Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1871-08-18
From the Baltimore An erican.
TIE GENTLE POTSONER.
FRESH DEVELOPMENTS IN THE
CASE OF THE WIDOW
WHARTON.

WHARTON.
Borrowing Money from Her FiIends and
Pctsrn3ng Them to Escape Payment
How a Baltimore Capitalist Lest Five
Thousand DoUars-DOsrd with Poisoned
Pals and Brandy
The IL tersst Ia the Wharton case re-
maiGs una! atel, ard each day develops
some new ,c5 Or rumor which affords ma
terlui for speculation and conjecture.
! VI hiie the unhappy woman il brUoding
over the misery of blasted reputation in
the tower OF the city j Ill, the outside world
is Ousy with her past performances in get
ting rid of her crt di or5, and if the half
that is told is true, there has not been
such an expert in her peculiar line since
the days IF the Countess of Si0s3ons-
That there s',olld have been no detection
until the % n of Jnre, 1871, is ona o!
those unfatuomahia M 8 cries tfat csGuot
b5 explained or aav rational b sis
Leaving cut OF tie question t.e skill and
acumen and professional experience Of the
emlueot pbvS1clars WlO treated II Cf
the supposed victims, il would ,eem that,
under tie Ordinary doctrine Of chance,
there would have been some ildiscrt ton,
or b;uDder, or fai'urt, tp9t wOpld have
aroused Gus fci0a aJ5 Led t. IA invast;Ra-
tioA. D1t never - all Tie word before
dad polished nlaontrs and high soci i TO
5 ton coufer suc2 absolute impnrity.-
S>u>p c.on was dis4rued in he" presence
Wheo O4o EUCr b. art broken wouan, iu-
consolablo OWE tEo loss Of her hal tnd
AID d1vgdtlr, charged Mrs. Wnar5un with
having caused lheir G3aL:}. sa8 was declared
to he & 'Qnatic aud By rome Of the friends
Of tbs accl-. ii II &. b3ea 50 regard "A ever
since
APER I, TENT BORROWER
As IS vcH anown, Mrs. Whart"n al 4
passion f-r borrowing more7 fr3In har
tti2uds. Size was profnse III her hospitality,
aud had q way CT making Ecr tCm9 cx-
credingiy pleasant 30 her guests; oEt who
ever formed an Intimacy with her family
Of person Of meane) w0s Likely to be im-
p0rtEned for IL celu larry favor cItLcr by
wy OF loan CT tndo stment. S0met N IS
her promises were Eep5 and repayment
promptly made, but, III a M iorlfy of
cases the COL GdIpg creditor had abundant
opportunity OF regr8t:ing le good nature
that yielded to her persuasive entrGaties.
There is some difference Of opinion as to
her circumstances. Some of her intimate
friends supposed her to bs wealthy, hut
the opinion seemed to be founded upon
her extlavngant us3 of money rather than
any knowledge of her resources. The
he1se IN McCUiloch street, purchased by
Major Wharton, was conveyed to Mrs.
Wharton, but shortly after Major Whar-
tons death she conveyed it t, her daugh-
ter Nellie. in whom the title to the pro-
perty is now vested. She did not own the
house i'll which she lived on Entaw street.
Since Major Wharton's death Mrs. Whar-
ton has been in the receipt of pension Of
twenty-five dollars per month from the
UGited States, which she drew quarterly,
the last payment beiug made June 4sh.--I
She may have other TT sources than these
mentioned, but if she has they are not
generally nown.
The INSURANCE MONTY.
Part OF the $50, 900 which Mrs. Wharton
received from the Insurance companies
after the death Of her son, was no doubt
expended in the payment of debts previ-
ousIy contrJ cted. Fourteen thousand dol
lars of this sum seems TO have been tecur
to Miss Nellie on the policies; at least that
sum was invl stod in United States bonds,
and deposited az thu banking house Of
Alexander Brown & Sora, in her name
United States bonds, representing So 900,
were also deposited TO the credit OF Mrs
Wharton. Ibis money she appeared to be
s wing for ca rainy day" With persistent
creditors pre- ssing her on every side, and
her t. p 70 Europe in immediate prospect,
for wf.ioh she was trying to borrow money,
she APPEARS to have made no promises
founded on hypothecation OF the bonds, |
nor any Cffer TO deposit them as collateral
security with the gentlemen whom she
asked 10 endorse for her.
A FICTITIOUS HOUSE.
Whatever may be the result Of the |
charge of poisoning, there is one statute |
offence Of which. rumor says. Mrs. Whar- |
ton has been repo 4tedly guilty, namely, !
misrepresentation of existing facts" ia
her Efforts to borrow money. The devices
and subterfuges to which she resorted are
by no means consistent with that simple
ity and ami&biilty and loftiness of char
acter which her friends claim for her To
a gentleman well known in financial cir
cles. she applied ten months ago, for the
loan of five thousand dollars. Although a
perso! al friend, lie did lot care to make
such IN Investment, and at first declioed
She then told him such plausible story,
to tha effect that she was about to pur-
che SO fire house Gu Walnut street, in
Iladalpbia; thai she had twenty-five
thousand, and only needed five THOUSAND
more to nake up thu balance Of the whole
sum sked fUr the proper ); the house vas
being sold by a trustee, who was friend
If hers, AID she all not want to miss the
of buying il. The reluctant
then suggested that, if she had
twenty-five thousand dollars ready to pay
Town, there would be no difficulty
n getting an accommodation for the bal
ance, or if that could not be done there
would be no difficulty in raising five thou-
and dollars in Philadelphia on q house {
worth twenty-seven thousand. The boz
over i'll persisted, and ct last got the
money, giving her note for tie amount,
payable in four months. For some time ,
he creduIous capitalist supposed that the
louse had been purchased, and he had 0
pprehensions about the safety of his !
money. The note became due, but there
we're such positive promises of payment at
he end of the next ensuing four months, X
hat Mrs. Wharton was permitted to re- )
ew it. upon stating two separate and dis t
met sources from which the money was to 6