New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1871-11-27
[ IS HHIEGINN.

"D,ar Dolly: Tonight we r!ay las Eyi3.
| Fish, ir, in one Of those now famous love-
letters which after passing from the fair hands
Of .jC .cpnt to the mt rrcnary Stokes, tn" far
sirutcd Seward. AMI the juGicious Swccny,
were finally committed by Judge Pratt to
the custody of an employee of the Erie
Railway Company, and may perhaps
be found safe and unmntilated when the
Court orders their production. No doubt
much valuable information respecting the play
OF "I.rs Rrirgans' might be gathered from
those precious; documents if we could only
have the pr,rilry, of per isng them If Miss
Mansfield is to ~ implicitly believed, the
secrets o. the whole band are recorded therein.
aud ,rorc eminent Iascals than one ait qlIS-
ing in ia, ir shoes for fear the truth may get
ont. a little truth did get out dnrpg
:hc examination of Miss Mansfield on Sat
urdny The "briCgans" seem to haze in
clldcI IL. officers of the Erie Railway Company,
Mr.. Pet,r i. Swccny, anu MI. William II.
Tweed. and f1r long time the play was ir-
deed "tco jolly" rs Nr. Fisk very properly
SAYS. We Know, FROM the Ircv;OilS confessions
of this ctfdlgent warrior. that San almighty
"rObbery" was put UP by tle Erie RIM, which
ought to have sent the whole gang To Sing
Sing; and our readers have not for gotten
the circumstances under which the officers
of the coNpany fled from the jurisdiction
Of the Ncw-YOrk courts, and Sc. up
their camp at Taycl's Hotel in Jersey City.
1t is not generally known. however. that
among the assets of the Erie Railroad which
they took with them on that OCCASION was the
y II a, 4
trStilics the fair creature, "wi,h tho officers Of
"the Eric COMPANY, and the Railroad paid all
1.-THE expense" Il remained there with
"Fisk for ninr weeks" "The money,
">upposc, came from the Erie Railway"
% occupied a suite OF rooms at Tay-
"lor's Hotcl." During the day they
"werc used as sort CT rendezvous by the
officers Of course, under such circum-
stances, we need not b" Slrp iScd to learn th,t
Miss Mansfield affirmed q close familiarity
with the workings of this great Fisk Gould
Twced-ahd-Sw., conspiracy. While the
" too jolly" play Of Lps Briggans' was per-
forming ut Jersey City, at Albany, at Twenty
third-St.. and IN Judge Barnards Court, Miss
Mallsiit Ill stood behind the scenes. and saw
how all the tricks were arranged. The actors
came DIoTc flfT WITHOUT tnelr stage ulSS'll&.
The painted glorics of theatrical architecture
were revealed to her in all their tlimsness.
She knew the robbers cave for IL mere struc-
turc of cheap canvas, and tho staggering
captain for wrctched and amOrOus fool.
When the Judge took OH his dirty ermnc
robe. she found him no better than vulgar
rOut; and when the curtain fell, and the whole
tribe of vagabonds ;roopcd into the green
room to supper, she saw railway directors
change into shabby littlo thieves, and princes
Of the stock market turn to drunken adven-
turrrs.
The charming Miss Mansfield felt that she
had acquired some valuable information. When
she opened her front door and threw Mr. Fisk's
gum shoes into the street, she acted with the
calm confidence Of Christian who holds full
suit of tr,lmps. IF Mr. Fisk was not afraid Of
his own letters, there were many of Mr.. Fisks
friends who ought to be afraid of those
entertaining cpi>tles; and the lady made
no doubt that she would be "as
"wcl cared for" in the future as she
boastcd that shc always had been in the past.
1t was natural, therefore. that when the for
tunatc Stokes began to size Fisk for large
srm Of money. the Mansfield lOve-letters were
placed in his hands, ~ u means Of explain
ing" some of tho facts in litigation ana
but for Judge Pratt. there might have been
tMriSns 4llrstra ttHrs ~ INC tonlhe RincHr1r'r
which Eric and Tainmany ~ long pcr.orm"l