Swindling Exposed Diary of William B. Moreau 1907 Syracuse New York True Crime

Description: Swindling Exposed. from the Diary of William B. Moreau, King of Fakirs. Methods of the Crooks Explained. History of the Worst Gang that Ever Infested This Country. Names, Locations, Incidents. A Volume of Intense Interest. Truth Stranger than Fiction.MOREAU, William B. COSTELLO, J. B. (ed.)Published by J. B. Costello, Syracuse, N.Y., 1907 " Billy " Moreau , with a long string of aliases , was , without doubt , " The King of Fakirs . " Among his class he was recog- nized by the title , for he had earned the appellation by his exploits of swindling in almost every State in the Union , as well as in the Canadian Dominion . He was surrounded by lieutenants whose characters were reflected from the make - up of their chief . A few of them were better educated than Moreau , and to them was assigned the duties of formulating schemes , drawing swind- ling papers , plans of operation , and the enlistment of officials and unscrupulous lawyers to aid them in preparing the technical phraseology of papers and to shield them from the operation of the law . But , it was Moreau's boldness in operation that sent terror and dismay into the hearts of the victims and enabled the rogues to pocket the hard earnings of honest people . Moreau was of French - Canadian extraction , and before " taking the road " resided with his young wife , also of an avaricious turn of mind , at Batavia , N. Y. He says he answered an adver- tisement of a Chicago firm and shortly afterward was a full- fledged traveling agent . He soon exhibited a desire for crooked work , and , aided by his wife , prepared his first swindling paper . He laid his plans before a boon companion named Ganly , the latter became a partner , and operations were begun at once . In a short time others were taken into their confidence , and thus was formed the worst gang of swindlers that ever infested this country . The combination was a very close one , as was shown by the fact that , notwithstanding the swindlers occasionally got into trouble , the others aided them as far as possible and never turned against each other . During their remarkable career they prepared and used not less than two hundred kinds of swindling papers , by which orders were multiplied many times , the storage of machinery was turned into actual purchase , an agency was manipulated into a large order with a bank note attached , and which appeared separate after parts of the paper were cut away . The " Bohemian Oats " swindle was also of their adoption , and many farmers will recall it with no fond recollection of " The Agents . " Worthless churns , pruning - shears , corn - shellers , and an almost endless variety of other alleged patented articles on paper ; lightning - rods , fertilizers , fruit and ornamental trees , books , maps , pictures , shoddy cloth and many other articles of a spurious character were their stock in trade and used in the gigantic swindles . The expose , which is complete in this book , includes fac- similes of the many crooked papers , with full explanations . Names , dates , locations , and circumstances connected with the frauds are also given ; thus making the work the most interesting and valuable that has ever been placed in the hands of farmers , and people generally . That other swindlers have been equally unscrupulous , and many of them are plying their vocations now is only too true , but the history of the Moreau combination is without a parallel . They came into existence as a seventeen - year locust scourge , and like the dreaded insects left sadness and desolation in their wake . They acquired wealth rapidly , but like ill - gotten gains generally , it vanished . Most of the gang have become public charges , and the remains of one , the principal , lies in a pauper's grave in Elmira , N. Y. There were seven men in the gang , but the wives of Moreau and Ganly took no small part in working every scheme . They were the dummy secretaries of the several bogus companies , and answered all correspondence from " headquarters , " which was frequently changed , and the secretaries , of course , vouched for the " great companies " and their " agents . " This served to throw off suspicion and enabled the rogues to operate and get away before arousing alarm . The men studied and practiced their parts thoroughly , and by a little preliminary conversation were enabled to " size up " their intended victims . Finally , to accomplish their purpose they resorted to the most effective expedients that could be employed to secure signatures . Persuasion , the most exaggerated false statements , and forgeries were used to secure a contract or order , but , when a signature was obtained they frequently made threats of prosecution to obtain a negotiable note or cash . The notes were discounted at bank by a supposed innocent third party , ( although they were not always innocent of the deals ) . Aged men were favorite subjects , as failing eyesight and other physical disabilities contributed to the success of the human ghouls in obtaining signatures . This book also includes an expose of many other swindles and crooked transactions , in some of which the Moreau combine took part , including gambling - poker , faro , roulette , etc. , in clubs and by professionals , also keno , policy , slot machines , lotteries , clairvoyants , spiritualists , mercantile fakirs , drove well swindles , bread pellet medicines , loan sharks , optical frauds , rubber seed fakes , shoddy cloth vampires , stove agency swindles , matrimonial frauds , catalogue fakes , medical imposters , gold brick and green goods swindles , buying the farm robberies , X ray frauds , the diamond trick , red light vice , personal catch - penny swindle , pool room sharpers , business monopolies , including Rockefeller squeezing farmers and working men and giving millions to rich money- making college plants . Other unscrupulous trust sharks also receive well deserved attention . The Moreau gang sometimes took pictures of the scenes of their robberies , for they reasoned that a " sucker " who will be caught on one thing can be worked by other schemes . With the foregoing explanations we present the life - story of " Billy " Moreau as told by himself . — EDITOR . ] Common terms and phrasesAckerman acres advertised agency agent agree agreement bait bank blank Bohemian Oats called Canandaigua Cardiff Giant cash cent Charles Dodge contract county rights course crooked deal dollars drove dupes easy fake fakir farm farmer Fertilizer fraud gamblers gambling gang Ganly give hand hereby indemnity knew land lightning-rod look machines Moreau named neighbor never Nichols obligation Ontario county operation P. T. Barnum paper party persons play Prey profits Pruning Shears purchase racket robbed rods Rupert scheme Schuyler county seed seemed sell Seneca county sharks Shellers shoddy signature signed skin games slick slot machines sold soon Steuben county stranger stuff suckers swindle swindlers talk tell territory tion told Tompkins county took town town of Ulysses trick usually victims wife Wilson York

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