The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1888-01-28 00:00:00

THE CAREER OF A SCOUNDRE

A DAUGHTER LOST AND FOUND.
On Saturday a London newspaper, The People,
ceived the particulars of the operations of a scound ,
who, in the disguise of a clergyman, has broughtj i
recent years misery to more than one respecta 1
home. This man is of good birth and pretends to b ,
clerk in holy orders. He is a fellow of 4n,
of the colleges, but since the termination Fo,
his collegiate career has lived the life 01
an adventurer. Up to 1886 he was 401
brought prominently before the notice of th s(
whose duty it is to legally investigate such matters
It is a fact, however, that from time to time coin•
plaints were made to various solicitors with regar
to the nefariods schemes of this individual, but owil
to the fact that there was a difficulty in tracing ha
no legal proceedings were taken. In the early pal
of 1887, however, this man, whose right name cam
be given, owing to the variety of aliases which
assumed, turned up at a southern sea-side rer
He lodged at a private boarding house, one o
the best in the place, and by means of insiduou 13
polite conduct gained the confidence of th (
by whom he was surrounded. Amongst the fam 13
to whom the place belonged was the daugh
. i
of the landlady, a girl of 16. Suddenly t (
_

" curate " fell ill, and there was no more -voted nurse to him than this young girl. Soijie
weeks elapsed before convalescence set in, and co' -:
cident with the recovery to health, the landla y
missed, all at once, both her lodger and her daught r.
No tidings could be obtained of them for some ti e,
until at last there came an announcement of th it
marriage and an appeal for money. This was sent
a post-office, and then the correspondence cease 1,
Afterwards there came the intelligence that tli(
clerical husband had become a private tutor, and h ,
a number of pupils. Amongst the students was
youth, who is described by his friends as " 7
ward." In order to accelerate the progress of
young man, the tutor suggested that he should acco
pany the young man to his home, and there suppl
ment the daily lessons which he gave. The offer w 4
accepted, and in a few days the " tutor " was reco,.;
nised as a welcome visitor of the yonng man's family,
Amongst those he met was another young girl of 17.
Practising upon her those arts with which there .P.
reason to believe he had betrayed young women
before, he induced this girl to elope with him. In tlic
meantime his girl-wife had given birth to a Child.
Unknown to her, his visits to the house of his pupil
continued.; but 'suddenly the alarm was given th t
the girl had fled. Every inquiry was made as 40
the whereabouts. of the absent pair, but no cl e
was gained until the deserted wife sudden -
appeared with the child in
•her arms, guided
by a letter which she had
.found amongst
her husband's papers. After a wild - ,goole
chase about the
_three kingdoms, a clue was found
as to the whereabouts of the couple in Paris. Iln
order to trace them more effectually a letter wls
sent, addresSed "So-and-so, Poste Restantei Parisi"
enclosing a remittance. The man intercepted this
letter, duly presented himself, and obtained tile
money. fie was instantly threatened with legal pri-
ceedings, and apprehending serious . consequeneds
with respect to his safety, returned the cash. The
next device was to obtain an interview' between the
mother and father (who were in pursuit of their
erring daughter) and this unfortunate girl. By la
stratagem admission was gained to the suite of
apartments, which the guilty pair occupied, and the
summons was given them to rise and admit the
French police who were in attendance. Suddenly the
bedroom door was opened and the girl advanced.
Instantly the father dashed forward, and seizing his
daughter by the waist, threw her into her mother
arms. Then he confronted the man, but owing to the
presence of the police, the condign chastisement which
.he merited was not inflicted. The girl returned with
her parents to England, and the "curate " was left
either to embark upon fresh ventures of the kind, or
to return to the arms of one of the many wives who
were possibly mourning his absence. Since, however,
this termination of the affair the man has had the re-
markable impudence to threaten the father of the
girl who as taken from him in Paris with an action
for libel.
..

-
this

WOULD-BE wit once asked an old German:
"Fritz, what do you think of when you think of
nothing ?" "1 tinks of you," was the quiet reply.
Wit are pawnbrokers like pioneers of progress ?
Because they are always ready to make an advance.
A DOCTOR who understands only one language may
yet be familiar with a great many tongues.
TREY had been sitting in contemplative silence for
a long time, when William musingly said: "I think,
Naomi, that there is a great deal of wisdom hi that
old saying, Silence is golden.'" "There may be,
but gold is unhandy. I would rather have or. Bill."
It took him an hour to "catch on," but be finally
offered himself.

ty A4ICI

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