Twenty Years a Detective in the Wickedest City in the WorldWooldridge, Clifton R. (Clifton Rodman)
History
Twenty Years a Detective in the Wickedest City in the World
Wooldridge, Clifton R. (Clifton Rodman)
Crime -- Illinois -- Chicago; Police -- Illinois -- Chicago
Then, too, there is what might be called a sort of legitimate raffle
business. Of course, the raffle is a lottery under the law, and,
therefore, is a criminal transaction. But in many cases goods of
known value, but slow sale, are disposed of through raffles, and
the drawings conducted honestly. A North Side man disposed of an
automobile in this way. It had been a good wagon in its day, though
the type was old. He wanted to get a new one, and as the makers would
not allow him anything in exchange for the old. He sold raffle tickets
to the amount of $500, and the winner got a real bargain--the losers
paying the bill.
RAFFLES THAT ARE STEALS.
A group of young men who wanted to build themselves a little club
house in the Fox Lake region, resorted to a raffle that was almost a
downright steal. They had the printer make them tickets, and each one
went among his friends and organized a "suit club," selling chances
for a $30 tailor-made suit. Of course those who invested understood
that the suit probably would be worth about $18, but they were
satisfied to help build the club house on that basis, and besides they
thought they had a fair chance to get the suit.
It was learned afterward by accident that there were twenty "series"
of tickets sold by these young men, and instead of each series
standing for a suit, only one drawing was held, and only a single
suit made for the entire twenty series of tickets. In other words,
they sold $500 worth of tickets for a $30 suit of clothes. They built
their club house, however, and laughed at the man who kicked because
he thought he did not get a square deal for the half dozen tickets he
bought. They thought it was a good joke.
GRAFT OF TRAIN BUTCHER EASY.
In these days if anything gets past the up-to-date train butcher it
isn't because the public knows any more than it did in Barnum's time.
We get a customer every minute by the birth records.
For a genuine, all-round, dyed-in-the-wool separator of coin from its
proud possessor, the train butcher is the limit. Here is a word for
word story by a train "butch" of how the thing is done. He excuses his
tactics much the same way that the little rogue does who points out
that the giant malefactors are doing the same thing, but "getting away
with it." Enter Mr. Butch.
"I got back yesterday from a two days' trip--out and in.
I had $29.65 to the good, and the company satisfied, and
nary a kick from the railroad. At one little place down the
line, though, a railroad detective got aboard and tried to
detect.
"'Say, young feller,' he said to me, 'I saw you go through
here yesterday lookin' pretty spruce, and I thought I'd
better take a look through yer grips as you came back. What
yer got in there?'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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