The Portrait Swindle

The police have learned of a smooth swindling game that has been practiced by one Colpitts in Seattle, in which his victims number about fifty, from each of whom he secured sums ranging from $2 to $10. His game was the old picture-enlarging ruse that has been worked so often and so successfully. He arrived about a month ago and opened an office at 614 Second Avenue, claiming to have the only proper way of enlarging pictures. He approached victims, asking to enlarge a picture of a dear relative or friend. His price for the work ranged from $7 to $15, on which he required a deposit of $2 to $10 as an act of good faith. Each order specified the purchaser was to call at 2021 Second Avenue thirty days later to receive the work. Colpitts did not make the pictures; he simply pocketed the money, closed his office, and walked out of town. The swindle came to light when victims began calling at 2021 Second Avenue—the home of J.E. Stanley, proprietor of Ye Old Curiosity Shop. Mrs. Stanley, bewildered by the onslaught of people, contacted her husband, who realized Colpitts had used his address as a cover. Police are currently searching for the perpetrator, though he is believed to have already left the state.