The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1888-01-21 00:00:00

A GIPSY'S DEEDS.

George Hedges, 34, described as a licensed hawker,
of Little Totham, near Witham, was charged at. West
Ham police-court, on Saturday, with stealing from a
caravan at Boleyn-road, Upton, about April, 1886,
four parchment deeds, relating to property at Little
Totham, such documents being valued at £3OO, the
property of Job Hedges, his father.
Prosecutor, who is a gipsy, like his son, said that
about twenty-four years ago he purchased some free-
hold property at Little Totham, in Essex, consisting
of four houses and freehold land and gardens adjoin-
ing,. He bought the property at the Town-hall, Maldon,
at a sale, and he afterwards got the deeds for the
property. They consisted of four parchment deeds,
and after he had entered into possession of the
property he got tenants for the houses. He then
travelled about the country in his caravan, but
from time to time went to Little Totham to
collect the rents from the tenants. For the
first two cottages he gave £4O, and he took
up the deeds at Mr. Digby's, solicitor, of Malden. Mr.
Digby handed the deeds to witness, and he brought
them away. They were four in number, and for over
twenty years had been in his possession. In Easter,
1886, witness's wife died. They were then living in
their caravan in the Boleyn-road, and witness kept the
deeds in a straw mattrass under a feather bed.
Prisoner was also there in a caravan, and his brother
Jeremiah. Witness could not give the day, or date,
or the month, when he missed the deeds, as "lie was
no scholar." He knew, however, that it was within a
day or so of Good Friday. Prisoner met him in the
road and remarked, " Father you must be a silly old
man to give your deeds to that man at Leytonstone."
Witness replied,. "No, boy, I ain't. If you come up
I'll show you them." They went together into the
caravan, and witness took the deeds and showed them

to him.
Prisoner: Yes, and he delivered them into my
hands. -

......
His granddaughter read the papers over to "mike
him satisfied," and he went away. Witness then put
the deeds back, and went. about his business. In the
evening, as he shook up his bed, he missed the
deeds, and then went to his son Jeremiah, and after-
wards to the prisoner. He asked the latter about
the papers, and he said, " Oh, father, they are all
right; go to bed." Nest morning witness again spoke
to prisoner, and he said the deeds were all right.
Witness said that if he did not get them he would go
to the police, and he did go to the police, and after-
wards to Mr. Phillips, the magistrate at this Court ;
but, though he several times afterwards asked for
the deeds, he did not get them.
Prisoner said that he had no objection to give up
the deeds, but nevertheless they were not his father's,
for his mother had given the money_ for the family.
After a short adjournment of the case, the prisoner's
wife came into the Court with a small bag of deeds,
and those wanted by the father in order that he might
get his rent weicl)handed to him. The prisoner was
then discharged, and the partr left the Court together.,

TIIE force of habit is always strong. A Baltimore
young man, who was calling on a street-car con-
ductor's daughter, says that the father wanderrd in at
a rather late hour, and opening the door, mechanically
exclasimed : Sit close, pleztse !"

•-•

_
• :aps, cunningly set, to catch the cash Of
unwary or ignorant speculators. Pro-
speetuses are written by the yard and
advertited by the column in the intereste of
in t, pr(Anoters,
,guinett-pigs.. impecunious
limbs of the law, advertisement canvassers,
and steek-brokets; not to speak of those
concerned in all manner- of " shaky " btesi-
TICSEeS. lieeee. if inenoss hie, statements are
made up of enerifee.e profits, which simply
aced the applie.ation of a eel:lain einem-it of
captial to begin flowing shareholderwards ;
you have an array of speeialist, scientific, or
professional testimony, with much parade of
itnposingelooking, if unknown, signatures;
and in a few days the "registered offices"
(ucnerall.y " promoter's " sanctum) of the
c last new ompany are flooded with applica-
tions for scrip,. accompanied .with firet in-
et:ill-tient of purchase money. NO matter
whether the company be one for the en-
couragement of the use of castor oil in Green-
land as a, heat-affording and flesh-forming
food likely to largely benefit the natives, or
whether it be a syndicate for the manufae-
tore of baby's boot buttons and their ex-
portatior. to the Congo country, if the
prospectus be drawn by an astute promoter,
the shared- wonld sure to be subscribed for.
If some old hand in floating new concerns of
the limited sort were to he given a free
hand and-a 'score thousand .pounds to work
with, he might in a few months bring out a
company for goldmining in Galway even
with every prospect of its being a commer-
cial success for some little. lime, and with,
on raper, the seeming ef_genuineness, which
means much more than a Mere temporary
investment to be dabbled in by those "in the
kuow." eThe prospectus is penned by a
smart man, whose chief accomplishmente
are wealth of imagination, picturesque de-
scriptive ability and tact, coupled with long
and varied experience inc)mpany p-onioting.
He needs the assistance of a number of not
over-scrupulous professional men, legal and
scientific, with ar aye of learned-looking
initials after their names; of a few need.,
aristocrats glad to get an occasional £5 note
for the use of their titlee on tho direct()
list; and of a few newspaper hang-ors-on
Then the whole thing is easily worked.
Cunningly-worded and jndicionsly-pleced
"pay Paragraphs appear for some time to
arouse the public. interest in the matter
operated on;. and then, when the thing has
been properly talked into notoriety, the
" company" is rmistered- and kept goine
until all the public) money: attraeted into it
has got into the hands of the promoters.
These clever gentry then lose their benevo-
lent concern for the business suddenly, after
which, being but a bolstered-up sham, it
collapses forthwith, to the fleecing of the
" pigeons " who have pat their trust into a
speculation of which they knew nothing, in
the hope of reaping a ridiculously impossible
profit. The launching_ of an unceasing
stream of these- joint-stock affairs under
every possible pretext and often . without
any valid plea at at all should be stopped or
controlled, by some wisely-worded law;
drafted by • practical commercial men of e
character . altogether beyond suspicion.
Every year, by means of limited liatility
companies, the sharks ailure unwary specula-
tors into the swim and devour their sub
etance to the extent of millions sterlinv. It
is (rite time, • therefore, that somethine
eliould be done to protect the general public
abuses of a systlem so liable to be turned te
fraudulent purposes. The ignorant money-
holder is generally a man of cupidity, eager
Over to make more of his capital, and tht
astute promoter finds him easy game to
'rite honest man ha e a right to look to tie
law to protect him against clever swindlers.
even if he is not himself overwise. It is.
( here fore, with eatisfaCtion, that we note 14
promise made by a high anthority on Minis-
ter ial matters, that there is a likelihood ce
the introduction of a Government measurt
next session designed to considerably re-
e..r.et the field in which company promoting
reseals will be able to ply their genteel rob-
bery. It is to be hoped that any such over-
hauling of limited liability legislation will
be thorough, and (has effective. We would
lin ye no company allowed to be registered
t Lout an official examination into its tem,
and far reaching and eeiere pena
~t.eatment from professional promoters of the
•Ilshonest order. person should be per-
to have his name on a directorate
eilnealing to the pehlic for share subscrip •
! lefts without beieg made financially and
eersonally liable af civil and ceimival law
the proper and honest management of
the c.oncern.. In fact evert thing possible
ehould be done to get rid of the men of straw
ef all e.:erts.and conditions who are rendering
..ar coninsorcial life rotten; and a clean
eecep among those who ae working the -
;iwited liability dodge to their own etnoln- .
..n-t
-tit and the plundet of others, would be a
,:apital move in the right direction.

'FIMRILINE —Foe Tan 'V:Erm A • 11 REA:n.I —1 fey
•Irop3 of the iiquil"Floriliae" sprink O ozi a wet too,
brthda oroduc3 a pleasant latuer, thorou,bi,
eleanses the tcet:: from all ,araciites or mpurities
aardons tide gum, preventa tartar. [noted decay, give
he teeth a pezeiliztr peaziy•ailltnees *cid delinhttu
fragrance to the breeto. It reinov- •aL ntlP.4NiSatlt
Iris:rig from decayed teeth or tobco ',mob.. 4.Th
eragratat Floriline." being composed in I..isrt of llotte,
and sweet herbs, ta dezzcion6 to tea tahi,e. and In
rateit& duseuvery z toe Prsce 2s ed of ail
•
33, if a:riu - •

ENGLTSIIMEN generally know little of the
violence of an American blizzard," which,
at its worst, is more terrible than any cyclone
that ever drove man to earth for safety.
Accounts from the Wost just to hand give
awful dutails of Oa) havoc wrought this
week by one of these mighty convulsions o!
nature. Over two hunared people have lost
their lives during the visitation of icy wind
and blinding snow which succeeded a spell
of balmy spring weather. Such was the
intensity of the raging " blizzard " that
111011's voices were inaudible at a distance of
couple of yards, women had their breath
stopped and dropped dead on their doorsteps,
and strong men were smitten down with
the sadden arctic shafts and suffocated or
frozen within sight of home, while children
innumerable perished on their way from
school.

Trtlt difelonest-inclined, with a gift for
ingenuity, seem te be having quite a success-
ful time just at this present in many direc-
tions. That was quite aciensational burelery
at Taplaw Court, by which Mrs.:- Greufell
lot her pearl pendant valued at £lsve, and
with it as much other jewellery as would
stock a small shop. There was nothing
strieingly novel about the operations of tee
enterprising burglars, whose audacity and
-deftness have b len, up to the time of writ-
ing, rewarded with immunity from detec-
tion; but the robbery has a lesson whice
needs no looking for. it. is this: don't leave
thousands of pounds' worth of valuables
lying about unsecured in a bedroom, even
(luring an absence of only twenty minutes.
It is better to buy a proper safe, and keep
it locked, than run-the risk of giving Mr.
Bill Sikes a ridiculously easy" crib to creek."
Audacity went further in the case of the
thieveg who called for and received a vanload
of drawing-room furniture at the London
residence of Mr. Wilson Barrett, the actor,
and removed it to so safe a storing place
that its welLkuown owner cannot find it.
Ifr. Barrett was aboutchaziginghisresidence
some rogue hen' d of the arrangements, and
in the absence of the actor anticipated the
authorised careful furniture rentover.- More
-elaborate still was the plot of a raseally couple
in anther London suburb. A busy shop-
eeeper had his attention arrested by a w hite-
• aced, shabbe-genteelly dressed boy, fiddling
-eutside his door in the hope of receiving
ilms. The lad looked hungry, and the
-radesnein pitied him. The musician begged
!lien to let him have a little food for his
itarving farther and self, as security for
eaynaent offering to leave the violin he was
eie.yiug, which was one his father loved and
valued. A small quantity of goods wore
tupplied under this arrangement, the shop-
eeepor having satlicient atypetinta.uce with
musical instrutneuts to know that the hand.
iome-looking oid violin he placed on his
shelf amply insured him against possibility
lf loss. The boy went away blessing his
icindly reliever. An hour or twe later a
:aehionably-dreese,d gentleman, a stet:tiger,
- :idled in the shop, and neede some purehapes
o the exteet of Several shillings, fur which
.w paid. He was all affability, and chatted
inite agreeably to the .radesinan ho vras
eatronising, much to that worthy's pleasure.
urning to leave, the stranger's eye fell on
Ale fiddle, which he asked to °tam. Me, ee-
eiaring himself a connoisseur in vii.
" Why," he exclaimed, on handling it,
e this is an instrument of great value.
Arherever did you get it I would vivo
eloo for it. But the tradeeinan courd not
sell what wasn't his; though he thought ho
iavr a chance of a large profit and quick
eetarne. The stranger pressed to be al
to bay the instrument, and even pt. ~:e: -
a chequeJbook to pay for it. 'ih li.•
ended by the shopkeoper premising to h-o
:-ho owner with a view to effecting' a
sdlo tha next evening: • In the morning the
.30y cattle ;he had met witn a friend and
::euld discharge his debt and take home liis
ather'e much-prized violin. The r.hop-
, keeper asked what he would sell it for,
eith an eye to business offerime a much less
amount than £lOO. The lad . would not
left with the instrument without. his father's
consent at any price, but the latter was re-
ferred to—or at any rate the grocer was
leiven to understand he was— and at length
bargain was struck, the tradeeman giving
-
1:44 for a fiddle worth 35., if well sold.
'Need we say more. The street musician's
eildress,• as wallas that of the fashionably.
clad gentleman who collected Creenonaa, are
loth wanted by the shop-keeper, ho,
stead of £6O gale, as he anticipe: 1, now
mourns a lose t £4O. Alin:Too, r arch.
13env is in trouble i, this
time in Imre , where he has lee& much
money Le the & _wort ticket "bon, ' elliug
large nambeie of • worthlees forged ad.
missions to Patti's concertee• he having no
eonueetion with the entertainment promise
or is ar;euth.