The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1864-08-25

i and again we lost sigh Of him until 4 few Wteks
i since. when his name WIS again brought under
/ the prrss, 10 the effect that Major f. A. Merritt.
/ formerly Of the Western gunboat service hal
fallen beir 70 an immense es ate In Maine, worth
| II We remember correctly, about three milons of
dollars. A short time subsequently another pnrn-
graph appeared, explaining the Crcunl stances of
the good fortune that had hefillenthe Major IL
teemeo tbat ne was blessedwith two uncles, one,
the Hon. A. i. Merritt, Of Canada and the other A
very wealthy citizen OF Portland, Mile. Know
lrg the great engineering and Administrative
qualities Of his distinguished nephew who
had originated The idea OF the Western guubplt
Meet, and had been employed by nj, friend, Major
btheral Fremont, in carrying the idea into eNCcu-
iion, the Canadian Merritt eudeayOrsd TO induce
The Major 10 enter the British service, 70 idering
MN high position under the British Govern
hent, where he could supCriuteud the creation Of
a Runboat department similar to that on the Mis-.
sissippi But the Major was a patriot, and
although The untOr innate iealOusics and troubles
IN the Western Department had temporarily
thrown him out OF connection with the United
States Government he was always ready 20
ndvise and assist and would never aid a foreign
power in constructing fleet that mishs be used
against us. So the Major spurned the British
bfibe. The Portland uncle was 80 eNcsedin- - -
delighted with The patriotism OF his "ncv," 81
he probably die6 Of excess OF joy, as y - l'a,I
took place as soon after as was ,,on,,,picnt
leaving the Major the comfortable H,,Io sr,ngc
Gini no,rin,io,I, ~ " A0"'iN ior his self-sacri-
The Mpjor was 10 this fine ly-rc &, Cleveland.
ana soon aiier the P.npearlnce Of the above he
-. ut., ~. = one OF the papers there stating
tnat lttsnuIE .as claiming him ns a re sident and
h, wished 'Ieycl nd to have the credit of his
ItslueDcs. As the "big fortune" story appeared
uel" .cdy hsby, the editor declined making the
81 .tencnt which the NJ j)r desired, and the mat
Ter cropped On the strength OF his great for
tune he made the acquaintance OF a number Of
| the leading capitalists, railroad men, and busi-
ness men of Cleveland generally He proposed
| ,ahiDg stock extensively In the new iron NIL
] started there, ANA was making Arrangcm nts for
| buildinr and managing t. lie imposed on other
| capitalists by talking OF his large operations
| while in the service Of the Government. So
for all vent swmmingly with the Major,
his hooks were well baited, and there were strong
homes for a good catch OF tldt-tish. But mistor-
tule was in store for him. On the 23d of June
last the Major went TO the office of the Michigan
Central Railroad line in Cleveland, and handed
Captain l.. A.. Pierce q letter from T. Scott,
Vice President OF the Pennsylvania Central
Railroad, representing Major Merritt to be going
TO Detroit on business for the Company, and ask
| ing the usual cUnrtcsies 10 him. The letter,
| beading, and signature appeared all right and
| the pass TO Detroit and back was given him
| In course of conyer,atiOn Captain Pierce found
| the Major rather weak in railroad business, and
| suspected all was not right He wrote TO Nj.
Scott, and got the following reply -
"no not know the MAJOR. Have wr the letter.
Rel eve my friend Pierce has boen y done for In
| tbs Instance. Yours truly, Tios. A, S'otr.'
|
this city with frend and, according to the
| Cleveland Herald they made inquiries in relation
| to the Major, who had formerly lived there.
| Here they found that year or two since he had
| play cd the confidence game to a considerable eX-
tent. Among his o,her victims was Mr. Richard
| son, jcweicr, at the corner Of Fifth and Market
| streets, who was induced to furnish him with
| gold watch worth one hundred and eighty dol
| lars Richardson followed the matter up, aud
obtained judgment note, by which he secured
properly enough 10 cover his loss, well as tuat
Of two other victims, who had been swndled out
| Of ewing machine and fifty dollars.
Captain Pierce INN dately employed Detective
! Gallagher TO get the Major and bring him TO his
1 ofce. Gallagher found him In his room at the
An, rican House, Cleveland, and took him to
Cap,un PeIce's office, where the letter OF Mr..
Scott " g shown him, and the millionaire con
essed Il having forged the letter to save six dol
lars, ptudlng poverty as the reason. He was
commit ID for forgery, but subsequently re.
leased on paying the costs and the fare due the
captain
Again the Major passed from our notice but SO
| active a genius as his could not long remain
| quiet; so few days sirce, when we saw q para
| graph in one Of 'be Cincinnati papers, thar he
| had purchased 10000 acres of mineral lands in
| Tennessee, we knew that he was on a fresh
| "scent," and laying his wires for a new swinde.
| Promoting himself 10 the rank of General \. L.
| Merritt, Of the United States Army" he took
| up his quarters at hotel in the eastern part OF
| the city, and induced the proprietor 70 indorse
his notes 10 the amount Of $1,000, the Maine
estate and Tennessee mineral lands being con
sidcred ample security. He also opened negotn-
tons with Romans X Co, bakers for $50 600
They drew ON the Generals friends IN the East
for be amount, with the promise that wneu the
GRAFT was donored they wOnid pay The money
This certificate the "General" deposited with his
| landlord, and on the strength OF iC ran up a
larger hill and borrowed more money. just
before the draft was heard from the "Gener II
said that the executor of the NJ Inc estate
was about 10 pass through ClCyelml and
he must be seen on business; SO, leaving his
bills unpaid, and his securities locked up in the
hotel safe he started for that city. IL i scarcely
necessary TO state that the draft came back from
Maine dI>hOuOTed. Since then he has he n enga red
in the substitute business, and II is said swindled
couple of Cleyelanders out OF $500 intrusted
him 20 procure substitutes for two gentlemen
anxious TO get out of the draft. Where he is now
we do not know, but IL would not surprise us 10
see him turn up here some day in some new role
We have stated elsewhere that he was arr ted for
irand on the Government while acting as one fthe
officers Of the gunboat Heet. We may add that a
charge of perjury as well rs fraud was preferred
against him, and that he WAS sent to the Missouri
State Psison, from which he was only released by
teigning paralysis, and pretending that he WAS
dying of the same. He is a most audacious
swndler, but he is pretty we'll known now, and
cannot run very much longer without getting into
the clutches of the law. The first man TO unearth
the chap here was Colonel sam. McKclvy, now
of Camp ConvalesCCnt, who proclaimed his con-
idence from the first that the fellow was 40 inn
pOstoT. IL was through fear of the CUlOnel's dis
cOYeTies that he fled from this city, otherwise we
should doubtless have heard more of his opera
tiOns here.-PittSbtGrg EreHiHg Chronicle.