the transfer of the prisoner. At one o'clock P. M., Mr. Shallcross, with High Constable Bissonette, repaired to the jail. The astonishment of the swindler was equalled only by his wrath. Said he, "I don't for see by what audoritee you take me. I pay one hundred dollar for appeal to buy de seals and de papers. What become of my monish? For what be my hundred dollar gone? For shame! for shame! tam shame!"

At half past two the parties were all at the Grand Trunk Depot, prepared to return to the States. So quietly was the business conducted that not even the most intimate associates of Worms were apprised of the event until some time after his removal from the jail.

On the 18th the special agents arrived in Philadelphia, and brought the prisoner before a United States commissioner, who committed him to jail, in default of bail for five thousand dollars, on the charge of violating the postal laws. The next morning he was brought into the state court, then in session, and remanded to await trial for forgery, on the indictment already found by the grand jury.

While prosecuting the investigation, the officers learned that within a comparatively short period, by the same trick, varied only in minor details, Worms had succeeded in victimizing parties living in New York, St. Louis, New Orleans, and Michigan, out of sums ranging from five to ten thousand dollars. In the case of the Michigan man, the substituted letter, containing sheets of blank paper, was registered to Secretary Delano instead of to the President. They also learned that at the time of the arrest preparations were in progress for another swoop in the month of March, in which the great "Inspector for the purchase of Indian supplies" confidently expected to gather in twelve thousand more.

Worms exhibited a large stock of recommendations from generals, colonels, and other prominent personages. Some were dated during the time of the war, and were evidently inspired by genuine regard for the man. Without doubt he

THE TRIAL.

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made a popular quartermaster. Others were of more recent origin, and were obviously drawn out by personal solicitation, as they opened for the most part with some such formula as this: "My dear Captain: Your esteemed favor of date received, and it gives me great pleasure to bear testimony, &c." These letters were used with great effect in blinding the eyes of victims, as it could not be supposed that the comrade and familiar friend of eminent soldiers would stoop to the perpetration of a low swindle.

It is a safe rule to beware of the man who parades voluminous recommendations. The worthy do not need them, and the self-regardful do not show them except in emergencies of such gravity as to demand the sacrifice.

The country is infested with thousands of rogues who subsist by swindling the unwary. Hardly a week passes that the special agents of the department do not arrest one or more for using the mails in furtherance of some iniquitous scheme. Probably many escape unharmed with the plunder snatched from the credulous, the dupes pocketing their losses in silence rather than brave the torture of confession and exposure.

The grand jury having found a true bill against Worms, his trial began June 7th, 1876, before the United States Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Hon. John Cadwallader presiding.

The evidence against the accused was overwhelming, the witnesses for the prosecution corroborating each other in every essential particular, and impressing upon the minds of the jury the positive guilt of the prisoner. The defense offered no testimony to refute the charge, simply producing sundry "certificates of good character," whereby they evidently hoped to raise a presumption that "Doctor," alias "Captain" Worms was a man of too high standing to descend to forgery and swindling.

A strenuous effort was made by the counsel for the prisoner to prove that the indictment was defective in charging the

accused with the commission of a forgery for the purpose of defrauding the United States, whereas the evidence all went to show, assuming the reality of the crime, that it was perpetrated to defraud an individual and not the public.

The arguments of counsel closed at nine in the evening, when the court adjourned till the following day. On reassembling, his honor, Judge Cadwallader, addressed the jury in a charge of great length, in which he critically reviewed the evidence, and interpreted the application of the law. He admitted the importance of the legal point raised by the defense, instructing the jury that the questions for them to determine were, first, whether the evidence satisfied them that a forgery had been perpetrated; and if so, second, to determine the nature and purport of the forged instrument, and the representations made in connection with it. He further charged that if the evidence satisfied them that the prisoner had forged what he represented to be a bona fide contract with the interior department, by means of which he had perpetrated a fraud upon any person, it would be their duty to return a verdict of guilty; as the law clearly determines that a man who commits an unlawful act for the purpose of injuring another cannot be permitted to define the extent of his responsibility therefor. No one is allowed to take advantage of his own wrong. It is contrary to law and sound policy that offenders should be suffered to limit the scope and interpret the measure of their responsibility for criminal actions.

At the close of the charge from the judge the jury retired to deliberate, and returned in twenty minutes with a verdict of "Guilty."

The counsel for the prisoner thereupon moved for a suspension of sentence, on the plea that they desired to make application in due form for a new trial. The court granted the delay.

For several weeks the case remained in abeyance. At length, on the 1st of August, Judge Cadwallader refused the motion for a new trial, and sentenced Worms to pay a fine of one thousand dollars, and to an imprisonment of four years.

HE ingenuity and perseverance of the fraternity of swindlers is only equaled by the gullibility and patience of their dupes. During the flush times that followed the war, immense fortunes were suddenly acquired by a class of cheats who operated on the credulity of the public through gift enterprises, lotteries, and other kindred schemes. Most of the large concerns established their headquarters in New York city, flooding the entire country, particularly the South and West, with lithographic circulars, written apparently with the pen for the

exclusive benefit of the recipient, and showing how fortunes could be securely made by remitting specified sums to the houses in question. Some of the bogus firms simply pocketed the cash of correspondents without pretending to render any equivalent whatever; while others, no more honest, but

a little more politic, sent forth worthless jewelry and other stuff by the bushel.

One of the most villanous and at the same time successful devices was built up on the offer of counterfeit currency at a heavy discount. In substance, the circulars, emanating from different parties, and from the same parties under different names, were all alike. They usually began with an insidious compliment to the person addressed, to the effect that from trustworthy sources the writer had heard of him as a man of more than ordinary capacity and shrewdness, and, emboldened by the high estimate placed upon his abilities by persons well qualified to judge, had selected him as the very individual to aid in securing a fortune for both with "absolute safety." The circular usually goes on to state that the writer is a firstclass engraver, - indeed "one of the most expert in the United States," while his partner is a first-class printer. Hence the firm possess unrivaled facilities for imitating the national currency. The recipient is particularly cautioned to beware of a class of miscreants who infest the city of New York and advertise throughout the country the goods that he manufactures, but send nothing except rubbish. The "original Doctor Jacobs" excoriates unmercifully the whole tribe of swindlers whose rascalities debauch and bring odium upon the trade. He exhorts the gentleman of great reputed "shrewdness and sagacity" to observe the utmost caution in conducting operations, and gives him explicit directions how to forward the purchase-money.

Not a few, on receipt of the circular in an unfamiliar hand, feel highly flattered at the complimentary allusions to their personal qualifications, and wonder how Wiggins & Co., five hundred or a thousand miles away, ever heard of them. They read and re-read the missive, dwelling with particular satisfaction on the references to their shrewdness and ability. It is true perhaps that they are troubled by a vague notion that their neighbors have never discovered these extraordinary gifts; but Wiggins & Co. have, and that is enough.