sell a watch worth one hundred dollars for five dollars, or a diamond pin
worth two hundred dollars for one dollar. And yet thousands innocently
believe the assertions of the swindlers, and part with their money never
to see it again. The gold pens, jewelry, watches, etc., sold by these
advertising swindlers are not worth a twentieth of the cost of the
tickets.

The Dollar stores reap enormous profits from the sale of their bogus
jewelry, etc. They ask a dollar for an article which is dear at
twenty-five cents.

"Situation Agencies" are common in the city. There are always a number
of people here out of employment and anxious to obtain it. These are
attracted by advertisements such as the following:

WANTED, CLERKS, COPYISTS, COLLECTORS, timekeepers, watchmen, porters,
bartenders, coachmen, grooms, two valets to travel. Immediate
employment.

They call at the "Agency," which is usually in one of the upper stories
of a Nassau street building. The agent, a flashy young man, personates
his clerk on such occasions. He informs the applicant that the
proprietor is not in, but will be soon, and that in order to secure the
very first chance of employment, he must register his name and make a
deposit of two dollars. He overcomes the objections of the applicant by
stating that the office is overrun with persons needing assistants, and
that there are a dozen openings ready for the applicant. The proprietor,
however, manages all these things himself. He is sure to be in in the
afternoon. The name is registered, the money is paid, but the proprietor
is never to be found. The "clerk," if pressed for the return of the
money, utterly denies the whole transaction, destroys the register, if
necessary, and as there is no evidence to convict him, he escapes the
punishment of his crime.

Another "circular swindle" is practised as follows: Circulars are sent to
persons in other parts of the Union, offering one hundred dollars in
perfect counterfeits of United States Treasury notes and fractional
currency for five dollars. One of the most ingenious of these circulars,
all of which are lithographed, reads as follows:

"When Congress authorized the present issue of greenbacks, the Treasury
Department executed plates of enormous cost and wonderful workmanship,
from which the whole amount of currency authorized by Congress was to be
printed, and it was ordered at the time, that, as soon as the whole
amount had bee