The grafters of America, who they are and how they work . to the tune of$500,000. The commercial agencies detected the false note inthis system at the start and sent out a warning. Ofall the concerns, multiplying daily in 1902, less thana dozen were shown to have any excuse for 1903 the local police department made a thoroughcanvass of the situation and nearly all of these Lloydswere definitely reported as operating in distinct defi-ance of the law. Meanwhile complaints began to come in from allparts of the country and Chicago gained such wide-spread notoriety for Wild Cat service
The grafters of America, who they are and how they work . to the tune of$500,000. The commercial agencies detected the false note inthis system at the start and sent out a warning. Ofall the concerns, multiplying daily in 1902, less thana dozen were shown to have any excuse for 1903 the local police department made a thoroughcanvass of the situation and nearly all of these Lloydswere definitely reported as operating in distinct defi-ance of the law. Meanwhile complaints began to come in from allparts of the country and Chicago gained such wide-spread notoriety for Wild Cat service that the Boardof Underwriters, the United States postal service andthe state department of insurance, acting on informa-tion gathered, inaugurated a war of prosecution. ByJanuary, 1905, all the ringleaders of the irregular com-binations had taken flight or were under indictment,and the latter are now under heavy fines and servingsentences in the state penitentiary or House of Cor-rection. The industry has practically been blotted out, OF A DETECTIVE 39. No Closed Season for Catching this Kind of Fish. The Supply Unlimited—One Is Born Every Minute. 40 THE ADVENTURES AND WORK a result pronounced by the insurance experts the bestand quickest piece of work ever executed in this field. The secret, silent and actual service in this matterfell to Detective Clifton R. Wooldridge. From firstto last it was due to his indefatigable work that loadsof records were unearthed, crooked methods discov-ered and the evidence gathered in endless chain andwithout a flaw, which so dismayed those arrested thatthey pleaded guilty rather than face over 150 wit-nesses summoned to the Federal court from every partof the United States. His efforts are considered the more remarkable be-cause even experienced insurance men did not com-prehend the workings of the Wild Cat trust, and itrequired intelligence, patience and strict honesty ofpurpose to combat influences exerted by a ring em-bracing some of the
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookidgraftersofam, bookyear1906
