OPINIONS DIFFER
The above are illustrations of the method. Cannon, Rev. Spencer and Attorney Edwards are all one and the same man. We now turn to a few special examples of differences of procedure among the various bureaux.
A Persistent Offender.
One of the most successful operators who ever invaded Chicago with matrimonial schemes was one John Carson, who, on April 8, 1908, was fined $1,000 and costs for misuse of the United States mails after he had plead guilty to the charge, which was preferred by Inspector Ketcham.
Carson, at one time or another, operated no less than eighteen concerns of this nature. He was first discovered in 1902 in Chicago by Detective Wooldridge, operating no less than five matrimonial and fake concerns simultaneously. These concerns were:
- The Loretta Matrimonial Publishing Co., 98 Ogden Ave.
- The Unida Matrimonial Publishing Co., 408 Ogden Ave.
- Mr. John's Matrimonial Publishing Co., 565 West Madison St.
- Mr. J. C. Hills Matrimonial Agency, 565 West Madison St.
- The Chicago Mutual Securities Co., a Chicago Medicine concern, 567 W. Madison St.
Carson evaded arrest and fled to St. Louis, where he was shortly afterward arrested by the postal authorities and sentenced to eighteen months in the State Penitentiary at Jefferson City, in addition to a fine of $500.
Bobs Up Again.
In 1904 Carson bobbed up again in Chicago. Since that time his record is best given from a report made to Chief of Police John M. Collins by Detective Wooldridge, who repeatedly broke up Carson's games. The report, in part, is as follows: