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: