Linton Weeks. A New York City swindler tries to cheat a man from the country, New York Public Library hide caption. These days we are constantly warned of scams and schemes oeople to hoodwink us. But in the spring offolks were concerned about another kind of hustle: A man who went by the name of A. Lamartine drifted from town to town in the Midwest — pretending to attempt suicide. He would walk into a hotel — according to newspaper accounts from Salem, Ore. Once settled in, he would ring a bell for assistance, and when someone arrived, Lamartine would point to an empty bottle on the table labeled «2 ounces of laudanum» and call for a clergyman. People rushing to his bedside to help him would find a suicide note.