MEN who need treatment or advice concerning their health or any weakness or private disease should, before taking any treatment whatever, go to Dr. S. for consultation, examination and advice; free.DR. S.—Longest Established, Most Successful and Reliable Specialist in Diseases of Men, as Medical Diplomas, Licenses and Newspaper Records Show.Dr. S. first came to Chicago about the time of the World's Fair. His home office was supposed to be in Philadelphia. While Philadelphia has the reputation of being slow, yet the methods of Dr. S. were decidedly swift, so much so that he almost took the breath away from the Chicago specialists.He was the first to charge for medicine in addition to his fees. It is a well-known fact that a man having been under the treatment of Dr. S. for a week or a month never seeks the aid of another one.He has been cured? Not on your life. He has been robbed. I have known this "Doctor" to charge as much as one hundred dollars for two small bottles of dope. This is in addition to a fee of twenty-five to five hundred dollars. He always operates a "drug store" in connection with his office.The patient, having undergone an examination and having been thoroughly frightened, is told what the fee will be. This being paid, he is given a prescription and sent to the "drug store."This is so written that no other drug store can fill it. In a short time he is handed two or three small bottles, and on asking "how much" is told a sum varying from ten to one hundred and fifty dollars. Surprised and indignant, he hastens back to the "Doctor" and complains. He is told that the medicines are cheap at that price; that they are expensive drugs and very necessary in his case.If the patient has the money he pays it, resolving that hewill have no more to do with Dr. S. If he lives in the country he is surprised the following week by getting notice from the express company that a C. O. D. package awaits him at the office.It is the second week's supply of medicine. Charges from twenty-five to ninety-eight dollars. He at once writes to the "Doctor" and says he doesn't want the stuff.The first supply has done him no good. It's too expensive and he can't afford to continue it.The "Doctor" writes back and says that he must pay for it. It will require three months to effect a cure, and the whole treatment has been prepared. If he does not take it the office will be subject to a loss of many hundreds of dollars. They also threaten him with a suit for the recovery of the amount.Blackmail an Adjunct.The poor victim, almost frightened to death at the prospect of exposure, usually compromises and pays all the money he can raise, taking the three months' "treatment" which he is assured has been specially prepared for his case.It is not an uncommon thing for Dr. S. to get several thousand dollars out of one patient. Men have been known to mortgage their farms to get out of the clutches of these cormorants. They never let go until the last dollar has been extracted from the poor patient. After his experience with Dr. S. he wants no more. He thinks that they are all alike and carefully avoids them in the future.Dr. S. himself is not in Chicago. He is said to live in Philadelphia. He operates offices in this city and several other places. Three men comprise the office staff—one man who "takes" the case, another a physician, usually a dummy engaged at a salary of fifteen to twenty dollars a week, and a druggist.The main guy of every medical quack office is the "case taker." He is always a "confidence man" skilled in the business. He plays upon the fears and credulity of his victims.He pictures the most dreadful fate awaiting the unfortunate patient. If a case of private disease, he knows that the patient will rot on his feet and become a charnel house of infection.If a "Lost Manhood" case, he pictures the horrors of impotency, a trusting girl deceived, a divorce, together with the scandals that precede and follow.The old Reliable B—— Doctors Cure Men—Men only.NO PAY UNTIL CURED. $5 FEE FOR CURE, $5.NEWLY CONTRACTED SPECIAL DISEASES.Consultation and Examination Free Whether You TakeTreatment or not. Come to Expert Specialists.We cure Varicocele, Nervous Debility, Urethral Troubles, Blood Poison, Private Diseases, Phimosis, Piles, Skin Diseases, Rupture and other Wasting Diseases of Men.Call or send for free question list. Hours—Daily. 9 to 8; Sundays, 10 to 2. J. B. McG——, M. D., Medical Director.B—— MEDICAL INSTITUTE.Chicago, Ill.The above advertisement appears right along in the Chicago dailies. If Dr. S—— is the "Prince of swindlers" the B—— Medical Institute is a good second.It is owned and run by a Bohemian, who changed his name from an almost unpronounceable one to that of Hansen. He employs cheap doctors—mostly dope fiends—men who could not get employment elsewhere. His pay is about fifteen dollars per week. This man also runs a "dental" Institute where equally cheap dentists are employed. Both institutes rob the unsuspecting.Hansen was sued by a former patient and nearly four hundred dollars recovered, quite recently. The man was absolutely free from any disease, but was frightened into paying that amount to get rid of an imaginary one.He is a common, cheap, medical swindler.These are Positive Facts.MEN $10.CURES YOU."DON'T PAY MORE."Under scientific treatment all diseases peculiar to men are thoroughly cured.Nervous Debility, Blood Poisoning, Lost Vitality, Prostatic, Bladder and Kidney Troubles, Varicocele, Hydrocele, Contracted Diseases, Urethral Obstruction, Male Weakness.Dr. C——'s Medical Offices are the most reliable and permanently established specialists in Chicago. See them before commencing treatment elsewhere. Advice, consultation and examination FREE.Dr. C—— MEDICAL OFFICES,Hours: 8 a. m. to 8 p. m.Sunday, 10 to 3 only.Chicago, Ill.Swindler a "Dope" Fiend.The above advertisement is that of Dr. C——. C—— himself is out of the game. He is a dope fiend. A few months ago he narrowly escaped the penitentiary for taking $225 from a sixteen-year-old child. He was fined $200 in the Municipal Court, paid it and quit the business.Previously, however, he had sold the use of his name to Dick Williams, owner of several of the so-called medical offices along State street. Williams changes his doctors every few days, so that a patient hardly ever sees the same man twice. Each man makes an effort to "re-fee" the patient—that is, they try to extract more money in the way of fees, claiming that the other "doctor" did not grasp the severity of the case. It is not unusual for a patient to pay half a dozen fees in the same office before he drops onto the fact that he is being systematically robbed.The main object of advertising cheap is to get the people into the office and started on the treatment. Money is demanded at every visit and new "diseases" discovered as long as the credulity of the patient lasts.CONSULT DR. R——A graduate and Regular Licensed Physician. Dr. R—— is qualified through twenty-one years of practical experience to give you the best medical advice and treatment inAll Diseases and Weaknesses Peculiar to Men.The oldest established and most reliable specialist, who sees and treats patients personally. Dr. R——'s Home Treatment Cures Weak Men. If you have Varicocele, Hydrocele, Weakness, Drains, Lost Vigor, Losses, Blood Poison, Kidney, Bladder or Any Chronic Nervous, Private or Urinary Disease, consult the reliable specialist, who will cure you quickly, permanently and cheaply.CONSULTATION FREE AND STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL, as the doctor never makes a professional charge unless you desire him to treat your case until cured. Remember, you see Dr. R—— personally. If you cannot call, write a description of your case and he will send you symptom blank and book, "VITAL FACTS FOR MEN," FREE.Dr. R—— is no better and no worse than others who have similar advertisements. They all practice the same game.He is not, however, on very friendly terms with other specialists. A few years ago when some adverse legislation was threatened at Springfield it was necessary to raise a fund to check it. R—— subscribed one hundred dollars, but never paid it. There must be honor even among thieves.I CURE IN FIVE DAYS VARICOCELEAND HYDROCELE without Knife or Pain.I want to cure every man suffering with Varicocele,Stricture, Contagious Blood Poison, NervousDebility, Hydrocele or a disease peculiar to men.This liberal offer is open to all who have spent large sums of money on doctors and medicines without any success, and my aim is to prove to all those people who were being treatedCONSULT DR. R——by a dozen or more doctors, also without any success, that I possess the only method, by means of which I will cure you permanently.DON'T PAY FOR UNSUCCESSFUL TREATMENT,ONLY FOR PERMANENT CURE.I will positively cure diseases of the stomach, lungs, liver and kidneys, even though very chronic.PRIVATE DISEASES OF MEN cured quickly, permanently and with absolute secrecy. Nervous Debility, Weakness. Lost Vigor, Strains, Losses, Urinary Losses.DISEASES PECULIAR TO WOMEN—Pains in the Back. White Discharge and other ailments cured permanently.BLOOD POISON—And all kinds of skin diseases, like Pimples, Swollen Glands, Wasting Diseases, Lingering Diseases.CONSULTATION AND EXAMINATION FREE.CURE ONCE FOR ALL.DR. L. E. Z——, Chicago.Office Hours: 8 a. m. to 8 p. m.Sundays: 9 a. m. to 4 p. m."I cure in five days." So says Dr. Z—— and several others in the same business. However, when you offer to take the five-day cure you are told it is an operation. "I have a slow cure," say the oily "doctors," "just as good, which requires three months." As the one operation itself is a little alarming, most men take the "slow cure."At the end of three or six months they find they have been victimized. They are no better, and often worse.Just Plain Fraud.Among other advertisers are Dr. L. R. W——, Dr. H. J. T—— and Dr. D——. The last named was recently arrested and held to the grand jury on the charge of defrauding a patient. It might be asked in the light of the above exposés of so-called specialists, are there no honest ones? Detective Wooldridge says yes, there are several in Chicago who deliver the goods. To any earnest seekers after the truth he will be glad to give the names of several men of whom he can say, "They do not misrepresent."FABULOUS LOSSES IN BIG TURF FRAUDS."INVESTMENT" COMPANIES OF LAST FEW YEARS NETTED $10,162,000.This is a sad, sad story, because it is an obituary, the death notice of one of the meanest and most abominable frauds that has ever taken the hoarded pennies of children and working girls, the "late lamented" "turf syndicate."Several years ago the turf syndicate was in its glory. A poor girl, fresh from the old country, would scrub floors for a week or take in washing for a month in order to pour money into the pockets of these swindlers. Thanks to the efforts of Detective Clifton E. Wooldridge, of Chicago, and others, this particular fraud is now a thing of the past.(Horses racing)But the enormity of this tremendous crime against the poor may be appreciated from a study of the following figures.Turf "investment" companies that have failed, absconded or have been driven to the wall by prosecutions during the last few years and the amount of money estimated to have been lost in the swindles give the following astonishing record:E. J. Arnold & Co.$ 4,000,000John J. Ryan & Co., St. Louis, Mo.1,500,000Brolaski & Co., Chicago200,000Benedict & Co., Chicago200,000The Mid-Continent Investment Company, Chicago150,000The Mason-Teller Company, Chicago50,000The Douglas-Daly Company, R. S. Daly and N. C. Clark, Chicago125,000The Armstrong-Baldwin Turf Commission, J. P. McCann and O. L. Wells, Chicago100,000The Money-Maker, C. A. Pollock, manager, Chicago15,000Gulf Pacific Trust Co., F. Lehman and R. G. Herndon, Chicago, New Orleans and San Francisco50,000Investors' Profit-Sharing and Protective Association, Chicago12,000J. J. Shea & Company, Chicago10,000Standard Investment Bureau, Chicago and San Francisco25,000The Security Savings Society, W. R. Bennett, Chicago1,500,000The Investors' Protective Association, Frank E. Stone, Chicago200,000D. W. Moodey & Co., Chicago50,000Co-Operative Trust Co., L. M. Morrison, Chicago150,000Edward L. Farley & Co., Chicago75,000Inter-Ocean Commission Co., J. T. Mitchell, Chicago75,000Hugo Morris & Co., Chicago50,000Al Fetzer & Co., Co-Operative Turf Pools, Hammond, Ind.500,000Co-Operative Investment Association, L. H. Myers, New York150,000American Stock Co., W. M. Nichols, New York100,000Mutual Security Co., C. Dudrey, New York100,000Henshall, Bronner & Co., New York75,000W. W. O'Hara & Co., Cincinnati50,000Crawford & Co., New York35,000Paul Pry's Investments70,000The Belt Company, N. S. Goodsill, Hammond, Ind.150,000Drake, Allison & Co., Hammond, Ind.175,000McClellan & Co., John McClellan and John Murphy, proprietors, New Orleans, absconded50,000New York Co-Operative Company, New York20,000W. J. Keating Company, New York20,000The Fidelity Trust, Wm. J. Young, San Francisco25,000C. E. Cooper & Co., Cincinnati15,000C. E. Cooper & Co., Covington, Ky.10,000C. E. Collins & Co., George D. Jones and Charles Thompson, New York30,000—————Total$10,162,000Gigantic Turf Swindle.Among the first of the get-rich-quick schemes into which the public poured millions was the "turf investment" concern. The "literature" of probably no other class of swindle was so plausible as this. The promise was to pay 5 and in somecases 10 per cent on the investment each week. The method by which the promise was to be fulfilled was this: The money invested was to be placed in a pool and used as capital in playing the races. A standard bet of a certain amount was to be made. If this wager was lost, enough money out of the pool was to be bet on the horse picked by the managers of the concern in the next race, to recoup the loss on the first race, win the amount set out to win on the first race, together with a like amount on the second race. If this wager was lost, the process was to be repeated on the next race, and so on until a wager was won. Each time there was a winning, a large enough sum would have been bet to recoup all losses on previous races and win a fixed amount on each of the races played. Some concerns claimed to play the favorite horses in the betting, others the second choices to win and others to bet according to "inside information" derived from horse owners and jockeys.Regardless of the variations of the scheme, the general plan was the same. The prospectuses, in a most plausible way, set forth the claim that "beating the races" was merely a matter of having a large enough capital at hand to continue the progressive betting plan.By the claim that horse racing was as legitimate a calling as dealing on the Board of Trade or Stock Exchange and possessed the additional advantage of being open to persons of small means, a strong appeal was made to the poor.Of course, none of the money that poured in ever was bet. Had 5 per cent a week on all the millions contributed by the public to this form of swindle been actually derived from the bookmakers, every penciler in the country would have been bankrupted in a month. The remarkable feature of the "turf" investment scheme is that this phase of the matter seemed never to occur to investors, and the other palpably impossible phases of the operators' claims were also overlooked in the effort to secure 260 per cent a year on the investment made.Get-Rich-Quick Schemes.As in the horse swindles, the older investors were paid their dividends from funds sent in by new ones. No attempt was made to win dividends in the market. As the gullibility of the "suckers" became a little dulled, innovations to increase the plausibility of the schemes were made and new forms of bait devised."Turf swindles" have flourished, while the victims, who number tens of thousands, dare not raise their voices in protest or complaint, well knowing that they would not only be the butt of ridicule in their community, but also that the world at large would rather rejoice at their losses, and courts and juries would probably waste little sympathy on them. Consequently the safest swindles operated today are those having race-track betting for their basis.In the latter part of 1902 there were upwards of twenty-five of these schemes in operation in the United States. New York City was the headquarters for about ten, and the balance were located in St. Louis, Chicago, New Orleans, San Francisco, Cincinnati and Brooklyn.Their prosperity was evidenced by the ability of managers to buy advertising space in the leading newspapers, to pay the printers for the most elaborate booklets, circulars, etc., and Uncle Sam for postage stamps, with which they were extremely liberal, usually sending a stamped envelope, for reply, to prospective investors.Extracts which I give below from the literature of five of these concerns offer a fair criterion for the whole mass which I have before me, and demonstrate the turf swindlers' method of extracting money from the unsophisticated. Fully 25 per cent of their "investors" are women, while the whole number who contribute to their scheme is made up of persons who would not be seen betting at a race track or pool room, but who have consciences that will permit them to make money "honestly or otherwise."WHO SAID I LOST TWENTY DOLLARS?WHO SAID I LOST TWENTY DOLLARS?Here Are Plausible Arguments.This is one argument of a firm of so-called "Expert Handicappers" of New York City, who bet on the races:"There has never been a week since we started in business when we did not pay a dividend. The smallest dividend we have ever paid for any one week was $6.50 for every $100 invested. We average about $9.50 per week on each $100.""An investment with us is safer and brings better returns than bookmaking or any other form of speculation."Here is an argument of a firm of so-called "Turf Commissioners" of San Francisco, which claimed to be betting on the races, guaranteeing 4 per cent weekly:"There is no kind of speculation that affords so great an opportunity for making money rapidly on a small capital as playing the races on a business-like and systematic basis. Our average weekly profits usually range from 4 to 8 per cent."Another argument, that of a so-called "Bookmaker" of St. Louis, who guarantees 5 per cent weekly dividends to investors:"We make books and allow the betting public to place the money. The man who bets has one horse running for him—the bookmaker has the rest. For this reason the odds are all in favor of the bookmaker and if he understands his business he is certain to make money."Argument of a firm of so-called "Turf Commissioners" of Chicago, who claim to make books on the races:"Our plan insures a steady income on a small capital, such as no other company offers, and far eclipses any mining, oil, or other stock investment."Argument of so-called racing stable concern of St. Louis, guaranteeing 3 per cent per week to investors of $50 and upward:"We have a large stable of race horses, which we run at all tracks, winter and summer; we make books wherever racing is conducted, and the proposition we manage pays so well because we know how to run it to that end."One of the variants of the old turf scheme is the venerable "Two-Horse Special," a fraud that is so old that its whiskers drag about its knees. Here is a sample of the two-horse literature:"MY TWO-HORSE SPECIAL PLAN."(Send this slip with remittance.)No Account Received of Less Than $50.George F. Stone,Turf Specialist.Brooklyn, N. Y.I hand you ........ Dollars to be used by you in speculating for me, according to your TWO-HORSE WIRE plan of Turf Speculation. You are to play one-fifth of the amount of capital on each special, placing the money to win and also for place. You are to mail for me your selections each day, mailing the same NOT LATER than 1 P. M. You agree to operate the account, MAKING NO CHARGE until winnings equal capital invested. After that 20 per cent of all winnings you are to deduct, and send me the balance by money order, with statement, each week. I can close my account and withdraw any balance due me on demand. My liability is strictly limited to above amount.The Police, Aroused by Turf Swindlers, Raid and Close Up Their Places.Detective Wooldridge led the officers on February 23, 1900, when the following concerns were raided and closed up:Co-Operative Trust Company, 80 and 84 Adam street.Turf Investment Company, 84 Adams street.Inter-Ocean Commission Company, 66 Wabash avenue.Security Savings Company, Madison street and Fifth avenue.Investors' Protective Association, 510 Realty Building.D. W. Moody, 182 and 184 Dearborn street.The papers, books and "big-dividend" circulars of these concerns filled several wagons. The police estimated that over $500,000 had been lost by the investors in these concerns, which, notwithstanding some of the high-sounding names adopted by them, were all turf swindlers. Raid after raid has resulted in practically ridding Chicago of these vampires, but they seem to thrive wherever they are permitted to exist.FAKE TURFMEN INDICTED.Gambling and Bookmaking Charged Against the "Get-Rich-Quick" Syndicates, Including Bennett's.True bills were voted against proprietors of "get-rich-quick" turf concerns by the grand jury. Indictments were returned in court, and capiases for the arrest of the accused persons placed in the hands of the sheriff. Those against whom bills were voted are:Frank E. Stone, alias Eddie Dunne, Security Savings Society, for bookmaking. W. R. Bennett, Security Savings Society, for bookmaking. W. I Bennett, Security Savings Society, for bookmaking. D. W. Moody, Security Savings Society, for bookmaking. Louis Morrison, alias L. M. Morrison, Co-Operative Trust Company, for bookmaking. Edwin E. Farley, for keeping a common gaming house and poolroom. Charles Carroll, for keeping a common gaming house and poolroom. J. W. Turner, alias J. W. Taylor, for keeping a common gaming house and poolroom. Miss S. Beck, stenographer for W. R. Bennett, for bookmaking.One puzzling feature of the prosecution of the turf people is that although the bills accuse them of keeping common gaming houses and operating poolrooms, officers and lawyers interested in the cases say the promoters of the concerns never really attempted to win their advertised profits by betting on the races. It has been alleged that not one of them speculated with deposits, but simply sent dividends back to investors out of their own money. It is now suggested that the accused persons will either have to admit they were gambling or confess that their alluring statements about winnings on the race tracks were glittering frauds.The turf swindle was prosperous until February, 1903, when the crash among the St. Louis contingent precipitated a "run" on all of the concerns then in operation. As it was not thepolicy of the swindlers to pay, they either closed their doors and fled or the police conveniently interfered with their business.Prior to the crash at St. Louis there were several notable failures and disappearances. On July 9, 1902, the Al Fetzer Co., of Hammond, Ind., "failed," and about a week prior Turf Commissioner W. W. O'Hara, of Cincinnati, absconded. Both of these events shattered many dreams of riches. In the Fetzer case heavy rains were said to have broken the sure-thing combination by which the company was to win fortunes from bookmakers on the race tracks.The amounts lost by the credulous investors in Fetzer's scheme, which, it was declared, "could not lose," reached into the hundreds of thousands. The towns that suffered the most were Hammond, Ind., and Appleton, Wis. It was reported that the people of the latter town had suffered to the extent of $50,000, and dozens of small cities are believed to have fared almost as badly.The clients of the concern in Appleton included a number of well-known business men and people of all classes. They lost from $25 to $200 each. A poor widow who had put in all her savings was left penniless and was obliged to seek aid from the city authorities.Fetzer conducted a large part of his business through the mails. He advertised extensively in the newspapers and found many who were willing to "play the game." Dividends of $5 a week for $100 invested were promised and were paid punctually up to about July 1, 1902. He said he had a system of playing the races that could not be beaten, and the success of the early investors convinced the doubting ones that his system was all right. The information of the "snap" spread rapidly and Fetzer's business increased accordingly. No one thought that dividends of 260 per cent were improbable when they read of the "long shots" that won races on the Chicago tracks.Fetzer attributed the downfall of his business to the rainy weather and said that he had been unsuccessful in picking "mudders." His system of betting, which was to make everyone rich by the end of the summer, went to pieces with each succeeding thunder shower, and the investors received the doleful information that the company had lost its own capital, as well as the money entrusted to it.An investigation into the affairs of O'Hara at Cincinnati revealed a state of affairs almost beyond belief. More than 4,000 letters which were received within a week after O'Hara's disappearance were opened. They were from every state in the country, and many were from Canada. Amounts from $5 to $500 in checks and mail and express orders were enclosed. The total amount of the money in the letters opened was $5,518, and Inspector Holmes stated that O'Hara got away with $7,500 which came in the mail the same week, making a total of over $12,000 for one week's business. O'Hara's books showed that from July, 1900, when he commenced operations, until he skipped out in June, 1902, he had received from credulous "investors" the enormous sum of $465,000.The inevitable crash came early in February, 1903, and the police and grand juries at Chicago, St. Louis, New York and other cities got busy, but the money had been transferred to the pockets of the swindlers, who had the choice of paying lawyers and possible fines or traveling in foreign climes until the excitement blew over.February, 1903, Detective Clifton R. Wooldridge raided and closed the following named turf investment companies in Chicago:H. B. Blackstone, E. J. Arnold, 95 Dearborn street.Harry Brolaski, "Brolaski & Co.," 356 Dearborn street.Henry Thompson, "Brolaski & Co.," 356 Dearborn street.Mattie Woodin, "Benedict & Co.," 225 Dearborn street.M. J. Beck, "Benedict & Co.," 225 Dearborn street.W. J. Mason, "Benedict & Co.," 225 Dearborn street."Mid-Continent," 185 Dearborn street.Prey on Chicago Teachers.From papers found in the Mid-Continent offices it appears this company had been doing a loan as well as an investment business. A letter addressed to Chicago school teachers invited deposits for investment on which 2-1/2 per cent monthly interest was guaranteed.If the teachers needed money it was offered them at 3 per cent a month. The company's methods and those of the banks were compared in the letter, to the disadvantage of the banks.Medical students, stenographers, maids in hotels, women of various classes, farmers in many sections of the country and hundreds of men in different employments in the city were disclosed as the dupes.The following telegram from St. Louis to a Chicago paper briefly outlines the situation on the second day of the raiding there:St. Louis, Mo., Feb. 11, 1903.—Runs were made on the E. J. Arnold Turf Investment Company, the International Investment Company, The Christie Investment Company and John J. Ryan & Co. yesterday by hundreds of men and women who during the last six months have invested their savings with these co-operative bookmaking concerns in the hope of enormous profits. The International and Christie companies paid all the stockholders who appeared, at first. Then they decamped.Arnold & Co., in accordance with their announcement which caused the panic among the "turf speculators" yesterday, refused to pay back any stock certificates, although still claiming to be perfectly solvent, and determined to pay the usual weekly dividends until affairs of the company are wound up.At the offices of John J. Ryan, owner of the Newport (Ky.) Race Track, a riot was averted by the presence of the police; and the excited investors, who were reminded that their stock certificates are payable only on thirty days' notice, went off in a state of rage and anxiety at once amusing and pitiful.How Arnold Inspired Confidence.Arnold was a wise one. He knew how to work the game. First he sent to New York and bought the famous race horse Gold Heels. This horse had won many of the great Eastern classics. He broke a tendon and was useless, but Arnold'sinvestors did not know that. They would swear by Gold Heels. Then he caused his "bank" to issue a letter along the following lines:American Central Trust Company.Capital—$1,000,000. Surplus—$500,000.S. Schnurmacher, President.Wm. S. Simpson, First Vice-President.Joseph Wachtel. Second Vice-President.Franklin P. Hunkins, Third Vice-President.Edward Bauder, Secretary and Treasurer.Directors.Shepard Barclay,Edward Bauder,G. A. Bauder,John N. Drummond, Jr.,Henry W. Gehner,Morris Glaser,Frank Griesedieck,G. A. Gurner,Franklin P. Hunkins,John D. Manley,H. I. Mills,John A. Nies,H. F. Powitzhy,Leo S. Rassieur,B. Schnurmacher,Wm. S. Simpson,Joseph Wachtel.St. Louis, Mo., May 15, 1902.To Whom It May Concern:The firm of E. J. Arnold & Company, of this city, is one of our largest depositors, and we consider them amply responsible for every obligation they may assume.American Central Trust Company,ByEdward Bauder,Sec'y & Treas.The disaster was brought about by the appointment of a committee by the Missouri legislature to investigate the "get-rich-quick" situation. St. Louis had become the haven of every conceivable class of swindlers, who swarmed there in such numbers that the legislature deemed it wise to look into the matter. What motive inspired it to take this action was a mystery. Sufficient, however, to observe that when it came to following out its own recommendation to pass laws that would drive the "get-rich-quick" companies of all kinds out of the state something stopped the legislation.The investigation of the "get-rich-quick" concerns in Missouri by the State Senate Committee resulted in an elaborate report, which was presented March 3, 1903. This report had the following to say of the turf investment companies:"These institutions are of modern origin. The pioneer in this field, especially in this state, seems to have been E. J.Arnold & Co. Then followed Ryan & Co., the International, The Christian Syndicate, Brolaski, Thomas Walsh, Maxim-Gay and others."These concerns were presumably prosperous until the examination which was begun by the grand jury, instigated by the circuit attorney of St. Louis, Hon. Joseph W. Folk, and your present committee. When the crash came, company after company closed its doors or refused to pay back to depositors on demand, and upon examination of these companies, we found them to be mere shells, with little or no money or available assets on hand, and the millions of dollars handled by them either paid out in dividends, squandered and gambled away on race tracks, or absorbed by the officers and managers of the said companies."The evidence discloses the fact that E. J. Arnold is supposed to be in Mexico, the books of said company being in the hands of the grand jury. So far as the search under legal process has developed, no assets of Arnold & Co., except a stock farm and stock thereon, office furniture and fixtures, and a few hundred dollars in cash, were found."Ryan & Company claim that they have on hand $200,000, which has been attached and garnisheed, in the hands of the depositories, and the same process has been used to take possession of the real estate holdings and other personal property."George A. Dice, inspector of the postoffice, in charge of the St. Louis department, testified that he had made an examination of E. J. Arnold & Co. and John J. Ryan & Co., and that on their showing Arnold & Co. had on hand $160,000 more assets than their liabilities; that two different examinations of these concerns were made by him and his deputies, and that in the last report of November and December, 1902, his report to the department recommended that they be cited to appear before the department and answer as to their liability for criminal use of the mails, and that so far as his report went they were notified that there was a case pending againstthem; that the ruling of the department was not in accordance with his recommendation; that from the evidence it appears that the department at Washington, by some process or other unknown to your committee, overruled the recommendations of the inspector, dismissed the cases pending against these companies, and they were allowed to proceed with their process of absorbing the people's money. Had the department at Washington acted promptly and properly upon the recommendation of the inspector, millions of dollars would have been saved to the people of the State of Missouri and other states."In order to protect the people who are attracted by the fair promises and the payment of extraordinary profits or dividends, and to prohibit the improper and vicious misapplication and absorption of the money of the people who confide in the representation of investment companies, your committee recommends that a law be passed which will prohibit the doing of business by said turf investment companies or other like institutions in this state."If one should moralize on the turf swindles it would only be to repeat the old story—avarice. Nothing else explains why they are permitted to flourish and rob, and then a newspaper story and no more.Justice, blind and decrepit, is unable to scale the insurmountable barrier of the swindlers' "bank roll." But there is still hope, for from Washington we hear from day to day that another boodler has been landed in the grand jury net—thanks to President Roosevelt, who, if he knew all, would do more.When the last paragraph was written the finale had not been reached. But the strong arm of the federal government has at last been felt and the turf investment companies are no more. It is impossible for even the veriest sucker to be taken in by them any more, and their literature would be barred from the mails in an instant. It is all over with the turf investment companies. "Requiescat in pace." May they rest in peace.FAKE DRUG VENDORS.A MOST DANGEROUS FORM OF RASCALITY.Drugs Worth $30,000 Seized.War on Makers of Imitations of Medicines Begun by the Chicago Police in Charge of Detective Clifton R. Wooldridge.In all the history of fraud, imposture and graft, there is no story to parallel that of the "fake drug clique." There is no means of finding out how many thousands of lives are annually sacrificed in consequence of its nefarious practices, and the strong arm of the law while it can reach out and prevent further crime, can not call back to life those who have been offered up on the altar of greed.Sensational raids made in the effort to clear Chicago of its numerous "Fake" patent medicine concerns, occurred on the morning of Nov. 29, 1904.The raids followed a long conference between Chief of Police Francis O'Neill and Col. James E. Stuart, Chief Inspector of Chicago Postal Department, and for the first time in the history of the city, the Federal and City forces worked in unison. They decided that Chicago should be cleared of "Fake" Patent Medicine Concerns which for years had been using the mails to defraud hundreds of thousands of sick and weak persons.George G. Kimball, U. S. Inspector of Mails, and Detective Clifton R. Wooldridge were assigned to gather the evidence and prepare the cases for prosecution. The work was no easy task. Both officers went about the work of gathering the evidence in a thoroughly systematic manner.Inspector Kimball discovered the mails were employed extensively by the agents in disposing of their spurious drugs. Investigation proved that large orders were sent to small suburban towns and cities weekly. The correspondence, circulars and goods were secured.The breaking up of the drug ring, however, was a delicate task. It was strongly backed financially, and it was aided and abetted, throughout the United States, by political rings galore. Chicago was the headquarters, and it was natural that to the police department of this city, ever-famed for its hatred of "grafts" big and little, should fall the lot of exterminating the traffic.Detective Wooldridge gathered the information in Chicago, the names of the firms, location and the men who owned them.The men are charged with making and selling a spurious preparation of aristol, a product made in Germany, and valued as a substitute for iodoform. Their products were represented as genuine, were said to differ from those handled by the wholesale drug trade, only in the fact that they were imported from Canada and England instead of from Germany.Here are a few of the things discovered in the course of the investigation by Detective C. R. Wooldridge. The statements are printed from an interview with the great detective.
MEN who need treatment or advice concerning their health or any weakness or private disease should, before taking any treatment whatever, go to Dr. S. for consultation, examination and advice; free.DR. S.—Longest Established, Most Successful and Reliable Specialist in Diseases of Men, as Medical Diplomas, Licenses and Newspaper Records Show.
MEN who need treatment or advice concerning their health or any weakness or private disease should, before taking any treatment whatever, go to Dr. S. for consultation, examination and advice; free.
DR. S.—Longest Established, Most Successful and Reliable Specialist in Diseases of Men, as Medical Diplomas, Licenses and Newspaper Records Show.
Dr. S. first came to Chicago about the time of the World's Fair. His home office was supposed to be in Philadelphia. While Philadelphia has the reputation of being slow, yet the methods of Dr. S. were decidedly swift, so much so that he almost took the breath away from the Chicago specialists.
He was the first to charge for medicine in addition to his fees. It is a well-known fact that a man having been under the treatment of Dr. S. for a week or a month never seeks the aid of another one.
He has been cured? Not on your life. He has been robbed. I have known this "Doctor" to charge as much as one hundred dollars for two small bottles of dope. This is in addition to a fee of twenty-five to five hundred dollars. He always operates a "drug store" in connection with his office.
The patient, having undergone an examination and having been thoroughly frightened, is told what the fee will be. This being paid, he is given a prescription and sent to the "drug store."
This is so written that no other drug store can fill it. In a short time he is handed two or three small bottles, and on asking "how much" is told a sum varying from ten to one hundred and fifty dollars. Surprised and indignant, he hastens back to the "Doctor" and complains. He is told that the medicines are cheap at that price; that they are expensive drugs and very necessary in his case.
If the patient has the money he pays it, resolving that hewill have no more to do with Dr. S. If he lives in the country he is surprised the following week by getting notice from the express company that a C. O. D. package awaits him at the office.
It is the second week's supply of medicine. Charges from twenty-five to ninety-eight dollars. He at once writes to the "Doctor" and says he doesn't want the stuff.
The first supply has done him no good. It's too expensive and he can't afford to continue it.
The "Doctor" writes back and says that he must pay for it. It will require three months to effect a cure, and the whole treatment has been prepared. If he does not take it the office will be subject to a loss of many hundreds of dollars. They also threaten him with a suit for the recovery of the amount.
The poor victim, almost frightened to death at the prospect of exposure, usually compromises and pays all the money he can raise, taking the three months' "treatment" which he is assured has been specially prepared for his case.
It is not an uncommon thing for Dr. S. to get several thousand dollars out of one patient. Men have been known to mortgage their farms to get out of the clutches of these cormorants. They never let go until the last dollar has been extracted from the poor patient. After his experience with Dr. S. he wants no more. He thinks that they are all alike and carefully avoids them in the future.
Dr. S. himself is not in Chicago. He is said to live in Philadelphia. He operates offices in this city and several other places. Three men comprise the office staff—one man who "takes" the case, another a physician, usually a dummy engaged at a salary of fifteen to twenty dollars a week, and a druggist.
The main guy of every medical quack office is the "case taker." He is always a "confidence man" skilled in the business. He plays upon the fears and credulity of his victims.He pictures the most dreadful fate awaiting the unfortunate patient. If a case of private disease, he knows that the patient will rot on his feet and become a charnel house of infection.
If a "Lost Manhood" case, he pictures the horrors of impotency, a trusting girl deceived, a divorce, together with the scandals that precede and follow.
The old Reliable B—— Doctors Cure Men—Men only.NO PAY UNTIL CURED. $5 FEE FOR CURE, $5.NEWLY CONTRACTED SPECIAL DISEASES.Consultation and Examination Free Whether You TakeTreatment or not. Come to Expert Specialists.We cure Varicocele, Nervous Debility, Urethral Troubles, Blood Poison, Private Diseases, Phimosis, Piles, Skin Diseases, Rupture and other Wasting Diseases of Men.Call or send for free question list. Hours—Daily. 9 to 8; Sundays, 10 to 2. J. B. McG——, M. D., Medical Director.B—— MEDICAL INSTITUTE.Chicago, Ill.
The old Reliable B—— Doctors Cure Men—Men only.NO PAY UNTIL CURED. $5 FEE FOR CURE, $5.NEWLY CONTRACTED SPECIAL DISEASES.Consultation and Examination Free Whether You TakeTreatment or not. Come to Expert Specialists.
We cure Varicocele, Nervous Debility, Urethral Troubles, Blood Poison, Private Diseases, Phimosis, Piles, Skin Diseases, Rupture and other Wasting Diseases of Men.
Call or send for free question list. Hours—Daily. 9 to 8; Sundays, 10 to 2. J. B. McG——, M. D., Medical Director.
B—— MEDICAL INSTITUTE.Chicago, Ill.
The above advertisement appears right along in the Chicago dailies. If Dr. S—— is the "Prince of swindlers" the B—— Medical Institute is a good second.
It is owned and run by a Bohemian, who changed his name from an almost unpronounceable one to that of Hansen. He employs cheap doctors—mostly dope fiends—men who could not get employment elsewhere. His pay is about fifteen dollars per week. This man also runs a "dental" Institute where equally cheap dentists are employed. Both institutes rob the unsuspecting.
Hansen was sued by a former patient and nearly four hundred dollars recovered, quite recently. The man was absolutely free from any disease, but was frightened into paying that amount to get rid of an imaginary one.
He is a common, cheap, medical swindler.
These are Positive Facts.MEN $10.CURES YOU."DON'T PAY MORE."Under scientific treatment all diseases peculiar to men are thoroughly cured.Nervous Debility, Blood Poisoning, Lost Vitality, Prostatic, Bladder and Kidney Troubles, Varicocele, Hydrocele, Contracted Diseases, Urethral Obstruction, Male Weakness.Dr. C——'s Medical Offices are the most reliable and permanently established specialists in Chicago. See them before commencing treatment elsewhere. Advice, consultation and examination FREE.Dr. C—— MEDICAL OFFICES,Hours: 8 a. m. to 8 p. m.Sunday, 10 to 3 only.Chicago, Ill.
These are Positive Facts.MEN $10.CURES YOU."DON'T PAY MORE."
Under scientific treatment all diseases peculiar to men are thoroughly cured.
Nervous Debility, Blood Poisoning, Lost Vitality, Prostatic, Bladder and Kidney Troubles, Varicocele, Hydrocele, Contracted Diseases, Urethral Obstruction, Male Weakness.
Dr. C——'s Medical Offices are the most reliable and permanently established specialists in Chicago. See them before commencing treatment elsewhere. Advice, consultation and examination FREE.
Dr. C—— MEDICAL OFFICES,Hours: 8 a. m. to 8 p. m.Sunday, 10 to 3 only.
Chicago, Ill.
The above advertisement is that of Dr. C——. C—— himself is out of the game. He is a dope fiend. A few months ago he narrowly escaped the penitentiary for taking $225 from a sixteen-year-old child. He was fined $200 in the Municipal Court, paid it and quit the business.
Previously, however, he had sold the use of his name to Dick Williams, owner of several of the so-called medical offices along State street. Williams changes his doctors every few days, so that a patient hardly ever sees the same man twice. Each man makes an effort to "re-fee" the patient—that is, they try to extract more money in the way of fees, claiming that the other "doctor" did not grasp the severity of the case. It is not unusual for a patient to pay half a dozen fees in the same office before he drops onto the fact that he is being systematically robbed.
The main object of advertising cheap is to get the people into the office and started on the treatment. Money is demanded at every visit and new "diseases" discovered as long as the credulity of the patient lasts.
CONSULT DR. R——A graduate and Regular Licensed Physician. Dr. R—— is qualified through twenty-one years of practical experience to give you the best medical advice and treatment inAll Diseases and Weaknesses Peculiar to Men.The oldest established and most reliable specialist, who sees and treats patients personally. Dr. R——'s Home Treatment Cures Weak Men. If you have Varicocele, Hydrocele, Weakness, Drains, Lost Vigor, Losses, Blood Poison, Kidney, Bladder or Any Chronic Nervous, Private or Urinary Disease, consult the reliable specialist, who will cure you quickly, permanently and cheaply.CONSULTATION FREE AND STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL, as the doctor never makes a professional charge unless you desire him to treat your case until cured. Remember, you see Dr. R—— personally. If you cannot call, write a description of your case and he will send you symptom blank and book, "VITAL FACTS FOR MEN," FREE.
CONSULT DR. R——
A graduate and Regular Licensed Physician. Dr. R—— is qualified through twenty-one years of practical experience to give you the best medical advice and treatment in
All Diseases and Weaknesses Peculiar to Men.
The oldest established and most reliable specialist, who sees and treats patients personally. Dr. R——'s Home Treatment Cures Weak Men. If you have Varicocele, Hydrocele, Weakness, Drains, Lost Vigor, Losses, Blood Poison, Kidney, Bladder or Any Chronic Nervous, Private or Urinary Disease, consult the reliable specialist, who will cure you quickly, permanently and cheaply.
CONSULTATION FREE AND STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL, as the doctor never makes a professional charge unless you desire him to treat your case until cured. Remember, you see Dr. R—— personally. If you cannot call, write a description of your case and he will send you symptom blank and book, "VITAL FACTS FOR MEN," FREE.
Dr. R—— is no better and no worse than others who have similar advertisements. They all practice the same game.
He is not, however, on very friendly terms with other specialists. A few years ago when some adverse legislation was threatened at Springfield it was necessary to raise a fund to check it. R—— subscribed one hundred dollars, but never paid it. There must be honor even among thieves.
I CURE IN FIVE DAYS VARICOCELEAND HYDROCELE without Knife or Pain.I want to cure every man suffering with Varicocele,Stricture, Contagious Blood Poison, NervousDebility, Hydrocele or a disease peculiar to men.This liberal offer is open to all who have spent large sums of money on doctors and medicines without any success, and my aim is to prove to all those people who were being treatedCONSULT DR. R——by a dozen or more doctors, also without any success, that I possess the only method, by means of which I will cure you permanently.DON'T PAY FOR UNSUCCESSFUL TREATMENT,ONLY FOR PERMANENT CURE.I will positively cure diseases of the stomach, lungs, liver and kidneys, even though very chronic.
I CURE IN FIVE DAYS VARICOCELEAND HYDROCELE without Knife or Pain.I want to cure every man suffering with Varicocele,Stricture, Contagious Blood Poison, NervousDebility, Hydrocele or a disease peculiar to men.
This liberal offer is open to all who have spent large sums of money on doctors and medicines without any success, and my aim is to prove to all those people who were being treated
CONSULT DR. R——
by a dozen or more doctors, also without any success, that I possess the only method, by means of which I will cure you permanently.
DON'T PAY FOR UNSUCCESSFUL TREATMENT,ONLY FOR PERMANENT CURE.
I will positively cure diseases of the stomach, lungs, liver and kidneys, even though very chronic.
PRIVATE DISEASES OF MEN cured quickly, permanently and with absolute secrecy. Nervous Debility, Weakness. Lost Vigor, Strains, Losses, Urinary Losses.DISEASES PECULIAR TO WOMEN—Pains in the Back. White Discharge and other ailments cured permanently.BLOOD POISON—And all kinds of skin diseases, like Pimples, Swollen Glands, Wasting Diseases, Lingering Diseases.CONSULTATION AND EXAMINATION FREE.CURE ONCE FOR ALL.DR. L. E. Z——, Chicago.Office Hours: 8 a. m. to 8 p. m.Sundays: 9 a. m. to 4 p. m.
PRIVATE DISEASES OF MEN cured quickly, permanently and with absolute secrecy. Nervous Debility, Weakness. Lost Vigor, Strains, Losses, Urinary Losses.
DISEASES PECULIAR TO WOMEN—Pains in the Back. White Discharge and other ailments cured permanently.
BLOOD POISON—And all kinds of skin diseases, like Pimples, Swollen Glands, Wasting Diseases, Lingering Diseases.
CONSULTATION AND EXAMINATION FREE.CURE ONCE FOR ALL.DR. L. E. Z——, Chicago.Office Hours: 8 a. m. to 8 p. m.Sundays: 9 a. m. to 4 p. m.
"I cure in five days." So says Dr. Z—— and several others in the same business. However, when you offer to take the five-day cure you are told it is an operation. "I have a slow cure," say the oily "doctors," "just as good, which requires three months." As the one operation itself is a little alarming, most men take the "slow cure."
At the end of three or six months they find they have been victimized. They are no better, and often worse.
Among other advertisers are Dr. L. R. W——, Dr. H. J. T—— and Dr. D——. The last named was recently arrested and held to the grand jury on the charge of defrauding a patient. It might be asked in the light of the above exposés of so-called specialists, are there no honest ones? Detective Wooldridge says yes, there are several in Chicago who deliver the goods. To any earnest seekers after the truth he will be glad to give the names of several men of whom he can say, "They do not misrepresent."
This is a sad, sad story, because it is an obituary, the death notice of one of the meanest and most abominable frauds that has ever taken the hoarded pennies of children and working girls, the "late lamented" "turf syndicate."
Several years ago the turf syndicate was in its glory. A poor girl, fresh from the old country, would scrub floors for a week or take in washing for a month in order to pour money into the pockets of these swindlers. Thanks to the efforts of Detective Clifton E. Wooldridge, of Chicago, and others, this particular fraud is now a thing of the past.
(Horses racing)
But the enormity of this tremendous crime against the poor may be appreciated from a study of the following figures.
Turf "investment" companies that have failed, absconded or have been driven to the wall by prosecutions during the last few years and the amount of money estimated to have been lost in the swindles give the following astonishing record:
E. J. Arnold & Co.$ 4,000,000John J. Ryan & Co., St. Louis, Mo.1,500,000Brolaski & Co., Chicago200,000Benedict & Co., Chicago200,000The Mid-Continent Investment Company, Chicago150,000The Mason-Teller Company, Chicago50,000The Douglas-Daly Company, R. S. Daly and N. C. Clark, Chicago125,000The Armstrong-Baldwin Turf Commission, J. P. McCann and O. L. Wells, Chicago100,000The Money-Maker, C. A. Pollock, manager, Chicago15,000Gulf Pacific Trust Co., F. Lehman and R. G. Herndon, Chicago, New Orleans and San Francisco50,000Investors' Profit-Sharing and Protective Association, Chicago12,000J. J. Shea & Company, Chicago10,000Standard Investment Bureau, Chicago and San Francisco25,000The Security Savings Society, W. R. Bennett, Chicago1,500,000The Investors' Protective Association, Frank E. Stone, Chicago200,000D. W. Moodey & Co., Chicago50,000Co-Operative Trust Co., L. M. Morrison, Chicago150,000Edward L. Farley & Co., Chicago75,000Inter-Ocean Commission Co., J. T. Mitchell, Chicago75,000Hugo Morris & Co., Chicago50,000Al Fetzer & Co., Co-Operative Turf Pools, Hammond, Ind.500,000Co-Operative Investment Association, L. H. Myers, New York150,000American Stock Co., W. M. Nichols, New York100,000Mutual Security Co., C. Dudrey, New York100,000Henshall, Bronner & Co., New York75,000W. W. O'Hara & Co., Cincinnati50,000Crawford & Co., New York35,000Paul Pry's Investments70,000The Belt Company, N. S. Goodsill, Hammond, Ind.150,000Drake, Allison & Co., Hammond, Ind.175,000McClellan & Co., John McClellan and John Murphy, proprietors, New Orleans, absconded50,000New York Co-Operative Company, New York20,000W. J. Keating Company, New York20,000The Fidelity Trust, Wm. J. Young, San Francisco25,000C. E. Cooper & Co., Cincinnati15,000C. E. Cooper & Co., Covington, Ky.10,000C. E. Collins & Co., George D. Jones and Charles Thompson, New York30,000—————Total$10,162,000
Among the first of the get-rich-quick schemes into which the public poured millions was the "turf investment" concern. The "literature" of probably no other class of swindle was so plausible as this. The promise was to pay 5 and in somecases 10 per cent on the investment each week. The method by which the promise was to be fulfilled was this: The money invested was to be placed in a pool and used as capital in playing the races. A standard bet of a certain amount was to be made. If this wager was lost, enough money out of the pool was to be bet on the horse picked by the managers of the concern in the next race, to recoup the loss on the first race, win the amount set out to win on the first race, together with a like amount on the second race. If this wager was lost, the process was to be repeated on the next race, and so on until a wager was won. Each time there was a winning, a large enough sum would have been bet to recoup all losses on previous races and win a fixed amount on each of the races played. Some concerns claimed to play the favorite horses in the betting, others the second choices to win and others to bet according to "inside information" derived from horse owners and jockeys.
Regardless of the variations of the scheme, the general plan was the same. The prospectuses, in a most plausible way, set forth the claim that "beating the races" was merely a matter of having a large enough capital at hand to continue the progressive betting plan.
By the claim that horse racing was as legitimate a calling as dealing on the Board of Trade or Stock Exchange and possessed the additional advantage of being open to persons of small means, a strong appeal was made to the poor.
Of course, none of the money that poured in ever was bet. Had 5 per cent a week on all the millions contributed by the public to this form of swindle been actually derived from the bookmakers, every penciler in the country would have been bankrupted in a month. The remarkable feature of the "turf" investment scheme is that this phase of the matter seemed never to occur to investors, and the other palpably impossible phases of the operators' claims were also overlooked in the effort to secure 260 per cent a year on the investment made.
As in the horse swindles, the older investors were paid their dividends from funds sent in by new ones. No attempt was made to win dividends in the market. As the gullibility of the "suckers" became a little dulled, innovations to increase the plausibility of the schemes were made and new forms of bait devised.
"Turf swindles" have flourished, while the victims, who number tens of thousands, dare not raise their voices in protest or complaint, well knowing that they would not only be the butt of ridicule in their community, but also that the world at large would rather rejoice at their losses, and courts and juries would probably waste little sympathy on them. Consequently the safest swindles operated today are those having race-track betting for their basis.
In the latter part of 1902 there were upwards of twenty-five of these schemes in operation in the United States. New York City was the headquarters for about ten, and the balance were located in St. Louis, Chicago, New Orleans, San Francisco, Cincinnati and Brooklyn.
Their prosperity was evidenced by the ability of managers to buy advertising space in the leading newspapers, to pay the printers for the most elaborate booklets, circulars, etc., and Uncle Sam for postage stamps, with which they were extremely liberal, usually sending a stamped envelope, for reply, to prospective investors.
Extracts which I give below from the literature of five of these concerns offer a fair criterion for the whole mass which I have before me, and demonstrate the turf swindlers' method of extracting money from the unsophisticated. Fully 25 per cent of their "investors" are women, while the whole number who contribute to their scheme is made up of persons who would not be seen betting at a race track or pool room, but who have consciences that will permit them to make money "honestly or otherwise."
WHO SAID I LOST TWENTY DOLLARS?WHO SAID I LOST TWENTY DOLLARS?
WHO SAID I LOST TWENTY DOLLARS?
This is one argument of a firm of so-called "Expert Handicappers" of New York City, who bet on the races:
"There has never been a week since we started in business when we did not pay a dividend. The smallest dividend we have ever paid for any one week was $6.50 for every $100 invested. We average about $9.50 per week on each $100.""An investment with us is safer and brings better returns than bookmaking or any other form of speculation."
"There has never been a week since we started in business when we did not pay a dividend. The smallest dividend we have ever paid for any one week was $6.50 for every $100 invested. We average about $9.50 per week on each $100."
"An investment with us is safer and brings better returns than bookmaking or any other form of speculation."
Here is an argument of a firm of so-called "Turf Commissioners" of San Francisco, which claimed to be betting on the races, guaranteeing 4 per cent weekly:
"There is no kind of speculation that affords so great an opportunity for making money rapidly on a small capital as playing the races on a business-like and systematic basis. Our average weekly profits usually range from 4 to 8 per cent."
"There is no kind of speculation that affords so great an opportunity for making money rapidly on a small capital as playing the races on a business-like and systematic basis. Our average weekly profits usually range from 4 to 8 per cent."
Another argument, that of a so-called "Bookmaker" of St. Louis, who guarantees 5 per cent weekly dividends to investors:
"We make books and allow the betting public to place the money. The man who bets has one horse running for him—the bookmaker has the rest. For this reason the odds are all in favor of the bookmaker and if he understands his business he is certain to make money."
"We make books and allow the betting public to place the money. The man who bets has one horse running for him—the bookmaker has the rest. For this reason the odds are all in favor of the bookmaker and if he understands his business he is certain to make money."
Argument of a firm of so-called "Turf Commissioners" of Chicago, who claim to make books on the races:
"Our plan insures a steady income on a small capital, such as no other company offers, and far eclipses any mining, oil, or other stock investment."
"Our plan insures a steady income on a small capital, such as no other company offers, and far eclipses any mining, oil, or other stock investment."
Argument of so-called racing stable concern of St. Louis, guaranteeing 3 per cent per week to investors of $50 and upward:
"We have a large stable of race horses, which we run at all tracks, winter and summer; we make books wherever racing is conducted, and the proposition we manage pays so well because we know how to run it to that end."
"We have a large stable of race horses, which we run at all tracks, winter and summer; we make books wherever racing is conducted, and the proposition we manage pays so well because we know how to run it to that end."
One of the variants of the old turf scheme is the venerable "Two-Horse Special," a fraud that is so old that its whiskers drag about its knees. Here is a sample of the two-horse literature:
"MY TWO-HORSE SPECIAL PLAN."(Send this slip with remittance.)No Account Received of Less Than $50.George F. Stone,Turf Specialist.Brooklyn, N. Y.I hand you ........ Dollars to be used by you in speculating for me, according to your TWO-HORSE WIRE plan of Turf Speculation. You are to play one-fifth of the amount of capital on each special, placing the money to win and also for place. You are to mail for me your selections each day, mailing the same NOT LATER than 1 P. M. You agree to operate the account, MAKING NO CHARGE until winnings equal capital invested. After that 20 per cent of all winnings you are to deduct, and send me the balance by money order, with statement, each week. I can close my account and withdraw any balance due me on demand. My liability is strictly limited to above amount.
"MY TWO-HORSE SPECIAL PLAN."(Send this slip with remittance.)
No Account Received of Less Than $50.
George F. Stone,Turf Specialist.Brooklyn, N. Y.
I hand you ........ Dollars to be used by you in speculating for me, according to your TWO-HORSE WIRE plan of Turf Speculation. You are to play one-fifth of the amount of capital on each special, placing the money to win and also for place. You are to mail for me your selections each day, mailing the same NOT LATER than 1 P. M. You agree to operate the account, MAKING NO CHARGE until winnings equal capital invested. After that 20 per cent of all winnings you are to deduct, and send me the balance by money order, with statement, each week. I can close my account and withdraw any balance due me on demand. My liability is strictly limited to above amount.
Detective Wooldridge led the officers on February 23, 1900, when the following concerns were raided and closed up:
The papers, books and "big-dividend" circulars of these concerns filled several wagons. The police estimated that over $500,000 had been lost by the investors in these concerns, which, notwithstanding some of the high-sounding names adopted by them, were all turf swindlers. Raid after raid has resulted in practically ridding Chicago of these vampires, but they seem to thrive wherever they are permitted to exist.
Gambling and Bookmaking Charged Against the "Get-Rich-Quick" Syndicates, Including Bennett's.
True bills were voted against proprietors of "get-rich-quick" turf concerns by the grand jury. Indictments were returned in court, and capiases for the arrest of the accused persons placed in the hands of the sheriff. Those against whom bills were voted are:
Frank E. Stone, alias Eddie Dunne, Security Savings Society, for bookmaking. W. R. Bennett, Security Savings Society, for bookmaking. W. I Bennett, Security Savings Society, for bookmaking. D. W. Moody, Security Savings Society, for bookmaking. Louis Morrison, alias L. M. Morrison, Co-Operative Trust Company, for bookmaking. Edwin E. Farley, for keeping a common gaming house and poolroom. Charles Carroll, for keeping a common gaming house and poolroom. J. W. Turner, alias J. W. Taylor, for keeping a common gaming house and poolroom. Miss S. Beck, stenographer for W. R. Bennett, for bookmaking.
Frank E. Stone, alias Eddie Dunne, Security Savings Society, for bookmaking. W. R. Bennett, Security Savings Society, for bookmaking. W. I Bennett, Security Savings Society, for bookmaking. D. W. Moody, Security Savings Society, for bookmaking. Louis Morrison, alias L. M. Morrison, Co-Operative Trust Company, for bookmaking. Edwin E. Farley, for keeping a common gaming house and poolroom. Charles Carroll, for keeping a common gaming house and poolroom. J. W. Turner, alias J. W. Taylor, for keeping a common gaming house and poolroom. Miss S. Beck, stenographer for W. R. Bennett, for bookmaking.
One puzzling feature of the prosecution of the turf people is that although the bills accuse them of keeping common gaming houses and operating poolrooms, officers and lawyers interested in the cases say the promoters of the concerns never really attempted to win their advertised profits by betting on the races. It has been alleged that not one of them speculated with deposits, but simply sent dividends back to investors out of their own money. It is now suggested that the accused persons will either have to admit they were gambling or confess that their alluring statements about winnings on the race tracks were glittering frauds.
The turf swindle was prosperous until February, 1903, when the crash among the St. Louis contingent precipitated a "run" on all of the concerns then in operation. As it was not thepolicy of the swindlers to pay, they either closed their doors and fled or the police conveniently interfered with their business.
Prior to the crash at St. Louis there were several notable failures and disappearances. On July 9, 1902, the Al Fetzer Co., of Hammond, Ind., "failed," and about a week prior Turf Commissioner W. W. O'Hara, of Cincinnati, absconded. Both of these events shattered many dreams of riches. In the Fetzer case heavy rains were said to have broken the sure-thing combination by which the company was to win fortunes from bookmakers on the race tracks.
The amounts lost by the credulous investors in Fetzer's scheme, which, it was declared, "could not lose," reached into the hundreds of thousands. The towns that suffered the most were Hammond, Ind., and Appleton, Wis. It was reported that the people of the latter town had suffered to the extent of $50,000, and dozens of small cities are believed to have fared almost as badly.
The clients of the concern in Appleton included a number of well-known business men and people of all classes. They lost from $25 to $200 each. A poor widow who had put in all her savings was left penniless and was obliged to seek aid from the city authorities.
Fetzer conducted a large part of his business through the mails. He advertised extensively in the newspapers and found many who were willing to "play the game." Dividends of $5 a week for $100 invested were promised and were paid punctually up to about July 1, 1902. He said he had a system of playing the races that could not be beaten, and the success of the early investors convinced the doubting ones that his system was all right. The information of the "snap" spread rapidly and Fetzer's business increased accordingly. No one thought that dividends of 260 per cent were improbable when they read of the "long shots" that won races on the Chicago tracks.
Fetzer attributed the downfall of his business to the rainy weather and said that he had been unsuccessful in picking "mudders." His system of betting, which was to make everyone rich by the end of the summer, went to pieces with each succeeding thunder shower, and the investors received the doleful information that the company had lost its own capital, as well as the money entrusted to it.
An investigation into the affairs of O'Hara at Cincinnati revealed a state of affairs almost beyond belief. More than 4,000 letters which were received within a week after O'Hara's disappearance were opened. They were from every state in the country, and many were from Canada. Amounts from $5 to $500 in checks and mail and express orders were enclosed. The total amount of the money in the letters opened was $5,518, and Inspector Holmes stated that O'Hara got away with $7,500 which came in the mail the same week, making a total of over $12,000 for one week's business. O'Hara's books showed that from July, 1900, when he commenced operations, until he skipped out in June, 1902, he had received from credulous "investors" the enormous sum of $465,000.
The inevitable crash came early in February, 1903, and the police and grand juries at Chicago, St. Louis, New York and other cities got busy, but the money had been transferred to the pockets of the swindlers, who had the choice of paying lawyers and possible fines or traveling in foreign climes until the excitement blew over.
February, 1903, Detective Clifton R. Wooldridge raided and closed the following named turf investment companies in Chicago:
From papers found in the Mid-Continent offices it appears this company had been doing a loan as well as an investment business. A letter addressed to Chicago school teachers invited deposits for investment on which 2-1/2 per cent monthly interest was guaranteed.
If the teachers needed money it was offered them at 3 per cent a month. The company's methods and those of the banks were compared in the letter, to the disadvantage of the banks.
Medical students, stenographers, maids in hotels, women of various classes, farmers in many sections of the country and hundreds of men in different employments in the city were disclosed as the dupes.
The following telegram from St. Louis to a Chicago paper briefly outlines the situation on the second day of the raiding there:
St. Louis, Mo., Feb. 11, 1903.—Runs were made on the E. J. Arnold Turf Investment Company, the International Investment Company, The Christie Investment Company and John J. Ryan & Co. yesterday by hundreds of men and women who during the last six months have invested their savings with these co-operative bookmaking concerns in the hope of enormous profits. The International and Christie companies paid all the stockholders who appeared, at first. Then they decamped.Arnold & Co., in accordance with their announcement which caused the panic among the "turf speculators" yesterday, refused to pay back any stock certificates, although still claiming to be perfectly solvent, and determined to pay the usual weekly dividends until affairs of the company are wound up.At the offices of John J. Ryan, owner of the Newport (Ky.) Race Track, a riot was averted by the presence of the police; and the excited investors, who were reminded that their stock certificates are payable only on thirty days' notice, went off in a state of rage and anxiety at once amusing and pitiful.
St. Louis, Mo., Feb. 11, 1903.—Runs were made on the E. J. Arnold Turf Investment Company, the International Investment Company, The Christie Investment Company and John J. Ryan & Co. yesterday by hundreds of men and women who during the last six months have invested their savings with these co-operative bookmaking concerns in the hope of enormous profits. The International and Christie companies paid all the stockholders who appeared, at first. Then they decamped.
Arnold & Co., in accordance with their announcement which caused the panic among the "turf speculators" yesterday, refused to pay back any stock certificates, although still claiming to be perfectly solvent, and determined to pay the usual weekly dividends until affairs of the company are wound up.
At the offices of John J. Ryan, owner of the Newport (Ky.) Race Track, a riot was averted by the presence of the police; and the excited investors, who were reminded that their stock certificates are payable only on thirty days' notice, went off in a state of rage and anxiety at once amusing and pitiful.
Arnold was a wise one. He knew how to work the game. First he sent to New York and bought the famous race horse Gold Heels. This horse had won many of the great Eastern classics. He broke a tendon and was useless, but Arnold'sinvestors did not know that. They would swear by Gold Heels. Then he caused his "bank" to issue a letter along the following lines:
American Central Trust Company.Capital—$1,000,000. Surplus—$500,000.S. Schnurmacher, President.Wm. S. Simpson, First Vice-President.Joseph Wachtel. Second Vice-President.Franklin P. Hunkins, Third Vice-President.Edward Bauder, Secretary and Treasurer.Directors.Shepard Barclay,Edward Bauder,G. A. Bauder,John N. Drummond, Jr.,Henry W. Gehner,Morris Glaser,Frank Griesedieck,G. A. Gurner,Franklin P. Hunkins,John D. Manley,H. I. Mills,John A. Nies,H. F. Powitzhy,Leo S. Rassieur,B. Schnurmacher,Wm. S. Simpson,Joseph Wachtel.St. Louis, Mo., May 15, 1902.To Whom It May Concern:The firm of E. J. Arnold & Company, of this city, is one of our largest depositors, and we consider them amply responsible for every obligation they may assume.American Central Trust Company,ByEdward Bauder,Sec'y & Treas.
American Central Trust Company.
Capital—$1,000,000. Surplus—$500,000.
S. Schnurmacher, President.Wm. S. Simpson, First Vice-President.Joseph Wachtel. Second Vice-President.Franklin P. Hunkins, Third Vice-President.Edward Bauder, Secretary and Treasurer.
Directors.
Shepard Barclay,Edward Bauder,G. A. Bauder,John N. Drummond, Jr.,Henry W. Gehner,Morris Glaser,Frank Griesedieck,G. A. Gurner,Franklin P. Hunkins,John D. Manley,H. I. Mills,John A. Nies,H. F. Powitzhy,Leo S. Rassieur,B. Schnurmacher,Wm. S. Simpson,Joseph Wachtel.
St. Louis, Mo., May 15, 1902.
To Whom It May Concern:
The firm of E. J. Arnold & Company, of this city, is one of our largest depositors, and we consider them amply responsible for every obligation they may assume.
American Central Trust Company,ByEdward Bauder,Sec'y & Treas.
The disaster was brought about by the appointment of a committee by the Missouri legislature to investigate the "get-rich-quick" situation. St. Louis had become the haven of every conceivable class of swindlers, who swarmed there in such numbers that the legislature deemed it wise to look into the matter. What motive inspired it to take this action was a mystery. Sufficient, however, to observe that when it came to following out its own recommendation to pass laws that would drive the "get-rich-quick" companies of all kinds out of the state something stopped the legislation.
The investigation of the "get-rich-quick" concerns in Missouri by the State Senate Committee resulted in an elaborate report, which was presented March 3, 1903. This report had the following to say of the turf investment companies:
"These institutions are of modern origin. The pioneer in this field, especially in this state, seems to have been E. J.Arnold & Co. Then followed Ryan & Co., the International, The Christian Syndicate, Brolaski, Thomas Walsh, Maxim-Gay and others."These concerns were presumably prosperous until the examination which was begun by the grand jury, instigated by the circuit attorney of St. Louis, Hon. Joseph W. Folk, and your present committee. When the crash came, company after company closed its doors or refused to pay back to depositors on demand, and upon examination of these companies, we found them to be mere shells, with little or no money or available assets on hand, and the millions of dollars handled by them either paid out in dividends, squandered and gambled away on race tracks, or absorbed by the officers and managers of the said companies."The evidence discloses the fact that E. J. Arnold is supposed to be in Mexico, the books of said company being in the hands of the grand jury. So far as the search under legal process has developed, no assets of Arnold & Co., except a stock farm and stock thereon, office furniture and fixtures, and a few hundred dollars in cash, were found."Ryan & Company claim that they have on hand $200,000, which has been attached and garnisheed, in the hands of the depositories, and the same process has been used to take possession of the real estate holdings and other personal property."George A. Dice, inspector of the postoffice, in charge of the St. Louis department, testified that he had made an examination of E. J. Arnold & Co. and John J. Ryan & Co., and that on their showing Arnold & Co. had on hand $160,000 more assets than their liabilities; that two different examinations of these concerns were made by him and his deputies, and that in the last report of November and December, 1902, his report to the department recommended that they be cited to appear before the department and answer as to their liability for criminal use of the mails, and that so far as his report went they were notified that there was a case pending againstthem; that the ruling of the department was not in accordance with his recommendation; that from the evidence it appears that the department at Washington, by some process or other unknown to your committee, overruled the recommendations of the inspector, dismissed the cases pending against these companies, and they were allowed to proceed with their process of absorbing the people's money. Had the department at Washington acted promptly and properly upon the recommendation of the inspector, millions of dollars would have been saved to the people of the State of Missouri and other states."In order to protect the people who are attracted by the fair promises and the payment of extraordinary profits or dividends, and to prohibit the improper and vicious misapplication and absorption of the money of the people who confide in the representation of investment companies, your committee recommends that a law be passed which will prohibit the doing of business by said turf investment companies or other like institutions in this state."
"These institutions are of modern origin. The pioneer in this field, especially in this state, seems to have been E. J.Arnold & Co. Then followed Ryan & Co., the International, The Christian Syndicate, Brolaski, Thomas Walsh, Maxim-Gay and others.
"These concerns were presumably prosperous until the examination which was begun by the grand jury, instigated by the circuit attorney of St. Louis, Hon. Joseph W. Folk, and your present committee. When the crash came, company after company closed its doors or refused to pay back to depositors on demand, and upon examination of these companies, we found them to be mere shells, with little or no money or available assets on hand, and the millions of dollars handled by them either paid out in dividends, squandered and gambled away on race tracks, or absorbed by the officers and managers of the said companies.
"The evidence discloses the fact that E. J. Arnold is supposed to be in Mexico, the books of said company being in the hands of the grand jury. So far as the search under legal process has developed, no assets of Arnold & Co., except a stock farm and stock thereon, office furniture and fixtures, and a few hundred dollars in cash, were found.
"Ryan & Company claim that they have on hand $200,000, which has been attached and garnisheed, in the hands of the depositories, and the same process has been used to take possession of the real estate holdings and other personal property.
"George A. Dice, inspector of the postoffice, in charge of the St. Louis department, testified that he had made an examination of E. J. Arnold & Co. and John J. Ryan & Co., and that on their showing Arnold & Co. had on hand $160,000 more assets than their liabilities; that two different examinations of these concerns were made by him and his deputies, and that in the last report of November and December, 1902, his report to the department recommended that they be cited to appear before the department and answer as to their liability for criminal use of the mails, and that so far as his report went they were notified that there was a case pending againstthem; that the ruling of the department was not in accordance with his recommendation; that from the evidence it appears that the department at Washington, by some process or other unknown to your committee, overruled the recommendations of the inspector, dismissed the cases pending against these companies, and they were allowed to proceed with their process of absorbing the people's money. Had the department at Washington acted promptly and properly upon the recommendation of the inspector, millions of dollars would have been saved to the people of the State of Missouri and other states.
"In order to protect the people who are attracted by the fair promises and the payment of extraordinary profits or dividends, and to prohibit the improper and vicious misapplication and absorption of the money of the people who confide in the representation of investment companies, your committee recommends that a law be passed which will prohibit the doing of business by said turf investment companies or other like institutions in this state."
If one should moralize on the turf swindles it would only be to repeat the old story—avarice. Nothing else explains why they are permitted to flourish and rob, and then a newspaper story and no more.
Justice, blind and decrepit, is unable to scale the insurmountable barrier of the swindlers' "bank roll." But there is still hope, for from Washington we hear from day to day that another boodler has been landed in the grand jury net—thanks to President Roosevelt, who, if he knew all, would do more.
When the last paragraph was written the finale had not been reached. But the strong arm of the federal government has at last been felt and the turf investment companies are no more. It is impossible for even the veriest sucker to be taken in by them any more, and their literature would be barred from the mails in an instant. It is all over with the turf investment companies. "Requiescat in pace." May they rest in peace.
Drugs Worth $30,000 Seized.
War on Makers of Imitations of Medicines Begun by the Chicago Police in Charge of Detective Clifton R. Wooldridge.
In all the history of fraud, imposture and graft, there is no story to parallel that of the "fake drug clique." There is no means of finding out how many thousands of lives are annually sacrificed in consequence of its nefarious practices, and the strong arm of the law while it can reach out and prevent further crime, can not call back to life those who have been offered up on the altar of greed.
Sensational raids made in the effort to clear Chicago of its numerous "Fake" patent medicine concerns, occurred on the morning of Nov. 29, 1904.
The raids followed a long conference between Chief of Police Francis O'Neill and Col. James E. Stuart, Chief Inspector of Chicago Postal Department, and for the first time in the history of the city, the Federal and City forces worked in unison. They decided that Chicago should be cleared of "Fake" Patent Medicine Concerns which for years had been using the mails to defraud hundreds of thousands of sick and weak persons.
George G. Kimball, U. S. Inspector of Mails, and Detective Clifton R. Wooldridge were assigned to gather the evidence and prepare the cases for prosecution. The work was no easy task. Both officers went about the work of gathering the evidence in a thoroughly systematic manner.
Inspector Kimball discovered the mails were employed extensively by the agents in disposing of their spurious drugs. Investigation proved that large orders were sent to small suburban towns and cities weekly. The correspondence, circulars and goods were secured.
The breaking up of the drug ring, however, was a delicate task. It was strongly backed financially, and it was aided and abetted, throughout the United States, by political rings galore. Chicago was the headquarters, and it was natural that to the police department of this city, ever-famed for its hatred of "grafts" big and little, should fall the lot of exterminating the traffic.
Detective Wooldridge gathered the information in Chicago, the names of the firms, location and the men who owned them.
The men are charged with making and selling a spurious preparation of aristol, a product made in Germany, and valued as a substitute for iodoform. Their products were represented as genuine, were said to differ from those handled by the wholesale drug trade, only in the fact that they were imported from Canada and England instead of from Germany.
Here are a few of the things discovered in the course of the investigation by Detective C. R. Wooldridge. The statements are printed from an interview with the great detective.