 Preface of The Right Way to Do Wrong, an Exposé of Successful Criminals by Harry Houdini. Oh, would the deed were good, for now the devil that told me I did well says that this deed is chronicled in hell. Shakespeare. There is an underworld, a world of cheat and crime, a world whose highest good is successful evasion of the laws of the land. You who live your life in placid respectability know but little of the real life of the denizens of this world. The daily records of the police courts, the startling disclosures of fraud and swindle and newspaper stories are about all the public know of this world of crime. Of the real thoughts and feelings of the criminal, of the terrible fascination which binds him to his nefarious career, of the thousands, yea, tens of thousands, of undiscovered crimes and unpunished criminals, you know but little. The object of this book is twofold. First, to safeguard the public against the practices of the criminal classes by exposing their various tricks and explaining the adroit methods by which they seek to defraud. Knowledge is power, is an old saying. I might paraphrase it in this case by saying knowledge is safety. I wish to put the public on its guard so that honest folks may be able to detect and protect themselves from the dishonest who labor under the false impression that it is easier to live dishonestly than to thrive by honest means. In the second place, I trust this book will afford entertaining as well as instructive reading and that the facts and experiences, the exposés and explanations here set forth may serve to interest you as well as put you in a position where you'll be less liable to fall a victim. The material contained in this book has been collected by me personally during many years of my active professional life. It has been my good fortune to meet personally and converse with the chiefs of police and the most famous detectives in all the great cities of the world. To these gentlemen I am indebted for many amusing and instructive incidents hitherto unknown to the world. The work of collecting and arranging this material and writing the different chapters has occupied many a leisure hour. My only wish is that the right way to do wrong may amuse and entertain my readers and place the unwary on their guard. If my humble efforts in collecting and writing these facts shall accomplish this purpose, I shall be amply repaid and feel that my labor has not been in vain. Harry Houdini, Handcuff King and Jailbreaker End of Preface Recording by Leanne Howlett Shot one of the right way to do wrong, an exposé of successful criminals by Harry Houdini. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Leanne Howlett The right way to do wrong, an exposé of successful criminals by Harry Houdini. Shot one, income of a criminal People of respectability and inexperience who have no knowledge of the criminal classes usually imagine that every criminal is a hardened villain incapable of even the ordinary feelings of family affection and that of necessity the professional crook, thief or burglar is uneducated and ignorant. In fact, nothing can be more remote from the truth. Do you see that well-dressed, respectable looking man glancing over the editorial page of the sun? You would be surprised to know that he is a professional burglar and that he has a loving wife and a family of children who little know the business which takes him away for many days and nights at a time. You meet a grave and benevolent looking gentleman on a railway train. Perhaps he shares your seat and interests you by his brilliant and intelligent conversation. You little suspect that he is at the head of a gang of the most expert bank burglars in the country. As a matter of fact, some of the brightest brains and keenest minds belong to professional criminals. They live by their wits and must-needs keep those wits sharp and active. Not that I would have you think that all professional criminals go about in the guise of gentlemen. There are all grades of culture and lack of culture in the various nefarious callings of crime. The sneak thief in the burglar may and often does look the hard citizen he is but you will never find him lacking in a certain kind of quick wits and a certain kind of brain power. So highly organized is the machinery of the law and police protection and our modern civilization that one of the first requisites for success as a professional criminal is brains. Does it pay to commit crime? This is a question I have often asked the chiefs of police and great detectives of every country in the world. How great are the money rewards of evil doing? Does a good burglar have an income equal to that of a bank president? Can a pickpocket make more money than the fashionable tailor who makes the pockets? Is a gambler better paid than a governor? Can a shoplifter make more money than the saleswoman? In fact, does it pay to be a criminal and if so, how great is the reward for evil doing? I am aware that it is the general impression, considered simply as a matter of profits, that the professional criminal is well paid. He gets something for nothing. Therefore you would say at a first glance that he must be rolling in wealth. Many people who get their ideas of criminals from novels and story papers, for instance, imagine a gambler as a man who always has a roll of bills in his pocket big enough to choke a horse, as they say. No doubt also the histories of sensational coups, as reported in the Daily Press, are chiefly responsible for this false impression. But such colossal frauds and robberies are rarely the work of professional criminals. They are usually perpetrated by men whose previous good character has placed them in positions of trust. Men who have led honest lives when temptation came along and on paper they figured out that they could not lose. Why? They stole and fell into the clutches of law. Disgraced, they are ruined for life, often ruining all their family. It is a terrible thing to have the finger of fate point at you with the remark, his father is serving time for doing so and so, or her brother is now in his sixteenth year and comes out in five years. Such humble criminals as the area sneak thief, the porch and hallway thieves, and the ordinary shoplifter may be dismissed with a few words. Their gains are miserably small, they live in abject poverty, and after detection, for sooner or later they are detected, they end their lives in the workhouse. If I could earn five dollars a week honest, I'd gladly give up dragging, shoplifting, set a thief of this type to a New York detective. But I can't stand regular work, never could. It's so much easier to prig things. No avarice but simple laziness keeps these thieves dishonest. More lucrative are the callings of the counter thief, the pickpocket, and the buzzer or watch thief. Of those, the pickpocket wins the largest returns. A purse-hunter who knows his work would think he had wasted his time if he did not make five dollars on an evening stroll. Race meetings and fairs may bring him in one hundred dollars to one hundred fifty dollars a day, but an average day's makings amount to only eight dollars to twelve dollars. The passing of bad money, as everyone knows, who is behind the scenes in criminal life, is a very poorly paid industry while the punishment risk is heavy. In England, the snide pitchers or shovers of the queer, as they were called, used to buy the counterfeit coins at so much a dozen and working in pairs passed them out in shops. Highwaymen, robbers, and hold-up men sometimes make big hauls, but their careers are short. Into their brutal hands pass many a diamond pin or ring, many a gold chain, worth twenty dollars or twenty-five dollars, even at melting pot prices of some dishonest goldsmith. Happily for society, these ruffians are speedily brought to book and their ill-gotten gains are dearly earned. There is a thief's proverb which runs, A six months run and the hook, thief, is done. The garot and hold-up men have far shorter lease of liberty and frequently fall into the clutches of the law within a day or two after release from prison. Both burglars and confidence men may make big coups occasionally, but their income is precarious. The burglar is at the mercy of the fence, as the receiver of stolen goods is called, and realizes only a small part of the actual value of his pelf. I suppose a burglar would be considered very successful if he made three thousand dollars a year actual profit. The fence has much larger opportunities and his veracity is well known. A detective friend was well acquainted with one who made as much as five thousand dollars a year for several years and finally shot himself to avoid arrest. Another fence actually amassed a fortune, but his wealth did not prevent him from dying miserably in prison. The truth is that a life of dishonesty may pay at first when you are not known to the police. But when an offender once falls into the hands of the ever-watchful police, he begins to be a well-known customer. He now pays dearer and dearer every time he is brought up for trial. His brief spells of liberty are spent in committing some crime that once again brings him back to the prison. So when you figure out the sentences he has to serve, why his honest gains are contemptible compared to such awful penalties. As this book is not a history of crime or criminals, to those wishing to read positive facts of great criminals, and all of them have either died in the poor house or are yet counting the weary days in prison cells, divorced from wife from children and from all ties that human beings hold so dear, I can safely call attention to the book called Our Rival the Rascal, written by my friend, Chief Inspector of Police William B. Watts of Boston, Massachusetts. This book is the greatest book on the subject that I have ever seen. I happen to have a copy with me in Berlin when the Royal Police, hearing that I had the book in the country, asked me as a favor to allow them to make extracts and photograph some of the famous criminals in the book. This I allowed them to do, and in return they handed me several photos of well-known criminals to send to Chief Inspector William B. Watts. In order to put a finish to this chapter, it can be said that it does not pay to lead a dishonest life, and to those who read this book, although it will inform them the right way to do wrong, all I have to say is one word, and that is, don't. Yes, my poor brother had no education and it were his ruin. How was that? He forged a name on a check and the spelling were bad. End of shot one, recording by Leanne Howlett. Shot two of the right way to do wrong, an expose of successful criminals. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Leanne Howlett. The right way to do wrong, an expose of successful criminals by Harry Houdini. Shot two, professional burglary. The professional burglar is a man of resources and daring. He has usually had a long training in criminal pursuits. A good burglar is a man who knows how to keep his own counsel and is very careful how he tells his plans to anyone else. If the same amount of ability and talent that many a criminal exercises to become a professional burglar were applied to an honest pursuit, he would gain wealth and fame. But once started in the path of crime, it is difficult to turn aside. The burglar who makes the breaking into houses a profession is held by the fascination of the danger and the rewards of his pursuit. The consciousness that he is able to accomplish the almost impossible to plan and bring off coups which fill the newspapers with flare headings is as much a matter of pride to him as high attainments in an honorable profession are to another man. Planning a bold break. When a burglar starts out on a job, he does not do it haphazardly. He carefully selects a house in a favorable location occupied by a family who are known to have valuable possessions worth taking away. The retired location of the house, the ease of access, every approach and every avenue of escape have detected are carefully studied. Then he goes about acquainting himself with the habits of the people who occupy the house. He soon knows when they come and go, how the doors are fastened, how the windows are secured. Perhaps he ingratiates himself by paying marked attention to the sounds of the kitchen and so learns the inside workings of the household. Usually this is accomplished by the aid of a confederate or member of the gang to which he belongs and if he can induce the cooperation of some servant, his work is made so much the easier. At length the night of the burglary arrives. The date has been carefully set. You may be sure that there is not a full moon to illuminate the grounds as he has consulted the Almanac. If there is a watchdog, the burglar carries ample means to quiet him in the shape of a small bottle of chloroform. Accompanyed by his pal, for most of these burglars work in pairs, they rapidly affect their entrance in accordance with their plan. Usually one man is stationed outside to give warning by means of a peculiar whistle or other sound in case detection is to be feared. How the burglar overcomes all the obstacles of his entrance into the house will be treated later, but to a professional cracksman, the ordinary locks of doors, the ordinary window fastenings and safety arrangements which the householder attends to so carefully every night offer but little or no obstacle. When the time comes for him to enter, he enters as quietly and quickly as though he were the master himself, in fact very much more quietly. Once inside, his glimmering electric dark lantern, which can be hooded in an instant, gives him sufficient light to move with noiseless rubber sole shoes to the different apartments. The absolute silence in which a professional cracksman can go through a house avoiding creaking doors and escaping every loose board which may betray his presence is astonishing. Many a householder has awakened in the morning to find his house rifled, who would deem it impossible for anyone to enter his house, much less his room, without immediately arousing him. To show how carefully a burglar plans for the cracking of some specially desirable crib, one ex-convict declares that he has often expended large sums of money in making the preliminary arrangements for some great coup. If a burglar should happen to be caught in the house breaking act, it is fairly important that he should not be recognized afterwards. So most professional burglars are very careful to provide themselves with a disguise when out on their work. One reform criminal told Inspector Burns that he had several times been seen by people while entering houses, but they had never once been able to recognize him afterwards. His simple plan he described as follows, I always wore a specially made wig with false side whiskers and moustache of the best quality. My wardrobe was extensive and contained reversible coats and reversible trousers, after the style used by quick change artists on the stage. With the aid of these, I've been able to make a complete change of appearance in less than two minutes. It is easy to see how rogues take more pains to perpetrate robberies than honest men do to get a living. The burglar who walked backward. A London burglar who served a long sentence told the chaplain of the prison the following amusing story of one of his experiences. One of the toughest pieces of work I undertook was a big jewelry shop in the Seven Sisters Road one January night. It was a put up job. That is, the business came to me through one of the brokers who supply burglars with places for likely halls and receive in return a large commission. The jewelry store in this case was protected by iron shutters, not easy to open from the street, but valuable goods were supposed to be left overnight in the window. I approached the crib down a narrow entry to the rear and along this I walked backward for the ground was covered with snow and any tracks going forward would attract the next policeman who should pass. I continued on this crab-like progress until under the shutter of the rear window. This I got through without difficulty but was confronted by a door leading into the passage which was locked. On attempting to force it with a jimmy, the door fell together with its case with a tremendous crash. I need not say I made myself scarce in a jiffy and hid behind a shed in the yard. Strange to say, nothing happened. No one seemed to have heard the terrible racket. I re-entered and climbing to the top of the stairs found a heavy trap door fastened with a massive bolt. This gave way after a special treatment and in the big sitting room by the glimmer of my tiny dark lantern I found a few watches. The door leading into the shop was fastened with a mortise lock and it was necessary to cut the box out. Much to my disgust I found the show window absolutely empty. In ransacking the place I came across a small iron safe which, with a vast deal of trouble, I dragged into the basement where I set to work with my safe opening tools feeling sure I should find my plunder. But again I was disappointed for the safe was empty. Almost all English safes are keylocked, not combination as in America. Where was the stuff? Clearly the jeweler had some hiding place. I resolved not to get cold feet on this job so went back to make a systematic search. Outside the old couple's bedroom I listened carefully. All was quiet. I entered his silently as a shadow and found the old jeweler and his wife sleeping soundly. A revolver was on the chair by his bedside. I have always considered the practice of keeping revolvers about the house most dangerous, especially to casual night visitors, so I pocketed this one, gathered up the loose money, two gold watches, and turning, found arranged along the wall the rods of jewelry and watches from the shop window. I selected as many as my pockets would hold and cautiously made my way downstairs again. Upon leaving the house I walked backward again through the snow and almost collided with the milkman just starting on his rounds. You have a very remarkable way of walking, he said. Oh, I replied, it is an agreeable change after the monotony of always walking forward, but in the daytime I cannot practice it, owing to the remarks of foolish people who will not mind their own business. He seemed to enter into the joke, but no sooner had we reached the road that he shouted, police, and stop thief for all he was worth. I had a good start, however, and two hours later a hoxton fence received a considerable addition to his store of valuables concealed under the floor of his bedroom. The question has often been asked how burglars get away with their booty, especially when it makes, as it often does, a bulky bundle. The police are apt to be suspicious of people who carry bundles in the small hours of the night and ask inconvenient questions. If anyone doubts this, let him try the experiment of going out between two and three in the morning, carrying a bag heavily loaded with bricks. He will not proceed many yards without being pounced upon by a cop. A story in point is told by an ex-convict to a well-known detective. I had a pal with me, and we broke into the country palace of one of the wealthiest dukes in England. The silver plate we got filled two bags. We had just dragged the sacks into the thicket near the house when the alarm was raised. Think of the tight place we were in, two o'clock in the morning, and a policeman every thirty yards all around the grounds, every road guarded in every path. Safe enough inside the ring we were, but when daylight came what would happen? Still the next day dawned and no trace was found either of the plunder or of us, and by evening of that same day it was all melted and sold to the fence in the city. The police were utterly baffled as to how the perpetrators of the robbery got away with two sacks full of plate. No one had passed the cordon of police except a couple of countrymen from the home farm who were driving a cart to market containing a slaughtered sheep. Now I might tell the police something that would interest them. If they had turned that sheep over they would have found, instead of the usual bodily organs, that the carcass contained a valuable collection of silver, and if they had looked under the straw they might have found the rest of the duke's missing property. The Second Story Man The professional burglar of standing in his profession looks down somewhat with condescension upon the Second Story Burglar, whose risks are not nearly so great and whose rewards of course are proportionally smaller. The Second Story Man avoids breaking and entering a house. His fort is obtaining an entrance by means of convenient porches, overhanging vows of trees, water conductors and lightning rods up which he climbs with the greatest ease and enters through an unguarded window in that part of the house where he is planned to make his robbery. Many successful Second Story Men work only in the daytime and are prepared with all sorts of plausible excuses to explain their presence of detected in a house. A burglar engaged in going through the premises after jewels known to be in the house may, in a second's time, assume all the appearance and actions of the honest workman come to repair the plumbing and by his clever effrontery escape even after he is detected. Usually, however, the Second Story Man so plans in times his work as to enter the house when most of the family are absent and thus avoid the risk of detection. Ordinary Criminal The Ordinary Criminal's hand has a peculiarly rough shape, the thumb being very plump and short while the fingers are uneven and heavy, the small finger is churned inward and bluntness is the hand's chief characteristic. End of Shot 2 Recording by Leanne Howlett Shot 3 Of The Right Way To Do Wrong An Exposé of Successful Criminals This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Leanne Howlett The Right Way To Do Wrong An Exposé of Successful Criminals by Harry Houdini Shot 3 Difficulties Of Burglary Every man who lives by his wits and defies the law of the land must confront difficulties unknown to the ordinary citizen. In the first place, the house must be entered, locks must be forced and picked, burglar alarms must be circumvented, and every effort made to escape detection. Most people who carry a loaded revolver or have one in their bed chamber think that they are protected. As a matter of fact, a burglar finds the least of his danger at the muzzle of a pistol. In the hands of the excited and frightened citizen who awakes in the middle of the night to find his house being robbed, a revolver is not especially dangerous. Of course, the burglar is likely to get a bullet, but the citizen seems quite as apt to shoot himself or some member of his family as he is a burglar. Nor do ordinary burglar alarms present any great difficulty to the expert cracksman. If he knows his business, he has found out beforehand all about these pretty little toys, where they are located, how they are handled, etc. His first care, of course, is to cut the wires or by other means known to him make the burglar alarm harmless and noiseless. Once silent, he may proceed to pick all the locks in the house and clad in the darkness and the garment of silence which every burglar knows how to assume, he soon gets away with his ill-gotten plunder. A pet dog may make an able-bodied burglar more trouble on a midnight expedition than half a dozen pistols or shotguns in the house. These little animals are certainly light sleepers and their bark, while harmless, is very apt to arouse every inmate in the place. If the burglar is expert, he has probably cultivated the acquaintance of the dog in advance when he paid court to the kitchen girl at the back door and a little bottle of chloroform judiciously placed puts the dog to sleep very quietly. The window bars, which are supposed to be such a protection to basement windows, also call for remark. They are usually set from four to six inches apart and are then of very little use, for a miniature screw jack is made for the profession which will force these bars sufficiently wide apart to allow a thin man to enter. When going away for the holidays, it is a great mistake to shut up the house. This is simply to make public announcement that the place is unoccupied and may be entered with safety. The wiser plan is to make it look as much occupied as possible and to give notice to the police that you were going away. The next door neighbors, if you know them to be above suspicion, should also be warned. The question is often asked, where is the safest place to keep one's valuables? My advice is to keep them at your bankers, but if it is really necessary to have them in the house, then the best place is the least likely one. One communicative burglar gave us two pathetic instances of wasted labor and disappointment that had befallen him. One night he went through a saddler's premises with extraordinary care, but without result, owing to the fact, which subsequently leaked out, that the cash was kept in an old saddle. The other case was that of a wealthy merchant's house, which was visited in pursuit of cash and securities. None could be found, though the house was thoroughly ransacked. It was afterwards found that they were concealed in a dummy book placed among the volumes in one of the library book cases. It is not altogether the wisest plan to keep one's valuables in the bedroom, for the simple reason that a determined burglar, who has learned their whereabouts, will not hesitate to visit the bedroom, in which case it is very possible that the occupant will not wake up next morning. I shall conclude this chapter with some account of burglar-proof appliances, as described by Mr. Herbert Howard, a writer in the London magazines, as follows. Burglars Laugh at Locks The holiday season is the harvest of the enterprising burglar and the dark days of the late autumn and winter provide a happy hunting ground for the professional housebreaker. The need, then, for securely guarding the house against uninvited visitors is one that appeals forcibly to everyone who values his own goods and chattels and is willing to take a little trouble to protect them. The hints given in the present article are the result of a long experience of a very practical character. If any man knows better than another the relative value of the various modes of protecting a house, it is the professional burglar. He smiles at the futility of many a mass of lock and bolt, while on the other hand, he grinds his teeth with rage as he thinks of certain simple contrivances that have defeated his nefarious designs. The biggest point about a house is usually a window, and for that reason it is one of the most convenient modes of entry for the burglar. The ordinary window catch is the most foolish contrivance possible and must have been invented by somebody who wanted to break in with as little trouble as possible. You have merely to insert a thin putty knife between the sashes and the catch can be pushed back without much difficulty. An attempt is sometimes made to prevent this by the insertion of a screw behind the catch so that it will not slide back. In this case, the judicious use of a jimmy or crowbar under the bottom sash will simply force out the screws, always very slight affairs, by which the catch is fastened to the window, and thus the difficulty is overcome without any noise or trouble. The only really secure mode of fastening a window is by means of strong thumb screws passing through both sash frames on either side. These screws should work through metal plates led into the sashes. These screws, if properly placed, will resist the application of the crowbar and as they are quite inaccessible from the outside of the window, they can only be tampered with by removing the panes of glass. The door next calls for attention. Usually it is fastened during the day by a light latch which shields at once to a very mild amount of pressure with a jimmy. For purposes of protection, this latch is utterly worthless. The large old-fashioned lock, which is put into the door, is much better. Certainly it can be forced, but only with great difficulty, and it is apt to make a noise like the report of a pistol when it gives way. The best plan from the burglar's point of view is to attack the door post and try to force out the socket into which the bolt of the lock shoots. Locks used frequently to be picked, and skeleton keys were much in vogue and bygone days. Now, however, locks have been so greatly improved that they are seldom picked when locks are used. Ordinary door bolts present no difficulty to the burglar who has his tools with him. They are quickly forced out, screws and all, or they are silently cut through with a saw of diamond steel. Chains are the best of all fastenings for doors. They are difficult to cut or force, and they are apt to rattle and make a noise, which is the thing of all others that a burglar dreads most. The presence of the loose chain is not usually discovered until the locks and bolts. A glass panel door, especially if it has no shutters, is a thing of delight to the intruder who can only too easily remove the glass and so get access to the locks and bolts. A letter slot without a box is also a helpful contrivance, as it enables him to insert a strong wire loop with which to pull back the lock. The lock has been used for a long period of time, and it has been used a strong wire loop with which to pull back the latch. The best way to secure the house door is to provide it with a chain at the extreme top and bottom in addition to one or two thumb screws passing through the door into the frame. This will effectually defy the best efforts of the burglar, unless he is prepared to cut out the framework of the door, a long and risky job. The ordinary window shutters are quite useless, both on account of their weak construction and of the primitive simplicity of the usual fastening, which can be undone without any trouble. Iron shutters are, however, a good protection, but only when fastened by screws in the way we have described. Inner doors, especially of rooms that contain valuables, should always be locked at night, but the key must be taken away. Many people have the idea that by leaving the key in the lock, of course on the inside of the door, they are making it impossible for the lock to be picked from the outside. As a matter of fact, they are simply taking the key into the burglar's hands. Examine the average door at the hotels and you will find that when the key is in the lock, the end of the barrel slightly projects from the keyhole on the other side of the door. Now the burglar has in his tool bag a neat little instrument resembling in shape a very small piano key, with which he is able to grip the projecting end of the barrel, and so turn the key around and unlock the door. The best of all fastenings for the bedroom or other inner door is a simple bottom of the door. If this is correctly shaped and properly placed, it is absolutely impossible to open the door from the outside without cutting a piece out of the panel, and no burglar will risk this with a person sleeping near at hand. It is however sometimes practicable to pass a knife or other article under the door, and so push the wedge back. To prevent this, it is only necessary to place some obstacle in the way. A strong screw passed into the floor will serve, especially if it passes through a hole in the wedge. Burglars have no hesitation in poisoning small dogs when they are in the way of their getting out an especially valuable haul. Sometimes this is done by feeding poison meat through the letter slot, while dogs kept in kennels outside are practical uses for protection as they may be easily disposed of. If your watchdog suddenly dies under suspicious circumstances, look out for a burglary within the next few nights. Several cases have been known where crooks have gained positions on the police force in order to forward nefarious and nocturnal work of burglary. Visitor in jail. Do you never hear the still small voice of conscience? Convict. No. I'm hard of hearing. End of shot three. No. No. No. End of shot three. Recording by Leanne Howlett. Shot four. Of the right way to do wrong. An expose of successful criminals. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Leanne Howlett. The right way to do wrong. The right way to do wrong. An expose of successful criminals. By Harry Houdini. Shot four. Burglars superstitions. Some people imagine that a burglar is forever on the still hunt for plunder. That the breaking into houses forms a nightly part of his program. And that he would be a lonesome individual unless he had a dark lantern in one hand and a Jimmy in the other. The truth of the matter is the professional burglars rarely make more than eight or ten good hauls in the course of a season. And that to be out on more than one job inside of a week or ten days would be considered rather dangerous. Of course, there are cases where gangs of burglars are working certain sections of the city where a number of startling robberies are committed one after another. But your careful and successful cracksman limits his work and increases his safety. The burglar no doubt may be a quiet citizen, a householder himself and one known as a respectable man to his neighbors and when occasionally he disappears for a week or a fortnight it is attributed to business in a distant city. His business brings him in another rich hall and when that is disposed of he is on easy street again until inclination or necessity compels him to go forth in quest of other plunder. Sailors are superstitious and burglars share that honor with them for there is no class of individuals who look more carefully to signs of good and evil omen than does your professional cribcracker. An ex-convict whom I once befriended in Omaha and from other sources I learned the following most common superstitions of thieves and burglars. A black cat is a certain forerunner a disaster to the burglar and householders who suddenly find their black cats poisoned may take it as a warning that the robbery of their domain has been decided upon for the criminals take care to destroy their dumb enemies before paying a midnight call. Dogs on the contrary they fear but little however savage they may be because they take care to carry in their pockets pieces of ivory a certain cure for dog bites. The cries of an infant warn the marauder that misfortune awaits him in the neighborhood. He will not stay in a house if he finds a clock stopped, or an unframed oil painting. These are infallible omens of disaster. One of the chief terrors of the burglar is a newly painted house. Several years ago in a northern town some disciples of the Jimmy broke into a large domicile but removed nothing though they favored the next house with a visit the same evening and stole everything of value. They were captured as they were scaling the garden wall and at the trial one confessed that they had spent eight weeks of preparations for entering the house from which they removed nothing and upon doing so found it to have been freshly painted so transferred their attention to the adjoining building thereby bringing about their capture. A criminal studies the weather quite as carefully as the farmer does. He will not perpetrate a crime on the night of a new moon nor if the orb has a halo or mist around it and were he to plunder a house during an eclipse he might as soon give himself up to the law for his days outside of prison walls would be numbered. Even more trifling incidents or of equal significance to the robber it is bad luck to be followed by a dog and any undertaking or plundering plan will be abandoned for the time as it means capture or failure. If the house selected has crepe on the door to enter would be to court disaster and to kick against a piece of coal in the road would bring about a similar result. Pickpockets are very careful not to rob a cross-eyed or club footed person. To rob a blind man would be to bring down misfortune but curiously enough a blind woman can be victimized with impunity. A stolen purse that contains a battered coin or lock of hair is thrown away intact or the thief will find himself a prisoner before the day is out. Talismans are freely carried and implicitly believed in. Burglars in the olden days used to rob a house by the light of a candle made of human fat but the superstition has nearly died out owing to the difficulty of procuring material to make them although it is still prevalent to some extent in Scotland and Ireland. When Burke and Hare were murdering human beings for the medical profession in Scotland in 1828 it is claimed they also supplied human fat to burglars the doctors giving Hare a few bottles as they were told it was a good cure for rheumatism. The medicos treated it as a joke and Hare sold it to some of the housebreakers he was intimate with. Old nails, broken horseshoes curiously shaped pebbles and endless other trinkets have times without number been found in the pockets of captured criminals who have begged that everything else they possess should be taken from them rather than the talisman to which they pin their faith. Charles Peace perhaps the greatest burglar who ever lived said that his success was due to the pawn ticket of a violin he pawned when he was a boy and which he always carried with him. Safe Cracking Our chapter on burglary would scarcely be complete without some reference to safe cracking as a special division of the profession. It is a comparatively small matter to break and enter a house and get away with valuables but to effect an entrance into a well guarded bank and succeed in opening safes which have been constructed with every appliance known to the modern safe builders art is an entirely different proposition. The cracking of such a crib is the work of an experienced and especially skillful man. My friend James Sargent of Sargent and Greenleaf Rochester, New York invented the time lock. Cracksman would route the cashier out of his bed with a loaded revolver and force him to go to the bank and open the safe. But now with the time lock and other safety electrical safeguards the old burglar tools are worthless where once tools were used in cutting off locks tearing off plates drilling through the lock so as to pick the combination the cracksman has kept a pace of the times and utilizes modern scientific methods to open safes. To open a time lock they first start in and by hammering the safe break the clockwork. Now they resort to either a large carbon and get their electricity by tapping the trolley car current and burning circles around the lock or they make use of a terrible compound invented by Goldschmidt and met in Essenruhr, Germany. This compound is called Thermit. This is a kind of a mixture of fine aluminum filings or powder and iron oxide. When this mixture is ignited by suitable means it gives the extraordinary heat of 3000 degrees centigrade. This compound or concoction if allowed to flow on top of a safe will burn a hole clear through most any safe made. I was in Berlin when the first tests were made and one enterprising safe manufacturer built a safe that was invulnerable to this immense heat and calls it the anti-thermit Geltschrank. Burglary is no longer crude robbing but an art. The only men who are able successfully to overcome the obstacles of the safemakers and locksmiths and at the same time avoid the police are the ones who employ as much care and thought in their work as a successful businessman. The man who once turned to burglary chose a dark night to force his way into a store and after hours of work with files and saws forced the door from the safe can no longer succeed. The only men who succeed in their efforts to open safes now are the ones who often spend weeks studying conditions and preparing their instruments. The resistance offered by the fine grades of steel used in safes usually destroys the tools used to open the locks. The ingenuity of the safe cracker is greater only than that of the burglar and sneak thief who depends on the use of skeleton keys and jimmies to make his way past locks and bolts. The skeleton key can only be used in picking simple locks with wards. The burglar's jimmy is often a plain iron bar sharpened at one end that permits its insertion beneath a window or at the side of a door. Some of the professional burglars, however, carry sectional jimmies that for efficiency are greater than any other burglar tool manufactured. Safe Burglars often purchase old safes and practice on them. Nowadays, they work almost entirely on the lock. The method is first to remove the dial with a special jimmy and then drill a small hole five-eighths of an inch above the spindle and with a knitting needle or fine wire pick up the combination and thus open the safe. End of shot four Recording by Leanne Howlett Shot five of the right way to do wrong an expose of successful criminals. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Leanne Howlett The right way to do wrong an expose of successful criminals by Harry Houdini Shot five Thieves and their tricks A thief is one who appropriates any kind of property or money to his own use without the consent of the owner. As distinguished from a burglar, a thief does not break into a house or enter in the nighttime but takes his ponder wherever he can find it. A thief may gain entrance to a house and steal a valuable diamond, but he uses his sharp wits to pass the door instead of the burglar's jimmy and skeleton keys. There are thieves of various kinds from the common sneak thief and shoplifter to the expert pickpocket and clever swindler who sometimes makes hauls amounting to many thousands of dollars. The use of the word thief, however, is generally confined to such classes of criminals as shoplifters, pickpockets, and the like. Overcoat thieves ply their trade in the residential sections of the city. They will sometimes ring the front doorbell and ask for the master or mistress of the house, giving some plausible pretext of the name of the party living there. While the servant has gone to tell the mistress of the collar, he quietly picks up what garments are in sight on the hat rack and makes off with them. The Venetian blind thief got his name from the practice of the English thieves of making the pretext that they had come to repair the blinds of the house. A thief will call at the door claiming to be a mechanic to look over the house for necessary repairs and in his rounds will gather up so that he can lay his hands on. This class of rascal even impersonates the plumber or the gas inspector with equally successful results. Thieves at church are a very common occurrence. A case is related in London long ago where a chapel had been furnished with 100 new Bibles. They were first used at the afternoon service and when the congregation gathered for evening they had all disappeared. A very common experience of church officers is to find that books disappeared gradually. Not only books but hasks and cushions are taken from houses of worship. Petty robberies from the collection box are not infrequent. In some localities the custom of covering one's offering with one's hand so that other worshipers shall not see the amount given gives the thief his opportunity for in the rapid passing of the plate it is easy for the skillful professional thief to put in a penny and at the same moment take out a dollar. This is sometimes done by a sticky substance put upon a single finger. Umbrella thieves in pickpockets also apply their trade in church as well as in other places of public gathering. How can you detect a church thief is a question I have often asked detectives. There seems to be no real answer but as a general rule it is just as well to look out for your property as carefully when you are in church as when you are out. Thieves as wedding guests there is scarcely a fashionable wedding where the contracting parties are wealthy that does not suffer from the presence of wedding thieves. For this reason the more expensive items of jewelry are often imitated and paced before they are put on exhibition among the gifts while the originals are sent to the bank. The wedding gift lifter works his game as follows. Disguised as a tradesman or assistant he gains the confidence of the servants gets a description of a diamond tiara or other oracle of great value which he then has a duplicate made of imitation paced diamonds. He will even go as far as to pay $15 or $100 for a good imitation article. Armed with this and perfectly dressed he makes his way among the party of guests and finds it no great risk to adroitly change the counterfeit for the genuine jewel. Trick of the van thief Vans that are covered entirely with tarpaulin or canvas and have a loose back present opportunities to the van thief. A favorite trick is for the thief to wheel a hand cart covered with sacking under which a confederate lies concealed behind one of these vans. The confederate quickly puts the upper part of his body inside the van his feet remaining in the cart. Being concealed from view by the loose tarpaulin he seizes a package dropping back with it into the cart which is pushed off at once. A wet day is preferred for this trick as then not so many people are about and the driver is likely to be holding his head down as a protection from the rain in consequence of which he will not look behind. The trick satchel thieves It is when the dark days come round that the railway station thief most safely conducts his operations. The summer tourist he loves not for his luggage contains few valuables and there is then too much light about. A dull afternoon and well to do people going off by train or what the platform prowler asks for. And here is shown as a warning if needs be an artful appliance that station thieves have used of late years. It looks like an ordinary portmanteau and so it is with a difference. It is especially made portmanteau the bottom of which closes up on pressure being applied. Thus when as shown in the illustration the trick portmanteau is placed over a smaller one that lies upon the platform the larger one comes down as a cover over it. By a movement of the thumb of the hand that holds the portmanteau handle powerful springs are released which tightly grasp the portmanteau that is inside and it can thus be carried away completely enveloped from sight. If therefore you see a suspicious looking character hanging about don't set him down as a genuine passenger just because he has a bag. Diamond in a chew of gum. One of the cleverest and most unscrupulous diamond thieves I ever heard of perfected a scheme for daylight robbery of unmounted gems which for a time simply led by detectives of London and Paris. The game was played as follows a lady well dressed and looking like a respectable and wealthy matron who might be the wife of a banker or large merchant enters a jewelry store and asked to see some unmounted diamonds. The clerk shows her the stones and while she is looking at them a second lady equally respectable in appearance enters an approach is the same counter. She seems to be interested in diamonds but the table gems is missing. The proprietor is summoned the detectives rush in and an officer is called. The women who both declare their innocence are carefully searched but the diamond has absolutely disappeared. Eventually both the women are released but the diamond is never recovered. The way the trick was played is this. One of the women both of whom are members of the gang definitely concealed the diamond in a piece of chewing gum and sticks it on the underside of the counter. There it remains safely hidden away while the frantic search is going on. A third member of the gang slips in afterward with the crowd of curious and removes the gum containing the diamond and makes off with it. Said the fond mother never would I call a boy of mine alias if I had a hundred to name men by that name is always cutting up capers. Here is alias Thompson alias Williams alias the night hawk all been took up for teacher how many of my scholars can remember the longest sentence they ever read Billy please mum I can teacher what is there only one well William you may tell the rest of the scholars the longest sentence you ever read Billy imprisonment for life end of shot five recording by Leanne Howlett shot six of the right way to do wrong an expose of successful criminals this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Leanne Howlett the right way to do wrong an expose of successful criminals by Harry Houdini shot six unrest to crack there are Kings of Crime as well organs of finance much the same talent John D Rockfeller to pile up a thousand million dollars Henry H Rogers to control unnumbered millions on Wall street applied in a different direction develops that high grade robberies are exploited in scare head stories and newspapers are the chalk of country for many days the case which occurred at Liverpool ago was the work of a bright man. The circumstances related to me by a newspaper man are as follows. One day, Ms. Shure's old field and company of Liverpool received a telegram purporting to come from Mrs. Brattlebank of Garstyn, then staying in London, ordering a quantity of diamonds to be sent to her Garstyn residence. Mrs. Brattlebank, being a wealthy customer and well known to this jewelry house, a package of valuable stones was made up and sent by registered post after being insured for $5,000. After the arrival of the package in Garstyn, a well-dressed gentleman representing himself to be Mr. Lang Miller, a wealthy South African shipowner and a friend of the Brattlebanks, called at the residence, having previously explained by telephone that he was coming to take the package to Mrs. Brattlebank in London. The whole affair seemed so open and above board, and the appearance of Mr. Miller so honest and convincing that the valuable package was handed over to him without question. Neither Mr. Miller, who is now suspected to be one of the most expert confidence men in the kingdom, nor the diamonds have ever been seen since, the swindler who lowered a check. The crime of raising a check is often attempted and sometimes successfully, but it is seldom that a criminal attempts to lower the figures on a check and cash it for a less sum than it was made out for. The following incident occurred in Wall Street not long ago, showing that the man who conceived it must have had a ready wit and a clever brain, as well as considerable daring to put it into execution. It is said that this ingenious swindler had already realized between $2,000 and $3,000 by his startling new method of lowering checks. For instance, a stock exchange broker sells 1,000 shares of a stock to 10 customers in blocks of 100 shares at $91. Each purchaser prepares a check for $9,100 for the seller when the messenger boys make their rounds. If the checks are not ready when the messenger calls out to the cashier, who usually cannot see the boy, he is told to come back later. This swindler follows a messenger boy, and when the boy is told to return later, the fellow returns himself in a short time and gets the check, which is readily handed over to him. Having secured the check for $9,100, the swindler hurries away, and knowing that safety does not lie in presenting the check for so large an amount, reduces it to $910, makes it payable to bear by the use of chemicals, and secures the money. A daring train robbery. Among the clever coups that have come to my attention here is one related by an ex-convict and published recently in an English periodical which presents some rather interesting features. The writer says, A certain lady of high social position was known to possess an exceptionally valuable collection of jewelry, and some of us had long been casting covetous eyes upon it. One day she started from St. Pancras in the Scotch Express for her husband's seat in the Highlands, the jewelry being securely packed in one of her numerous trunks. These were duly placed in the luggage van, which was locked and only opened by the guard at the two or three places where the express stopped. No one, say the railway servants, entered the van or left it. Neither had the doors been opened while the train was in motion. But when the trunk in question was unlocked far away in Scotland, the jewel case was gone, and from that day to this not the slightest clue has been found as to its disappearance. Here was a case for a Sherlock Holmes or a Martin Hewitt, but either these gentlemen were not forthcoming, or they totally failed to solve what is perhaps the most mysterious railway robbery of recent days. Let me lift the veil and show how the little job was worked. Two men, both of whom are still making a very comfortable income as railway thieves, got to know of the lady's proposed journey and discovered the train by which she intended to travel. Accordingly, they also traveled north by that train, though they did not go as far as Scotland. On the contrary, they only booked to Leeds. Their luggage consisted of two portmanteaus and a massive wooden trunk, strongly hooped and padlocked. It was an honest, straightforward looking trunk, but anyone who examined it very closely might have discovered a quantity of small holes in its sides, practically concealed by the iron hoops, between which and the woodwork there was at intervals a slight space. That trunk did not contain the large assortment of wearing apparel that might have been supposed. In fact, it only contained one suit of clothes, and that suit encased the limbs of a boy of fourteen. As soon as the train was well on its journey, one end of the trunk opened and the small boy emerged. With the aid of a goodly stock of skeleton keys and pick locks, the English hamper locks can be opened with a button hook, they are so simple. He opened the various hampers bearing her lady ship's name and presently discovered the jewel case, which he removed to his own box. He then locked up the trunks, returned to his hiding place, closed the sliding panel, curled himself up comfortably in the box, and went to sleep for the rest of the journey. At Leeds, the two men alighted, called a porter who got their luggage out of the van for them, and then drove in a cab to a certain temperance hotel and brigade, where, in the privacy of the room they had secured, the boy was let out of the box and the jewel case gleefully examined. Its contents traveled back to London by the next train and were safely on the continent before the news of the robbery had reached Scotland Yard. A check for $30,000. A single plant on a Chicago bank was pulled off recently whereby the clever swindler coppered out $30,000 for himself with very little effort. The bank officers tried to hush the matter up as much as possible, and for the sake of the depositors, I shall not give the name of the institution, but the facts which I am certain are substantially as follows. A depositor of several years standing appeared a few days ago in the bank president's office with a draft on London for $6,000, which was perfectly good. The depositor informed the president he desired to deposit this London draft, and at the same time to check against it, presenting his check for $30,000 for the president to okay. The latter put his initials on it and thought no more of the transaction. The depositor then went out into the bank and deposited his London draft, and on the following day, presented a check for $30,000, which was paid, the teller knowing that the amount was to his credit on the books. Later in the day, he again appeared at the window and presented the check for $30,000, which had been initialed by the president. This check was also paid. Nothing more has since been seen of the depositor. Embezzler's wife. You are a thief and a criminal. Never speak to me again. Embezzler, but I stole it all for your sake. Embezzler's wife. Yes, but didn't you go and give it all back again? Cincinnati commercial tribune. What did that man do to make himself so famous? asked the inquirer, gazing curiously at an individual who formed the center of a social group. To the best of my knowledge, replied the cynic, he did the public. End of shot six. Recording by Leanne Howlett. Shot seven of the right way to do wrong. An expose of successful criminals. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Leanne Howlett. The right way to do wrong. An expose of successful criminals. By Harry Houdini. Shot seven. Pickpockets at work. Among the most interesting classes of thieves is the pickpocket, whose clever subterfuges and skill of hand have been so often exploited in novel and storybook. Your professional pickpocket is naturally a rover and travels the country over attending large gatherings. Of professional pickpockets there are a number of types, each adapted to the class of work in which he engages. It is the usual opinion that a pickpocket is a forbidding and suspicious looking fellow. But a glance at the rogues gallery and any police headquarters will show you that they look much like ordinary individuals and are of more than average intelligence. The pickpocket is usually very well dressed and of prepossessing appearance. Those who seek to make only large halls are entertaining talkers and easy in their manner. They are generally self-possessed and while dexterous are very cautious in their operations. It is needless to say that women make the most patient as well as the most dangerous pickpockets. It is simply amazing how quickly an expert pickpocket with a delicate touch, seemingly accidental, will locate the resting place of a well-filled purse or other article of value which he chooses to abstract. When once discovered they follow their intended victims until the proper opportunity comes. A common pickpocket trick is for the operator to carry a shawl or overcoat carelessly over the left arm and to take a seat on the right side of the person they intend to rob in a streetcar or other vehicle. Sometimes a small and very sharp knife is used to cut the side of the dress or pantaloons of the victim so that the purse may be abstracted without going into the pocket directly. Others of this light-fingered gentry where light overcoats with large pockets removed, they will endeavor to stand near a person, preferably a woman, who is paying her fare and has displayed a well-filled purse. The pickpocket then carelessly throws his coat over her dress and by inserting his hand through the outside opening of his own pocket quietly proceeds to abstract her purse. Pickpockets either work alone or in pairs or what is called a mob. Most female pickpockets seem to prefer to work alone, sometimes however working in conjunction with a man thief to whom they pass their plunder and thus make detection impossible if they are suspected and searched. The mob is a gang of expert pickpockets under the direction of a leader who has had experience and knows all the tricks. Their usual game is to frequent some crowded platform or railway station and raise an apparent row in which two men seem to engage in a scuffle or quarrel and come to blows. Others rush in attempting to separate them and the attention of the whole crowd of people is for the moment directed strongly that way. At the same moment other single light-fingered members of the same gang crowd in with the citizens who are being jostled and abstract their pocketbooks and watches without any trouble. Recently a gang has successfully worked in several of the subway stations in Boston and the same gang has successfully applied this vocation in New York, Chicago and Philadelphia. The false arm game or the third mitt as it is known to the professional pickpocket is said to be little employed in this country now. A loose cape overcoat is worn in one of the sleeves of which a false arm and hand are fixed. Thus a detective who may be watching the pickpocket will see apparently both of his hands in view while in reality the light skillful fingers of the operator's left hand are going through the pockets of the man beside of whom he is standing. This dodge is very much employed on the continent by shoplifters. One of the many fertile dodges by which a pickpocket escapes detection is known as the horse dodge. The thief so arranges as to meet his victim by the side of a horse standing by the curb stone. He has previously located the watch or purse he wishes to lift and with a quick blow he knocks his victim's hat over his eyes, grabs the pocket book or watch or whatever else he is after and immediately darts under the horse and hides himself in the traffic on the other side. By the time the victim has got the use of his eyes and is able to look around the thief has entirely disappeared and he would not be out to look in the right direction at any rate. In the outskirts of London among the small shops a rather unusual trick has been played frequently upon unsuspecting shopkeepers. Two men in earnest argument over some matter enter a small grocery store and approach the proprietor who is behind his till. One man says to the proprietor, my friend and I have gotten into an argument over a peculiar matter which we believe you can settle for us. I have bet him that my hat, taking off an old fashioned stove by pat, will hold more than four quarts of molasses while he contends that it will hold hardly three quarts. We are willing to buy the molasses if you will fill this hat and prove the question to decide the bet. The shopkeeper good humoredly agrees and brings the hat rimful with sticky molasses at which one of the thieves slaps it over the shopkeeper's head and before he can extricate himself and call help they have robbed the till and disappeared. End of shot seven recording by Leanne Howlett shot eight of the right way to do wrong an expose of successful criminals this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Leanne Howlett the right way to do wrong an expose of successful criminals by Harry Houdini shot eight beggars and deadbeats there probably is not a reader of this book who has not frequently been accosted on the street corners by the poorly dressed shivering wretch who asks in a whining voice for a coin or two to get him a night's lodging who has not experienced the mingled feeling of repugnance and pity which their stories are intended to produce who has not rather than run the chance of turning away an honest man in real distress put his hand in his pocket and dropped a dime or a quarter into grimy outstretched fingers and went on his way more than half convinced that he had paid money to a fraud beggars there have been since civilization created the distinctions of wealth and poverty and must needs be till a higher better civilization better civilization makes misery and crime impossible or unnecessary for ages the mendicant has flourished applying his vocation on the credulous and making profit out of the fact that humanity and religion make almsgiving a virtue in the middle ages beggars became so numerous that they threatened to overrun the continent the begging friars and other religious orders encouraged it and the beggars throw today the modern law in most lands forbids begging but still most people would be surprised to know to what extent it is practiced that is to what links and in what numbers the fraudulent cheating professional beggar prays upon the almsgiving over credulous public i have watched the beggars of most of the great cities of america and europe and have made some little investigation into their methods and i do not hesitate to say that in 90 cases out of 100 the man who asks for alms on the street corner is a cheat and a fraud if the public would take my advice and absolutely refrain from giving to beggars this nuisance might soon be done away with if the beggar no longer found his calling profitable he would soon go to work or seek other fields of activity as a rule the beggars we see upon our streets belong to well organized gangs and their individual members are controlled by a chief whose word is law for simple begging the territory is laid out and each man keeps within his own beat at night they assemble at some cheap lodging house where each one turns over his day's takings to the leader who acts as treasurer and even often deposits a fund in the bank to be used in emergencies or for bail money a certain portion of the income for the day is divided each night among all members either equally or in certain shares agreed upon it is said that a leader or treasurer is always faithful to his trust for if you were to appropriate the money he would at once be barred out of the united order of american beggars or sons of rest and blacklisted all over the country sometimes the leaders will take in young boys and train them in the art of deceiving the public chief wats tells one such story of a young man known as kid johnson an orphan boy who came under the influence of frisco's slim the burly leader of a gang of boston beggars this widely mendicant filled the lads mind with stories about easy money and showed him how he frisco slim had doctored his arm with the chemical to give it the appearance of a frightful burn with that arm said frisco i call her many a dollar every day of my life i'll fix your arm in another style that'll catch on great so the mere boy was enrolled as kid johnson and taken to a resort known to the gang where his arm was put in a plaster cast and he was sent out to beg on the street his scanty clothing was thin and ragged his toes peeped through his shoes and he looked the picture of weariness and hunger in a short time the kid proved one of the best money-getters of the whole gang but his master's demands grew faster than his ability to bring in the coin he was required to bring in a certain amount each day and ill treated if it fell short his life was that of a slave he was finally rescued by the police and given a chance to reform and lead an honest life but the taint of crime had entered his nature and he soon ran away to take to the road and street again the magic cap a german organist who came to st petersburg from orenberg on a visit to his relatives met with an adventure which caused him to wonder whether he had by accident been transported into the mystic east and carried back to the times of the arabian knights the story of his adventure might well be entitled the magic cap and it will be seen that it bears a strong resemblance to the story of a laden and his wonderful lamp on arriving at st petersburg the german visitor purchased a cap which he thought would be more comfortable than his ordinary headgear for exploring the town with which he was not well acquainted on arriving home in the evening after his first day sightseeing he was greatly surprised to find in the pockets of his overcoat two purses one of them containing over ten pounds he marveled greatly at his mysterious luck and sallied out again next day when he came home again he found in his pockets several more purses and began to feel alarmed when on the third day he came home with another one fall in his pockets he became frightened but his teutonic common sense would not allow him to believe in the existence of magic and he decided to have recourse to the prosaic police force in order to elucidate the mystery accordingly he sought out the chief of police and told him all the facts the astute official examined him closely as to the clothes he was wearing and particularly as to the cap he had bought in st petersburg and on receiving his replies sent the german policeman to the hatter's shop the shopkeeper explained that the cap was an exceptional kind some time ago a man had called on him and given him a large piece of english cloth out of which he was to make 15 caps of exact similarity on concluding this order the hatter found that he had a piece of the cloth left over and of this he made an extra cap the identical one which was sold to the german on the strength of this information the chief of police arranged for a detective to accompany the german on his next day's sightseeing and then the mystery of the magic cap was fully cleared up watching his charge carefully the detective saw various men lounge furtively up to the german and transfer something from their hands to his pockets on each occasion the man thus discovered was arrested and in the course of two or three days during which the same plan was pursued the police made prisoners of about a dozen men they turned out to be a gang of pickpockets and all wore a cap of the same pattern as that purchased by the german their plan was to pass on their plunder to a confederate for whom the german had been mistaken a very favorite trick of begging letter writers is to try to obtain money on behalf of some bogus society in which they think the celebrity written to might be interested the swindler will even go so far as to get the name of a fictitious institution printed on a number of letters and writing as a secretary asked for a subscription probably in nine cases out of ten this will be sent without any further inquiries being made by the recipient of the request the printed letter paper being considered a sufficient guarantee as to the genuineness of the appeal often professional beggars are actually men of wealth not long ago a beggar died in new york who had 11 bank books concealed about his person with deposits amounting to thousands of dollars beggars frequently own real estate stocks and bonds this is putting a beggar on horseback with a vengeance an actual incident of this kind was disclosed in one of our largest cities not long ago in a smart little villa and one of the suburbs lived an equally smart young married couple mr. Cecil brown smith was the name on the door plate and every morning mr smith went into the city and every evening came home if a neighbor asked about business he would reply oh pretty good i can't complain so the pretty little wife was happy from morning till night and all went well in the city shuffling painfully along one of the principal streets a miserable object had for some time touched the hearts and pockets of stockbrokers and city men even the poor almost beggars themselves have dropped their might into the cigar box full of matches which he carried in his one hand for he was an object of such abject misery one arm hung helpless by his side his head hung with the weakness of paralysis his right leg was paralyzed and he laboriously dragged it after him no one on earth would have supposed a connection between the crippled match seller always so grateful for alms and the snug suburban home but for some reason two disguise detectives for some hours took a close interest in the beggars business when the match vendors day's work was over one of the detectives followed him and witnessed an astonishing transformation first said the detective the lame man dragged himself to an adjacent tobacconist shop where he changed his silver and coppers into bills here too he left the cigar box and the matches until tomorrow and then he boarded a car to a cheap lodging house and by the time he had arrived there his lameness had disappeared and he went up the steps two at a time finally he went home to the smart little villa already described he was a gentleman who lived there with his wife and child one afternoon as the match peddler was shuffling painfully along with the cigar box as before detective number one suddenly confronted him you're an imposter said the detective can you prove it demanded the beggar the officer said he could and at once arrested him for begging as the prisoner declared he could not walk and objected to the publicity of an ambulance he was conveyed to the police station in a cab in the dock at the police station he presented the appearance of an intelligent and fairly well-dressed man of 29 one of the most amazing features of the case was a statement that smith's wife was surprised to hear of her husband's goings on she knew nothing about smith's occupation in the city begging cards covered with the worst kind of doggerel poetry are often used by beggars who has not at one time or another received one like the following entitled the cripples appeal kind people do not fear me or turn me from your door i ask you but to hear me or read my story or to the same old tale of hardship misfortune and of woe that others have told before me and you've heard it all i know from house to house in the city this little appeal i've made and it's with the hope for pity that i ask you for your aid did you ever give a nickel or a dime to the person who handed you such a card if you did you gave to an out-and-out professional beggar indeed nine times out of 10 yes 99 times out of 100 every coin that goes into the 10 cup or the hand of a street beggar goes to a fraud of the worst description visitor at the gall poor poor man may i offer you this bunch of flowers man behind the bars you've made a mistake miss the fellow that killed his wife and children is in the next cell i'm here for stealing a cow it would be helpful to you said the prison visitor if you could take some motto and try and live up to it that's right replied the convict i'd like to select for instance we are here today and gone tomorrow end of shot eight recording by lianne howlett shot nine of the right way to do wrong an expose of successful criminals this is a libervox recording all libervox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit libervox.org recording by lianne howlett the right way to do wrong an expose of successful criminals by harry houdini shot nine begging letters swindles every section of the country almost every city has one or more begging letter writers who ply their trade with greater or less success and exercise their arts upon the simple and credulous these clever rascals range all the way from the ignorant crook that writes a pitiful story of wanton misery and who neither receives nor expects more than a few dollars at a time to the master of the craft who goes about it like a regular business has a well organized office and a force of stenographers and clerks who are kept busy day in and day out sending off and receiving mail several remarkable cases have been unearthed only lately where the fake was receiving hundreds of letters daily the large majority of them containing money the post office authorities however have been getting after this class of rogues very sharply of late and any organized plundering by the use of the males is almost certain to come to an untimely end sooner or later if anyone has reason to believe that a business of the kind is conducted on fraudulent lines a complaint to one of the post office inspectors in any large city will quickly bring a fraud order against the party restraining them from use of the males and a rigid investigation follows then the game is up and it's back to the tall timber for them it is a well-known fact however that this recourse to the fraud order is frequently used by unprincipled persons out of spite and to obtain revenge upon those who are actually conducting a legitimate business the fraudulent advertisement is often an adjunct to the bogus letter scheme and designed to get names to whom a special kind of letter may be written one of the most daring schemes of this kind was unearthed a short time ago in new york city a man fitted up a suite of offices in elegant style in one of the large office buildings he then traveled to south dakota and under the laws of that state incorporated a stock company with a capitalization of five million dollars it was called a commercial and mining company returning to new york he instructed the press clipping bureau to save him the obituary notices of all males that died in the states other than new york just far enough away from the center of operations to be comfortable for him using these obituary notices for guides he would write to the dead man notifying him that the last payment was due on the 500 or 1000 shares of stock which he had bought at 50 cents a share he congratulated the man on his foresight on investing in this stock as it had gone up several points and was still rising in value he begged that remittance and final payment of this stock should be sent at once a beautifully engrossed certificate of stock was enclosed in the letter to the dead man and the inevitable result was that the surviving relatives thinking that a parted one had bought this stock quietly and forgotten to mention it sent on a check for all the way from 500 to 100 as requested it was one of the prettiest schemes that has been worked for a long time and the actual amount of money realized by the swindler will never be known such a snap could not last long however and the promulgator of the swindle was soon detected and brought to trial one man advertised to sell 10 yards of good silk for 25 cents and so worded his announcement as to suggest a bankrupt sale or smuggled goods for a time he reaped a rich harvest money came thick and fast to each of his dupes he mailed 10 yards of sewing silk another rascal offered a complete and perfect sewing machine for one dollar he also gathered in the dollars at a rapid rate till uncle sam put a stop to his operations he sent his victims a common sewing needle this is quite in line with the fellow who advertised a few years ago to tell a sure way of getting rid of chinch bugs for one dollar after the victim had sent the dollar he received by mail a card upon which was printed the following catch the chinch bug hold it by the legs carefully between the thumb and forefinger lay its head on the anvil and hit it with a hammer as hard as you can many of these advertisements are inserted merely to receive names and addresses of credulous people the lists of names are then sold or rented out to fake mail order houses who proceed to circularize them chain letter schemes are now declared illegal but for some time a number of clever dodges of this kind will work throughout the united states as well as on the continent a brief description of one of these schemes will show the character of this kind of enterprise the scheme was where a trip to the paris exposition with 200 for expenses was offered as a prize each person entering the contest was required to pay 30 cents then send a friend's two letters requesting them to send their names to the original promoter and send duplicate letters to two of their friends the operation to be repeated indefinitely each person writing to the original promoter was to receive an offer allowing him to start a chain on his own account on payment of 30 cents the trip and money going to the one whose chain brings out the largest number of letters the ostensible object was to secure names for employment at the exposition end of shot 9 recording by lianne howlett shot 10 of the right way to do wrong an expose of successful criminals this is a liberovox recording all liberovox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit liberovox.org recording by lianne howlett the right way to do wrong an expose of successful criminals by harry houdini shot 10 tricks of bunco men something for nothing has ever tempted the simple and unsophisticated indeed it is a trait of human nature upon which the swindler everywhere and in all ages has relied to his profit the origin of the term bunco comes from an old english game of chance in which a checkered cloth covered with numbers and stars is covered with a hood called a bunco the game was to throw dice which counted up to a certain concealed number the man who knew the game was called the bunco man or the banker and later when this form of swindle became notorious the term was corrupted into bunco today the word is used to denote almost any swindle where the victim is made to believe he is to receive a large sum of money or valuables and then gets nothing at all the real simon pure bunco game as practiced in the united states some years ago by tom o brian the king of bunco men was played as follows the victim some wealthy farmer usually was lured to a room at a hotel and a game was proposed a confederate took the part of another player a pack of 48 cards and eight sets each set numbered from one to six was produced shuffled and dealt out eight cards to each player the total sum of the numbers in each hand was then compared with the number carrying a prize on the chart if it corresponded the hand won the prize the cards are gravely counted and compared the dealer then says to the confederate and dupe gentlemen you have drawn the grand conditional advertising prize you're entitled to ten thousand dollars a piece on condition that you prove yourselves worth fifty thousand dollars and promise to advertise our battery whether you win or lose you will have to put up ten thousand dollars a piece against the ten thousand dollar prize then you draw once more if you draw a star number you get only the ten thousand dollar prize and your money back if you draw any other number you get its prize added to your own money and the big prize the confederate says he is worth more than fifty thousand dollars and declares his intention of going and getting the ten thousand dollar stake the dupe is also persuaded to put up the cash and both winners go away to get the money they return and the money is put up four cards are dealt each the total of each hand is 28 why gentlemen says the monkey man and apparent surprise 28 is the state number the total blank you have lost all the confederate pretends to be very much broken up condones with his fellow victim and gets him out of the room as soon as he can in a few moments he gives a farmer the slip joins his partner and they escape from town as quickly as possible such as the principle of the bunker game and it is worked under many guys's with cards dice at the pool or billiard table our pool room bunker was known as selling the lemon as bets are made on the yellow ball but always with the idea of making the victim believe he is going to get something for nothing a variation of the bunker game often played in the farming districts is for a well-dressed plausible man to drive up to a well to do farmers home and inquire if he knows of a good farm for sale if he does he is invited to drive with the stranger to take a look at it and give his advice the farmer finds his new acquaintance bright and entertaining the property is reached and the sharper with the parent satisfaction inspects the land and buildings and closes a bargain without much haggling in the course of conversation the man from the city flashes a big roll of banknotes of high denomination and the farmer is duly impressed as they drive home or the confederate will appear who stops the carriage to make some inquiry the three enter into conversation in good nature chaffing leads up to a proposal of some game of cards or bet the farmer is induced to take a hand the first swindler often to put up his half of the stake when the two partners the farmer and the first swindler have won a large sum the loser asked for proof of their ability to make good their stake the first swindler produces the cash and the farmer drives with him to the next town to draw his money out of the bank to make good his claim now comes the rapid denouncement the first swindler asked the farmer to oblige him by taking charge of all the money including the money with which he is to buy the farm until he can return and close the bargain the countryman naturally pleas at this confidence is induced to put his own money in the same convenient 10 box which the stranger has ready at that point the stranger and the farmer part the former to parts unknown the latter with his precious 10 box under his arm and when he gets home he finds instead of money that the box is filled only with heavy folded papers to give it the same weight a rapid shift has been made before his eyes without his detecting it his money is gone and two adroit scoundrels are far away among the most famous or infamous bunker men of this country are Tom O'Brien mentioned above William Raymond Doc mention George Post William Barracks Lewis Ludlow and Clay Wilson O'Brien is serving a life sentence for murder but post is supposed to be still in his old tricks Jacob Sendheim alias al wise has a star game his lay is to persuade a gullible person that he has a secret process by means of which genuine gold coins can be sweated or robbed of a portion of their gold by a certain solution without impairing their appearance several times he has induced speculative individuals without conscience to construct tanks in the basement of their houses and put in from 10,000 to 20,000 dollars in gold pieces for treatment 20 days are to be required for the process before that time he removes all the gold which is needless to say has lost not a grain of its weight and makes his escape the victim after getting tired of waiting opens the tank to find a liberal deposit of paving stones instead of gold coins then he wakes up if men did not try and get something for nothing they might often be able to retain that which they have one of the latest dodges of a bunco nature is a bogus express company which caters to those who never receive packages by express but who want to in a large room above its showy office a force of skilled workmen are employed manufacturing bundles and filling them with old bricks and newspapers the express company having made up a convincing looking parcel sends out a postal card to its prospective victim on which it says Mr. E. Z. Mark Steiner 398 J Street please furnish us with your address as there is a package address to you at our office come and go express company the fact that the express company has written to him at his address to ask him what his address is does not strike the victim as strange the company does it in order that it may get in writing for Mr. Steiner a request to deliver the package thus making him its debtor to the extent of the express charges usually two dollars when I was once in danger from a tiger said an old convict I tried sitting down and staring at him as I had no weapons how did it work asked his cellmate perfectly the tiger didn't even offer to touch me strange how do you account for it well sometimes I thought it was because I sat down on a top branch of a very tall tree arrested when dead a splendid funeral procession was proceeding from hongo japan to bury the remains of torofi the head of a gambling den when the police stopped the ceremony as the deceased was believed to be an escaped convict the accusation was found to be true and the dead man was taken to the prison burial ground end of shot 10 recording by lianne howlett shot 11 of the right way to do wrong an expose of successful criminals this is a libervox recording all libervox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit libervox.org recording by lianne howlett the right way to do wrong an expose of successful criminals by harry houdini shot 11 the game of wits when the corn husking is over and the county fairs begin their annual three and four day sessions in a thousand agricultural centers a silent army of confidence men and swindlers make ready for their richest harvest of the year the county fairs are rich fields for their particular work and they intend to make the most of their opportunities the three shell game man has been a feature of such gatherings from time immemorial the game and some form or other has been played ever since rome was founded three half walnut shells or metal covers are used and a small and exceedingly lively pee made of soft rubber the gaping yokel is invited to pick the shell under which the pee reposes the clever manipulator tosses it from one to another then with an apparent awkward twist seems to throw it under a certain one the rustic backs his opinion with his coin the shells are lifted the former was mistaken and pays for his experience it is only another case of where the manipulation of the hand deceives the eye they say that a new sucker is born every minute certain it is that this old game finds its dupes as plentiful as in the days of our grandfathers the callow youth of today is willing to bet his last scent that he can put his finger on the shell that covers the pee for he has seen it put there but if the unsuspecting countryman is an easy mark for cheats at his county fairs he is often even more accessible when he comes to the city the following story copied entire from the new york telegraph is especially good on account of its breezy style and true-to-life description of the methods of the quick-witted gentry the story is entitled was kind to strangers oh the shame of it that sg dab dube of jersey city should journey all the way from his native heath to boston and there accept bad money from a stranger hideous circumstance malicious fate if there is a mrs dab dube what will she say dab dube the very name smacks of caution but when he reached boston and saw all the houses and still was gazing upon them from his point of vantage at the railroad station a stranger who had been peering furtively from the dense underbrush observed him after retiring behind a freight car and throwing a few joyous handsprings as if pleased at something the stranger muttered he will do i have not waited in vain tonight in my palatial residence there should be joy and feasting and seeming laughter oh it is good to live after this mysterious and ingrowing conversation sometimes eclipsed monologue the stranger dashed up to mr. dab dube of far jersey and said in his panting tone of a man who had gone seven furlongs under the spur of cruel circumstances can you give me change for a fifty dollar bill mr. dab dube could would and did and the stranger without stopping to count the money placed a bill in the jersey man's hands expressed his thanks and amount of syllable and hurried away horrors the bill he left behind was a confederate one mr. dab dube and sensed pursued but the stranger wore the seven league boots of successful guilt and is unlikely that nick carter could have caught him dab dube went to the police who wept with him and addressed him as if he had been a public meeting here is another adroit swindle that might also be considered better than a gold brick some time ago a young fellow with a violin under his arm entered a marketplace in one of our large cities made his purchase and then found himself short of money however he offered the fiddle of security while he fetched the necessary amount of cash scarcely had he left the place when a well dressed man entered and saw the fiddle on the counter he examined it and cried out that it was a strat of various while give you three hundred dollars for it he said the shopkeeper refused to sell it without consulting the owner and the second stranger went away leaving five dollars for the refusal of the treasure presently the first rogue returned was informed of the offer and said he would agree providing the tradesman would give him one hundred fifty dollars down the victim complied and neither of the swindlers ever returned the fiddle was worth about one dollar fifty cents but don't get the idea that farmers and small shopkeepers are the only prey of the bunker man the swindler and the confidence man a city man on a farm the first time and trying to run it is of a greener green than a farmer in a city buying gold bricks here are some games successfully played on the dwellers in cities the clever sofa game of all the men who lived by their wits the english crook who conceived and carried into successful execution the so-called sofa game certainly deserves the palm so ingenious so daring and yet so simple is this scheme that it deserves a special description the reader will notice that it partakes both of the nature of a confidence game and a first-class burglary job the game requires a cooperation of several members of a gang one of whom must be a boy or a young man of small stature and slender physique sometimes a young woman is employed who have discovered those herself upon the mercy of the householder the gang first selects the residents of some wealthy citizen if inside information about the silver and jewels to be looted can be secured so much the better the habits of the members of the family are closely observed and then at an hour when the fewest possible people are at home the plan is put into execution this is what happens a furniture wagon drives up to the house and a well-dressed man of respectable appearance implausible address rings the front doorbell the door is opened the following conversation ensues is this the residence of mr. john ronner yes but mr. ronner is not at home dear dear that is unfortunate but however it does not matter i've been commissioned as chairman of a committee of the dearborn lodge naming some order to which the householder actually belongs to present mr. ronner with this beautiful sofa indicating an imposing piece of furniture on the wagon shall my men bring it in why yes if you were sure this is the right place no mistake about that madam mr. ronner is greatly esteemed by the members of the lodge and this gift is to be a complete surprise so when the sofa is carried and deposited in a place of honor in the drawing room the polite lodge member depreciating all thanks to parts in the team drives away a few hours later the polite stranger reappears in hot haste and the wagon drives up again he is profuse in his apologies but an error has been made so unfortunate so sorry to inconvenient to you but do you know i have made such a stupid blunder about the address the sofa is to go to brother john ronner of south main street instead of north main street would it be too much bother to allow my men to enter and take it away we are very anxious to deliver it before brother ronner returns as it is a surprise for him of course there is nothing to be done but let the beautiful sofa go and amid the apologies and excuses of the polite stranger the sofa is again carried forth to the wagon and is driven away the polite stranger also disappears and it is needless to say is seeing no more in that part of the town the next act on the program is a startling discovery that the house has been robbed of perhaps many thousands of dollars worth of jewels and silver how was it done the explanation is very simple the sofa is specially constructed with a hollow compartment of considerable size inside a girl has been concealed who when the sofa is left alone quietly comes out and ransacks the place and retreats with her plunder into this convenient hiding place girl plunder and sofa are then all carried away together and the thieves make good their escape without delay this is a new game and as i say has been worked with many variations and usually with success in almost every city in england and on the continent rap i look upon you sir as a rascal partay you are privileged to look upon me in any character you desire to assume sir did you ever go to a military ball asked to list being made of an army veteran no my dear crowd the old soldier but once i had a military ball come to me and what do you think it took my arm off end of shot 11 recording by leanne howlett shot 12 of the right way to do wrong an expose of successful criminals this is a liver vox recording all liver vox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit liver vox dot org recording by leanne howlett the right way to do wrong an expose of successful criminals by harry houdini shot 12 fake fake fake there are certain classes of men and women too who while not actually criminal are yet so close to the boundary line in their practices as to need some special mention in this book take for instance the many so-called divine or mental healers who pretend to cure all sorts of diseases by the laying on of hands or simply absent treatment or the old-style patent medicine fraud who retailed sweetened and colored water under some high-sounding name as dr so-and-so's elixir and tonic from the tail end of a cart after having attracted a crowd of the curious with a lecture or open-air menstrual show far be it for me to decry the actual healing and curative value of many excellent proprietary medicines and preparations on the market today but among the good there are many that are worthless and i should advise my readers to take such remedies only on the advice of their family physician the fake doctor is still with us and his advertisements are often to be seen in the newspapers of america they usually advertise under some honest sounding name and assume all the titles and learned degrees of two continents some are actually physicians and failing in the regular practice have set out to make a living by diluting suffering humanity it would be amusing if it were not sorrowful to see the crowds of patients who bring their ailments to such doctors the game is to give the sufferer some relief at first in order to encourage him and then prolong his case through many weary weeks and months until they have gotten all the money he can afford to spend such doctors usually call themselves specialists but their real specialty is an exhorting money from their dupes and my advice is to keep as far away from them as possible thanks to the energetic efforts of the authorities many if not all of these practitioners have been driven out and it is to be hoped that such tragedies as that unearthed in the susan geary case will be rare in the future the case of france's truth alias will be miss the self-styled divine healer attracted no little attention throughout the east especially in boston a few years ago the man was a handsome plausible smooth spoken man who claimed to have some mysterious mesmeric power by which he could cure any disease simply by the laying on of hands his advertisements bristled with testimonials and brilliant promises and he did a good business among the credulous many who doubtless had nothing whatever the matter with them were hypnotized into the belief that they were cured finally truth or bemus found his money getting limited because he could only treat a limited number a day then he had recourse to the absent treatment dodge he would tell his patients that he would give them an absent treatment at a certain hour and at that time they were to retire to their rooms and think of him and they would receive the healing influence as the number of his dupes grew he branched into a mail order feature until hundreds and thousands of people who had never seen the healer were sending him money by mail he received hundreds of letters each day until the post office was forced to deliver them in great bags and his income amounted to thousands of dollars a week truth lived in great style drove about in his own carriage had quite an office force of stenographers and clerks to handle the mail and was getting rich hand over fist when the post office authorities and the police put an end to his career advertising mediums clairvoyance and astrologers have hosts of dupes and some invite the methods of the confidence man with mystical advice and fortune telling not long ago a certain Miss Ethel L. Blank of Maldon Massachusetts visited a so-called medium in Boston as soon as she entered his inner sanctum she was surprised to have him caution her about a large sum of money which she was carrying this occult knowledge so inspired her confidence that she asked his advice about a suit she was interested in he told her he would have to put her in a trance which he did when she came out of it he cautioned her to go directly home and to hold her fingers crossed until she reached her own room where she must remain for two days it was actually some hours before she realized that she had been robbed of one thousand dollars which she had in her pocket of course the medium had disappeared I must say that with all its boasted culture and learning Boston seems to be a favorite city for all sorts of schemes of this kind astrologers mediums clairvoyance test mediums and the like abound in the hub as in few other places it has been my good fortune to visit and I have been all over the world Chicago also has its share New Yorkers pride themselves in believing in nothing at all and yet it was only a short time ago that a man named Ridgely and calling himself the east Indian mystery victimized many people of wealth and fashion in that metropolis this remarkable person combined the procure of the east with the modern magnetic healer and the voodoo doctor of french Louisiana the man himself is 70 years old he is small spry alert and wonderfully shrewd his beard is bushy and black except where age has whitened the edges and grows thick and curly at the sides the nose is as flat as a negroes he denies negro blood however and abhors the race he claims to be from hindustan and talks to others in the house in a strange tongue the eyes of the man are small shrewd and dark the forehead from each side of which grows gray bushy hair that hides the ears is high receding and intelligent i knew you were coming says this wizard like man and i determined to receive you though warned against you now you want to know what i am what i do let us be honest with each other he chooses big words as he proceeds to describe himself they are used aptly but mispronounced the th becomes d and there are other things not unfamiliar in the southern negro the east indian proceeds to read your character and to tell you of your life he does it well i am not a fortune teller he explains they are frauds and i am a physiognomist i read from the apex of the nose to the top of the forehead i don't predict i tell you and i don't ask you to say if i am right or wrong it is said that among this man's patrons have been men and women whose names are a part of the life of new york it is also said that a recent marriage which astonished new york society came after the woman in the case had consulted this strange combination of charlotton and physician she confided to him her desire told him of her repeated failures to secure her wish took the treatment and in three months was married then followed so the story goes many presents among them a tenement to the east indian spiritualism has many followers and at one time i was almost a believer but this was before i made a thorough investigation which i have followed up even to the present day i have never seen a materialization or manifestation which i cannot fully explain of course i cannot explain those that i hear about as no two people see the same one thing alike spiritualism is really a beautiful belief for those that are honest and believe in it but as i have visited the greatest spiritualistic meetings in the world i am sorry to say that no one has ever produced anything for me that would smack of the spiritual in germany spirit mediums are put in jail for obtaining money under false pretenses in england mask in line of mask in line and cook has done a great deal to keep the so-called fraud spiritualistic mediums out of england in the future i contemplate writing a book on spiritualistic methods and how they do their tricks i do not mean genuine spiritualists who have no tricks but those mediums who use their knowledge of magic to gain a living the davin port brothers during their short but strenuous career had a terrible time of it in their journeys abroad they were driven out of england but they made enough money to last them the rest of their lives end of shot 12 recording by leanne howlett shot 13 of the right way to do wrong an expose of successful criminals this is a libra vox recording all libra vox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit libra vox.org recording by leanne howlett the right way to do wrong an expose of successful criminals by harry houdini shot 13 bogus treasures never believed that a so-called antique piece of furniture or a painting by one of the old masters is genuine until its authenticity has been proven beyond a possible doubt that is my advice and if you reader could see some of the impositions practiced upon wealthy collectors and curio hunters you too would take that view the people who purchase this class of goods are usually new made millionaires ambitious to own an art gallery of old masters it would give them little satisfaction to know that some of their priceless treasures are simply copies and often poor ones at that monture felix duxnell of paris famous as an art critic says that certain galleries of ancient masters contain few pictures more than 10 years old forged pictures are regularly included in sales of private collections in which they never belonged nor is a written and duly attested pedigree of the least value i knew of one case in london where a dealer in fake antiques sought out an impoverished nobleman whose only property besides his title was an ancient manor house that was heavily mortgaged the house was in a remote spot and had scarcely a stick of furniture left in it the dealer bought it and sent out to it many van loads of paintings black oak furniture arms armor moth eaten tapestry etc in a few weeks he announced a sale of art treasures at the ancient home of the last of an ancient race the sale actually lasted several weeks as though the very sellers had been packed with art treasures on the continent to my certain knowledge the case is even worse one man that began life as a sculptor's assistant but soon began the manufacture of imitations of ancient statues and antique furniture and now makes about seven thousand five hundred dollars a year and employs several workmen his masterpieces are certain greek heads attributed to phidias but he also makes 18th century and empire furniture the opinion of such an authority is valuable he says you can take it as a fact that even an art expert can no longer tell if a piece of furniture is a forgery at least yes he can tell if he takes the furniture to pieces but few will dare incur that responsibility because you spoil the piece this cultivator of their artistic sense talks to his friends of one of the best known paris collectors who bought at an enormous price an 18th century writing desk he purchased with a written guarantee from a respectable dealer who was in good faith well this table comes from my own work room only if i told the owner he probably would not believe me a dealer who lives not far from the church of the madeline in paris keeps the choice of fakes in his bedroom he never shows his private collection as he calls it until the wealthy amateur cheerfully begs to see it the gem of the collection is the dealer's own bed in louis the 16th style he has sold his bed five or six times but still sleeps well i suppose because he lies so easy like a most honorable frenchman at this moment 18th century engravings including colored prints are counterfeited on a vast scale jewelry is made to look old by steeping in sulfuric acid for silver or aqua regia for gold the surface is worn with ground brick the stones are then inserted and the hole is greased with tallow and rubbed in white soot greek and roman jewels renaissance enamels episcopal rings and bent of the new toge salini plate are made in germany vienna is specialized in counterfeiting 16th century enamels abeville and armeans make flint aerotops and hatchets for museums of geology old pewter's are manufactured at rodin etruscan pottery comes from leeds in holland i met a student who was in demand as he could forge any of the old master's signatures on oil paintings end of shot 13