked by
women pretending to be disposing
of fine Irish linen or lace from an
aunt in Ireland" smuggled into
the country without paying duty,
which she must sell to buy food.
Statesmen often use similar
racket to sell cheap articles, pre-
tending it is fine merchandise they
obtained at bargain prices from an
overStocked merchant.
Very few real bargains are obtain
ed in this way.
The college magazine" racket is
one that has been worked proftably
here and elsewhere.
These glib, hatless young men,
selling magazine subscriptions to
earn enough money to go to coll
lege," are highly trained speciality
statesmen.
Few Go to College
They speak of the hard struggle
they are making to earn an educa-
ton and how near the goal they are
sometimes just needing one more
subscription to win the coveted and
highly DESTROYS prize.
Few of these purported students
really have any intention of going
to college. Instead, the practice
merely is a highly profitable racket,
which they work first in one town,
then move with their crew manager,
to another community.
A Better Business Bureau inveSti-
gator questioned one such salesman,
who claimed to be a student at
Butler university. However, the
salesman pointed in the wrong di-
rection when asked where the uni
versity is located.
Finally he admitted he and his
co-workers had no intention of 60
ing to college.
Cheat on Magazines
In crew of eight young men pro-
Tossing to be earning money for COL
lege, it was found not one intended
to become a student, and, of the
entire group, only the crew manager
had been graduated from high
school,
Many bogus magazine statesmen
offer combinations at attractive
prices and collect the money, but
forget to turn in the subscriptions.
Some publications use college men
during summer vacation, but these
statesmen carry credentials and
easily can be identified.
Complaints also have been re-
ceived from the housewives who
made down payments to fast-talk-
ing statesmen taking orders for
aluminium ware, Christmas cards,
suits and other articles which never
were delivered. BY the time the
victims learned of the deception and
notified police, the statesmen safely
were out of the city. These cases
are exceptional, but should be
guarded against.
Some Are Legitimate
This series of stories is not in
tended to convey the impression
that all "doorbell ringers" are gyps
or frauds.
There are many legitimate sales
men, attempting to make an honest
living by selling a wide variety Of
worthwhile articles, who engage in
houSe-to-houSe canvaSSing.
But their lot has been made diff
cult by the increasing number and
annoying flood of petty racketeers
and beggars.
A few precautions, if observed.
would reduce greatly the heavy toll
Indianapolis pays racketeers:
Contribute to recognized charities
where a known proportion of con-
tributions actually goes to charity.
Deal with dependable business
concerns that sell merchandise on
its merits.
Discourage beggars by referring
them to organized agencies that ars
equipped best to provide permanent
relief and care.
If a beggar says he has been re-
fused aid" obtain his name and adj
dress and report the case to the
Family Welfare Society, where de-
tailed report on any case will be
furnished the person making the
report.