White Cloud Kansas chief. [volume] (White Cloud, Kan.) 1857-1872, 1871-03-23
A SENSATION FOR wE,UNs.


Some two months ago q man calling
himself J. l.. Foster. came to this place.
and represented himself - Assistant At.
i~ney Of tho 81. Joseph and Denver
CITY Railrosd. and ess6sedr iato the prac-
,ice Of lag. 0absequ-ns developments
brought olighs the 1sct that the .'rsil-
io,a attorney ship" Wss hosx. bot this
was passed BY % an extraordinary every
day fib. withou, any particular censure.
Developments Of still later date brought
to light the fact that telling occasional
f.l$ehoods wss bis foste; and he could
tell them without any apparent compunc-
tions Of conscience. and soms Of them
were told with no visible object. while
others were calculated to scrspe up conf.
dence and deceive. He came TO this point
Iron Troy. Kansss, where he had speni
q short time in the practice Of law. and
where he had succeeded admirably in
working into the good grsces OF num-
berof citizens. and leaving them to u histle
for the smount Of their accounts. Glib
Of tongue. foil Of good hcmored stories.
and always resdy to recite one. apropos
to the occasion. bis hair spriukled with
the venerable grey. and his countensncs
always presenting Q bold front. with Q
pair Of the nsual professional gold spec
tscles ,sstrids his nose. he was well cal.
culafed to deceive. He was regarded as
quick. ready. well-read and able law
yer. and was rapidly building mp re-
putation as such. none OF which W a. at oil
undeserving. for be is undoubtedly one
Of the best that has ever prac,icrd in the
Second Judicial District. lie was one
Of the applicants for the Judgeship Of our
new district. and. we honestly bslieve.
had some hope Of success. His petition
had teen signed by all the lawyers Of
this town except one. We learn. and he had
all arrangements made to take last Tues-
day mornings train to 60 to Topeka. to
present his claims to the Governor. when
on the evening previous he was suddenly
brought to grief BY requi,ition from the
Governor Of Iowa. which dem .nded Mr..
Fosters immediate appearance at Clin-
ton. Iowa. to answer to the charge Of
embszzlement. 1t appears that in the
town Of Montesums, Iowa. Mr.. Foster
entered into the practice Of law. and was
very successful in business. He received
several fat elaine to collect, among which
was one amounting to between seventeen
and eighteen hundred dollars. which in
time was duly collected. but no returns
made therefor. Mr.. Foster was arrested
had . preliminary examination. and vas
bound over 10 appear at the following
term Of the District Court. and failing
to give the required bail. he was commit
ted to prison. A few days after. the
members Of the bar and some of the citi-
zens. through sympathy. entered into a
bond for his appearance. and Mr.. Foster
was released. When the next term came
around. however. he did not put in an
appearance as promised. and the bond
was forfeited. Now. the laws of Iowa.
like those Of Kansas. provide that if the
party is delivered into the custody Of the
proper officer within six months after the
time prescribed hy the bond. then the
instrument shall be nuil and void. Con-
sequently the snreties set abont to find
out the Whereabouts of Mr.. Foster. and
started q detective on his track. When
the officer arrived here. he stated that he
had traced Foster through some dozen
different towns, in each one of which he
had managed to establish o enviahle re-
putation as q lawyer. but q very uneuvi-
able one as an inscriptions abuser OF the
"credit sys.em." the officer also stated
that Mr.. Foster was guilty Of higamy.
having three wives at other places besides
the one he was living with at this place.
md whom he married at Troy but short
I me since. For this last charge. we have
Of conrse only the officers word. and will
not presume to judge Of the Truth or IN.
Truth thereof. As to the charge nnder
which he was arrested. there are probably
two sides TO that. AMI. in jus,;ce to Mr..
Foster. who is now in the clnirhes of the
law. in Iowa. we vii! give briefly HE own
statement of this matter. as future devel
opmen's will test their truth. Mr.. Foa-
ter acknowledges the collecting of the
claim. bu. states thai he had partner in
the law business with him. who sb-condel
with the whole amount. and left him bank
rupt. o. conrse. il this statement Of the
case is true. he is not enilty OF crime.
Eeiiter con thay criminaie him; and
hence it seems rather qneer to ns that he
should SO sedr!ously avoid al appearance
at court.
We shall advise our realers Of future
developments a< tkev come to our knowl-
edge.-Ma,ysrills Locomotive