Showing posts with label mock auction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mock auction. Show all posts

February 27, 2025

Soapy Smith's "STAR" notebook, 1883: Part #17 - page 17

Soapy Smith STAR Notebook
Page 17 - Original copy
1883
Courtesy of Geri Murphy
(Click image to enlarge)




oapy Smith in San Francisco, Ohio, South Dakota, Kentucky.
Cheap John scam, Knight's Conclave, Cotton Exposition and horse races.

     This is page 17, dated July-August 1883, the continuation of deciphering Soapy Smith's "star" notebook from the Geri Murphy's collection. A complete introduction to this notebook can be seen on page 1.
     These notebook pages have never been published before! They continue to be of revealing interest. The picture that the pages draw is of young 22 year-old Jefferson pursuing "soap sales" over a very wide spread of territory and in a very tenacious, even driven, way.
     The notebook(s) are in Soapy's handwriting, and sometimes pretty hard to decipher. A large part of this series of posts is to transcribe the pages, one-at-a-time, and receive help from readers on identifying words I am having trouble with, as well as correcting any of my deciphered words. My long time friend, and publisher, Art Petersen, has been a great help in deciphering and adding additional information.
     I will include the original copy, an enhanced copy, and a negative copy of each page. Also included will be a copy with typed out text, as tools to aid in deciphering the notes.
     There are a total of 24 pages. This means that there may be upwards of 24 individuals posts for this one notebook. Links to the past and future pages (pages 1, 2, 3, etc.) will be added at the bottom of each post for ease of research. When completed there will be a sourced partial record of Soapy's activities and whereabouts for 1882-1883.
     Important to note that the pages of the notebook do not appear to be in chronological order, with Soapy making additional notes on a town and topic several pages later.
     It seems Soapy is not entrenched in Denver yet, still operating as a nomad moving from town to town.
     In one noticeable respect, page 17 is different from the other pages seen so far. In contrast, page 17 is uncommonly clear. The lead of the pencil must have been sharp and the notepad on a hard surface for the letters and words to be so dark and impressed so legibly. Other pages often seem written on with a dull pencil, and the words seem a bit shaken and jagged, as if made with the notebook in hand, perhaps while aboard the swaying car of a moving train or stagecoach. Alcohol may also play a part in the bad handwriting seen thus far.
     Page 17 continues listing places to consider visiting, that is, to list options to consider. The places are far flung (e.g., Louisville, KY; New London, OH; San Francisco, CA) and getting from place to place in 1883 would take days. Because of the distances, rather than an itinerary, they seem more suited to be individual options from which to choose. covers his possible journey to San Francisco, Ohio, South Dakota and Kentucky, operating the cheap John swindle while attending a Knight's Conclave, the Cotton Exposition and horse races. Although the communication of twenty-one-year-old Soapy Smith is with himself, the writing also communicates with us about him 142 years later (and potentially far beyond today).
     Below are my attempts to attempts to make the writing easier to see and decipher.

Soapy Smith STAR Notebook
Page 17 - Enhanced copy
1883
Courtesy of Geri Murphy

(Click image to enlarge)

Soapy Smith STAR Notebook
Page 17 - Negative copy
1883
Courtesy of Geri Murphy
(Click image to enlarge)



Soapy Smith STAR Notebook
Page 17 - Deciphered copy
1883
Courtesy of Geri Murphy

(Click image to enlarge)


Page 17
  • Line 1: "Goods to Handle"
  • Line 2: "Tin ware for California" 
  • Line 3: "Crockery for every"
  • Line 4: "place New London [Ohio]"
  • Line 5: "Ohio."
  • Line 6: "'Occurrences'"
  • Line 7: "Knights Conclave"
  • Line 8: "San Francisco Aug."
  • Line 9: "Cotton Exposition"
  • Line 10: "Louisville [Kentucky] Aug."
  • Line 11: "Races at Mitchell"
  • Line 12: "Dakota [South Dakota] July 3, and 4."
  • Line 13: "Over" [continues on page 18]

  • Lines 1-4, we see that Soapy was planning to operate his swindles in California (San Francisco?), interestingly enough, it appears that Soapy was preparing to run a "cheap John" operation. I knew he started using the cheap John in Round Rock, Texas, likely out of the back of a wagon, but I always figured that once he got into the short cons (shell and pea con, three-card monte and the soap sell) he gave up the cheap John con. Was he still doing it in 1883? I thought that perhaps this might be an older dated page (1878-1881).
The cheap John swindle is the forerunner of today's Jam auction. Below is the definition of "cheap John" from my book, Alias Soapy Smith: The Life and Death of a Scoundrel.
A cheap John operation is the predecessor of the jam auction, which Jeff would later operate in Denver. An operator sells, usually under high pressure, practically worthless merchandise at a fraction of its value in order to excite and confuse the audience. Sometimes the items are said to be valuable manufacturers’ promotional items. First, small, practically worthless items are given away to everyone, then unexpectedly slightly more valuable items are sold to bidders for almost nothing. The procedure is conducted in a way that confuses buyers about whether they are putting up money "as a good faith gesture" that they will get back or whether they are tendering payment. When buyers are thoroughly confused, the cheap John adds the final wrinkle: the sale of almost worthless (but apparently valuable) merchandise for what seem like outrageous "bargain" prices. 
A modern day Jam Auction
Courtesy of The Real Hustle
(Click image to enlarge)

The cheap John may also be an option for Soapy. It would be natural to continue listing that kind of selling as an option. But sales of that kind surely couldn't match what Soapy found he could earn in a day or an afternoon or an hour auctioning off money-wrapped soap. Additionally, it's hard to imagine Soapy lugging around suitcases of tin ware and crockery all across the West, as opposed to an easily portable box of little cuts of soap, a small commodity for which he could build up demand in minutes. Known is that Soapy continued to sell cheap John goods, but probably not when he was on the road. Later when operating solely in a city, an auction house would be a fitting location for sales of that kind, handled for Soapy by operators, and perhaps Soapy himself on occasion.

  • Lines 4-5, show a plan to operate in New London, Ohio.

  • Lines 6, are under the heading of "Occurrences," which are more plans to visit and operate.
  • Lines 7-8, at the Knights [Triennial] Conclave in San Francisco, Cal., August 20–25, 1883. It was the first Triennial Conclave held west of St. Louis.

Grand parade of the Knights Templar
Triennial Conclave
San Francisco, Cal.
August 20, 1883
(Click image to enlarge)

  • Lines 9-10, Soapy plans to operate at The Cotton Exposition, formally called The Southern Exposition, in Louisville, Kentucky. The Southern Exposition was a series of world's fairs held in Louisville, Kentucky from August 1, 1883 to 1887. The exposition showcased the South's products, including cotton, and featured a working farm and horticultural garden.

The Southern Exposition
Also known as The Cotton Exposition
Louisville, Kentucky
(Click image to enlarge)

  • Lines 11-12, horse races in Mitchell, South Dakota, July 3-4.
  • Line 13, "Over" [continues on page 18]








 









Part #24 (not published yet)












"Ignorance is preferable to error, and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing than he who believes what is wrong."
—Thomas Jefferson










Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , ,

December 19, 2022

Mock Auctions: How Cheap Watches are “Worked Off” on Countrymen.

MOCK AUCTIONS
San Francisco Chronicle
June 22, 1879

(Click image to enlarge)


 
 
 
 
ock auction houses were a very successful addition to "Soapy" Smith's swindle businesses in Denver, Colorado. 
 
The mock auction is a swindle in which a victim bids on and purchases what he is made to believe is a high quality gold watch, but in fact, he is paying good money for a very low quality one. Past research and articles I have published on Soapy's mock auction houses were based on period newspaper articles, which gave some great information, while leaving open-ended questions, as to the details of where and how the watches were obtained. Based on letters in the family collection, I believed that Soapy purchased the cheap watches. One letter in family hands comes from C. C. Lamos, a retail and supply company from Chicago, dated December 4, 1883.
Friend Jeff

      Am dam [sic] sorry the watches did not pan out all ok.… You must always send them back at my expense as I hate like the duce [sic] to have any of the old boys kick on me. I had rather pay the difference myself. 6 oz white watches nice ones 4.25 each, is the best anyone can do. They are nice ones. Just got in a fine lot today. The Silver watches I have just [illegible] up to the Waltham agency here and will see what they say. He sends this reply and you can’t get any made I don’t think this season as they are very busy at the factory for holidays.
     [John] Waller is still in Oregon doing well as usual he is making big money this year. Wishing you the best of good luck.

I am yours only
Lamos [1]
The fact that the letter is an apology for poor quality watches had me wondering how Soapy kept a constant supply of watches coming in as any break in the supply would shut down the auction house until more watches were received.
     I came across a good answer from a newspaper article published in the San Francisco Chronicle, June 22, 1879.

MOCK AUCTIONS.
How Cheap Watches are “Worked Off” on Countrymen.

      The CHRONICLE has repeatedly shown up in its columns the snares and nefarious methods adopted by bunko and cheater “steerers” to entrap country visitors and rob them of their hard-earned money. There is yet another class of swindlers, whose victims are numbered by the legion, who nightly ply their thieving art, and from the peculiar manner with which their operations are conducted they are seldom or never caught and consequently but little publicity is ever given to their transactions. The swindlers referred to are certain Cheap John establishments on Kearny street and their game is so ingeniously played that frequently city people and bucolic visitors whose wisdom teeth have been cut by experience with bunko and cheater men, readily fall into the trap and are swindled. For the benefit of those who do not know the game alluded to or the history of it.
 
$75 WATCH AND HEIRLOOM

From the time the Cheap John gets it until it is disposed of to some victim looking for a bargain, the following will be of interest. The proprietors of these Cheap John stores will, during the day, when they are short of material, visit the various pawn-broker establishments in the city and buy up the unredeemed cheap silver and white metal case watches at an average price of $2.70 apiece. The watches, with a sufficient number of steel chains, are then taken to a gold plater, who soon after turns them out with bright gold cases. The plating is done with 18-carat gold, and a white metal or brass case watch is sold as an 18-carat gold watch. If it is a silver case watch it is sold with the guarantee that it is on a “coin basis.” In the employ of these Cheap John stores are some six or eight cappers. During the night they are given a watch to “work off,” and if successful they receive for their services a dollar a piece. The chronometer, the brand of which is generally Swiss, is “worked off” as follows: Capper No. 1, having received the watch before the evening’s business has opened, waits until the store is filled by a crowd of the curious when he approaches the auctioneer and intimates to him that he would like to sell his watch, which is either an “heirloom” or one that cost him $75. The auctioneer takes the watch and tells the “owner” he will charge him one dollar for selling it. The watch is offered for sale and Capper No. 2 bids $5 for it, which is quickly followed by bids from the other cappers until it is run up to say $10, and at that price it is knocked down to the bidder.

THE “OWNER”

Then speaks up, and says he will not allow the watch to go for such a low figure. He is informed by the auctioneer that he can make one bid for the watch, which he does, $16, and at that figure it is sold to him. The auctioneer claims his dollar for selling it, and, of course, as the “owner” has not that amount, the watch is then auctioned off again. It is now, the victim takes his first bite. The watch is started at $2, and the countryman maybe bids $5. The cappers crowd around him and explain its mechanism, the solidness of the case and the clearness of the crystal, etc. Greeny is caught; and the bids are run up on him until he bids $35 or $40, when it is knocked down to him at that price. He is then taken to the back of the store and charged one dollar for buying the watch, and if he asks for a guarantee, he is given the following: “Received of John Doe, $40, for a watch. —.” The countryman no sooner reaches the sidewalk with his presumed prize when he is roosted by another capper, who tells him that if the watch is gold he will give him $50 for it. They go to a jewelry store near-by where the watch is tested with water contained in a gold bottle. The jeweler demands one dollar before he will give the result of the test, and the money is handed over, and the victim is told that the watch is not gold, and he is advised to take it back to the auction-house and have it sold. He does so and the auctioneer again puts it up for sale and knocks it down to one of the cappers, who bids $2.50 for it. The seller retains one dollar as his commission, and hands over the balance, $1.50 to the countryman, who is

OUT JUST $38.50

On his bargain. It frequently happens that among the watches purchased by the Cheap John there is a small one. A satin-lined case is made for it, and it is then given to one of the cappers, who presents it at the mock-auction counter with the story that it was a wedding-present to his wife and that he is compelled by reduced circumstances to thus part with it. It is at once offered for sale, and “worked off” on some victim whose sympathies are interested by the tale of domestic affliction which caused the sacrifice of the marital memento, and who imagines that he is purchasing a first-class watch at a price far below its actual value.
     I found the details of how the mock auction houses operate to be of great interest, as Soapy's mock auctions in Denver likely utilized many of the same methods. Some of the information is new to me, such as
  • the purchase of "cheap silver and white metal case watches" from local pawn brokers, cheaply gold-plated, and then auctioned as being high quality gold watches.
  • The detail of the set-up and how the cappers lure-in the victims to bid.
  • The elaborate play of the capper offering to purchase the victim's new watch at a nice profit, with the condition of visiting a local jeweler for an appraisal, only to find out that the watch is not worth the price the victim paid for it.
  • Most notable for me is how the victim is lured back to the auction house, allows the watch to be auctioned off again, resulting in the loss of the bulk of the amount originally paid as well as the loss of the watch itself, thus allowing the swindlers to auction off the same watch to another victim.  


Click to enlarge

NOTES:
[1] Letter from C. C. Lamos to Jeff R. Smith, December 4, 1883. 
 
 
 










Mock Auctions: pages 15, 30, 43, 45, 47-48, 51, 58, 75-76, 88, 90, 92, 120, 129-32, 138, 159, 162.63, 180, 188, 190-91, 202-05.





"A sucker has no business with money in the first place."
—"Canada Bill" Jones







Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , ,

April 2, 2021

Doc Baggs Mock Auction House, Denver Republican, Feb. 12, 1882

MOCK AUCTION WATCHES
Denver Republican
February 12, 1882

(Click image to enlarge)





 
 
ore on the snide watch, mock auction house
 
This is the second, and more detailed article from the Denver Republican's expose on a Larimer street mock auction house, beginning on February 11, 1882. I do not recognize the names of H. E. Myers or H. Simon, the operator of the mock auction house, and though the operation is near identical to Soapy's auction houses he ran in the late 1880s-90s, I am pretty certain this is not Soapy's operation, as Soapy is still a nomad, roaming the western states, looking for a permanent location for his operations. It appears that Charles L. "Doc" Baggs is still the king-pin bunko man of Denver. Below is the transcribed article.
 
 
AUCTION WATCHES.
—
Myers, the Auctioneer, Declares That He Is Above Suspicion.
—
A Watch-Man Ventures a Few Queries and Suggestions Regarding the Matter.
—
      A Publication was made in yesterday's REPUBLICAN regarding the purchase of a 3-karat gold watch by a man named H. A. Taylor, from H. Simon an auctioneer doing business at 371 Larimer street.① The article stated that Taylor bought the watch at auction, for $24, on the representation that the cases were of solid gold and the watch was in good running order for two years. After he had made the purchase, Taylor says he began to suspicion that he had been swindled, and consequently took the watch to a well-known jeweler to have it tested. The jeweler tested the cases with acid, and the result was that the gold was eaten away, and several black spots appeared, which could not be [?]. The jeweler informed Taylor that it was a snide auction watch, worth at the utmost $15 or $18. Taylor returned to the auction house and endeavored to get his money back, failing in which he publicly proclaimed that he had been swindled, he came to THE REPUBLICAN office and made a statement in regard to the matter.
MR. MYERS' STATEMENT.
      Mr. H. E. Myers is the auctioneer in Simon's establishment. He came around to THE REPUBLICAN office yesterday, in high dudgeon, contending, in a very forcible language, that the statement of Taylor in regard to his being swindled was totally wrong, and that the watch was just what it was represented to be when Taylor bid it in at $24. A reporter called around at the auction house last night and heard Myers' statement. It was substantially as follows: He held a watch in his hand, which he claimed to be an exact facsimile of the one sold to Baker. "This," said he, "is a solid gold case, with a National movement, Elgin Illinois. We guarantee these watches, and I gave Taylor a guarantee. He took the watch to a jeweler and had it tested, and then he brought it back to me very much disfigured, and wanted me to give him his money back. I told him if the watch was not just as I guaranteed it I would refund him his money. I sold him the watch with the guarantee that the cases were of solid gold-but I did not say how fine the cases were. They might be 4-karat, or 6 or 8, or anywhere up to 18-karat, and still be solid gold. I did not guarantee the fineness, but if he had asked me to do so I would have put in the guarantee that the cases were 10-karat, which they were. There is no such thing as a 3-karat watch. The lowest grade is 4-karat. Now, the acid used by the jeweler in testing these cases was 18-karat acid, with salt in it. You probably know that acids are of different strength. An 18-karat acid will eat into a 10-karat case and a 10-karat acid will eat into a 4-karat case. Of course the 10-karat case on Taylor's watch could not withstand 18-karat acid-and any jeweler will tell you that this is true. I can take the strongest quality of acid, put salt in it, and eat up a twenty-dollar gold piece. The watch sold to Taylor is strictly in conformity with the guarantee, and there was no misrepresentation in making the sale. In fact, the profit on the watch was so small that I would readily have taken it back and refunded the money, if the watch had not been defaced and disfigured. There was no snide in the matter, and we are willing to stand by our guarantee."
—

The Other Side of the Case.

Denver, Colorado, February 11, 1882.

To the editor of the Republican.
      An article in this morning's REPUBLICAN, and headed "A Three-Karat Watch," hits the nail square on the head, and as this question has been opened for discussion, allow me a small space in your independent paper to make a few remarks on it.
     The jewelry and watch auctions are carried to such an extent in this city and the bidding is so palpably fraudulent that it seems as though a man with ordinary intellect could not help but discover the humbug at once, but it appears that as soon as one victim retires to meditate upon the demerits of his bargain another will surely take his place. If people would only watch the auctioneer closely they would surely discover that nearly all the bidding is done by the auctioneer himself, as for instance: He starts a watch that cost him $5 at $7; then he commences to bid it up to say $9.50, and keeps crying that bid until some "sucker" bites by bidding $10. Of course the watch is surely his, and it don't take him long to find out that he is sold. People often wonder when they hear one of these mock auctions who does all the bidding, lots of them never dreaming that the auctioneer is the "many bidders."
      There is a distinct difference between the jewelry and watches sold at auction and those sold by the regular jeweler. The watches sold at auction are usually of the poorest kind. The watches they sell for gold are from 4 to 8 karat. The cases are extremely light, so that usually the engraving on the outside shows through on the inside of the case. The movements are the poorest and cheapest to be had, and, although it may be an Elgin or Waltham watch, let me inform the reader that these companies make watches that cost only $3.50. Add to this a gold case that costs $12 and you have a total of $15.50, and these watches are sold at auction from $25 to $45. Now do you see how auction stores can pay big rents and employ expensive auctioneers?
      With jewelry it is just the same. An article may be gold and very poor; in fact, not half as good as a good rolled plate article, while a rolled plate article may wear as good as solid gold, and it may not wear as well as good common gilding. The same difference exists in watches and jewelry as in clothing, hats, dry goods or other merchandise. Lots of men who will not buy anything snide in other goods, will go to auctions and buy the snidest kind of jewelry and watches, and when they find out that they have been sold, they will take good care not to let anyone else know it, because they fear that someone will laugh at them, and that would be terrible. The auctioneer knows this, and that's why he keeps on with the same old cry.
Yours against all humbugs,
Watchman.

—
Footnotes
①: See post March 30, 2021 for the Denver Republican, February 11, 1882.
 











Mock Auction House
Auction House: pages 15, 43, 75-76, 88, 90, 92, 120, 129-32, 138, 162-63, 180, 188, 190-91, 242, 294, 360, 421-22.





"QUOTE QUOTE"
—Robert









Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , ,

April 12, 2020

Soapy Smith's Denver fake auction house, 1888

ONE OF DENVER'S FAKES.
Rocky Mountain News
December 17, 1888
(Article transcribed below)

(Click image to enlarge)







ake auction houses

For years there were fake auction houses operating along Seventeenth Street in Denver, Colorado, most being under the control of Jefferson Randolph Smith II, alias "Soapy" Smith. The last known fake auction house in Denver is mentioned in a letter to Soapy, dated 1896. It was run by ex-Soap Gang members, as Soapy was no longer a resident of Denver. Men who worked in Soapy's auction houses included, G. E. "Auctioneer" Roberts, James "Duke of Halstead" Thorton, John O. "Texas-Jack" Vermillion and John L. "Reverend" Bowers.
     The Denver police did their best to shut them down, with little success. At one point they even placed officers on the sidewalks in front of the dens, there to warn pedestrians not to engage the auctioneers and his shills, but after a few days the police officers were removed and placed back on regular duty because of an increase in crime elsewhere in the city, likely caused by the bunco men themselves, in order to get the cops back on the beat, and away from their shops!
     Below is the first known expose on the auction houses published in the Rocky Mountain News, December 17, 1888.

ONE OF DENVER’S FAKES.
—
THE SNIDE AUCTION SHOPS AND THEIR MEETINGS.
—
A REPORTER’S EXPERIENCE.
—
New guileless Youths and Inexperienced Countrymen Are Inveigled into Exceedingly Bad Bargains – The Steerer’s Part.
—

Wo’n ‘alf! Two ‘n ‘alf! Two’s ‘alf! Only two dollars and fifty cents bid, gentlemen, for that solid rolled gold chain. Only two and a half! Why, it is worth three times that much, if it’s worth a cent.”
     These were the words that reached the ear of a NEWS reporter the other afternoon while going down Seventeenth street in search of an item. He had heard this and many other similar cries almost every day for a long while as his daily routine takes him down Seventeenth street below Larimer, and this is the locality most thickly strewn with the auction stores of the class referred to, and they are all of the same ilk–not a very good one, either–but never before had he been attracted, beyond a mental inquiry as to whether there were many gullible enough to be taken in by the fakirs. This cry, however, was in some way peculiar and the reporter was drawn into the small circle which surrounded a be-whiskered auctioneer who sported very flashy jewelry. The principal object was to satisfy curiosity and secondly a belief that many of THE NEWS readers would like to know something about these places and their methods.

"Do I Hear Ten Dollars?"
 
     The reporters entrance was the signal for a bit of extra bustle and the crowd of steerers became extraordinarily engrossed in the examination of various watches, chains, rings and other articles in the shop, intent on making an impression of rushing business on the prospective “sucker” they thought they saw in view. To encourage them in the IDM with which they had become [illegible] THE NEWS man edged up to the counter and the auctioneer and began to manifest some interest in a very showy looking watch which was labeled:

SOLID GOLD
warranted full jeweled
guaranteed one year.
    
"What might that ‘cre [?] Timepiece be worth:” queried the reporter.
     The reply was very voluminous, setting forth the many qualities of the watch, which was declared to be a solid gold-filled case, stem winder and set her, with full set jewels. Be information was also given that all goods are sold by auction and he would put it up.“Now, gentlemen,” said the auctioneer, “here’s a man who wants to bid on this watch and will give him a chance. How much will you bid? Speak up.”
     “Five dollars,” said the reporter.
     “Five dollars? What do I hear? Say, young fellow, do you want to buy this watch? If you do, you’ll have to speak louder.”
     “I’ll give ten,” was the remark of someone in the crowd.
     “That’s more like it. I’m offered $10. gentlemen. Who’ll make it $11?” and the lusty lunged auctioneer proceeded to urge additional bids.


"Eight Dollars."
  
     The watch was finally knocked down to one of the “gentlemen” in the crowd for $17.50, but not until the reporter had discovered by a close examination that the watch was one of the best deceptions to be found. It was an alloy case, not even filled gold, and the works were of a kind once described to the reporter by a jeweler friend as “the five-dollar-a-[illegible] watches.” The man who “bought” the watch appeared to be very proud of his acquirement, but if one could have watched him later on he would have seen another transfer of the watch back to the case, the gentlemen standing around being merely figureheads to deceive and help [illegible] in the unsuspecting countryman or the [illegible] youth who has not yet learned that all that glitters is not gold.
     In another place a similar watch was put up. There was a “hayseed” who evidently wanted something to tell him when to eat, and all sorts of inducements were made to draw him into a deal but he bought shy and the watch was sold to the original bitter for $8. The bitter, who was only one of the “dummies,” made a noise that he didn’t have quite enough cash at hand but wanted to leave a deposit until he could get the money. This wouldn’t go and the watch was handed back to the auctioneer, who did his best to get the farmer to bid, and finally the old man said he would bid $8. Then others bed and finally the farmer found himself bidding $15. Then he apparently remembered what he had promised to buy his [illegible] and wished he [illegible]. But the wish was [illegible two paragraphs] spider and fly game and it works quite as often as the fabled “come into my parlor.”


A Shy Granger
  
     The auction rooms are, in fact, considerably, if not wholly, on the fake order. Cheap jewelry, watches, and even clothing are put up and bid on by the [illegible] fakirs to prices far above what they are worth. There are some things sold that are of good quality, but they are not given away by any means, and a good profit is always made. But the bulk of the goods are of the conceivably cheap order and not worth having at any price.
     From the fact that so many of these fakirs gain a living in this city is evident that there are a great many green individuals in Denver every day and it is to be believed that they are not all the unsophisticated countrymen who come in to spend their hard-earned cash and see the sights, but that quite a number of Denver’s population have not learned to steer clear of such joints. The man who gets “bit” by such means generally makes no complaint, as he is averse to revealing himself as a rank sucker, and therefore these places keep up their robbing shops simply because no one complains to the police. A few arrests or the charge of false pretenses would have the wholesome effect of ridding the city of “joints” of this character. But of course no such action can be hoped for from the present force.

—










Auction House: pages 15, 43, 75-76, 88, 90, 92, 120, 129-32, 138, 162-63, 180, 188, 190-91, 242, 294, 360, 421-22.





"It is difficult to account for the action of people who fall victims to such bare-faced bunko games; it must be the result of the inherent love of the American people for being humbugged."
— Aspen Daily Chronicle, July 30, 1889.



APRIL 12


1782: The British navy wins its only naval engagement against the colonial navy at the Battle of Saints, off Dominica, during the American Revolution.
1799: Phineas Pratt patents the comb cutting machine.
1811: The first colonists arrive at what would later be named Cape Disappointment, in the future state of Washington.
1812: The War of 1812 begins when President Madison declares war on England.
1833: Charles Gaylor patents the fireproof safe. 
1861: Confederate forces fire on the U.S. at Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina, starting the Civil War.
1862: Denver, Colorado passes its first anti-prostitution law.
1864: Confederate General Nathan Forrest captures Fort Pillow, in Tennessee and executes the black Union troops there.
1865: David “Big Dave” Updyke, stagecoach robber, murderer, and onetime sheriff of Ada County, Idaho Territory, is hung by vigilantes, along with cohort Jake Dixon, 30 miles west of Boise, Idaho. He led the July 13, 1865 stagecoach robbery that left four dead. A note pinned to his body read “aider of murderers and horse thieves.”
1867: General Hancock, at Fort Larned in Kansas, tells Cheyenne Indians to abide by the treaty of 1865 and stay on their lands south of the Arkansas River or risk starting a war.
1872: The outlaw Jesse James gang robs a bank in Columbia, Kentucky, killing one person and getting away with $1,500.
1877: A catcher's mask is used in a baseball game for the first time.
1883: Charles “Black Bart” Bolton robs the Lakeport-Cloverdale stage a second time, this time about 5 miles from Cloverdale, California. At the conclusion of the robbery he leaves behind an unusual calling card: a poem.
1884: Con men Tom Daniels, J. B. Parmer, Bill Kelly, Con Sullivan and George Millsap are arrested in Denver, Colorado for armed robbery of a man ($150 and a pistol), after the man would not play a sure-thing game operated by Charles “Doc” Baggs. Some of the cons would later work for Soapy Smith’s Soap Gang.
1888: John Billee and Thomas Willis rob and murder W. P. Williams and bury his body in a ravine in the Kiamichi Mountains, Oklahoma Territory. They would eventually hang for the crime.
1889: Buffalo Bill's Wild West leaves New York for a tour of France.
1892: Voters in Lockport, New York are the first to use voting machines.
1892: Before becoming a member of the Soap Gang, Jeff Dunbar shoots and kills a black man named Lewis Adams during a card game in a saloon in Casper, Wyoming. Dunbar shot four times, three of the shots taking effect, killing Adams instantly. Dunbar is arrested, tried and acquitted. He leaves for Denver and joins the Soap Gang.
1898: Soap Gang member Harry Green signs his name as “Jeff Smith” on the register of the Hotel Northern in Seattle, causing newspaper there to falsely report that Soapy Smith was in their city. The real Jeff Smith, aka “Soapy,” was in Skagway, Alaska, is mad as hell at Green for pretending to be him.
1900: Corteze D. “Cort” Thomson, Denver Colorado gambler and husband of brothel madame Martha A. “Mattie” Silks, dies of ptomaine poisoning from eating spoiled oysters. Thomson had been involved with bad man Soapy Smith in the shooting death of Cliff Sparks.
1905: The Hippodrome opens in New York City.





Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)