The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1872-05-21
A Singular Chapter I'm Erfe-The
sharp Operations Of Mythical
Lord.


Sharp Operations Of a Mythical
Lord.
Tho history of Erie contains many curious
chapters. but none more singular than that be-
ing now developed before the courts in the suit
brought by the ex-President Of the Erie Board
to recover certain securities placed by him in
possession Of wonderful foreigner, claiming
to be the son of Scottish duke upon the sup
position that he was Lord Gordon, Earl OF
Aberdeen, and held in his hands the control
of a minority of the Erie stock, oil of which
was Of course to be used in the interest of the
old Erie direction, and to retain power in the
hands Of jay Gould The main facts in the
case are simple enough. Gould, it appears,
was ignorant of the existence of the soi-disd,t
Lord Gordon three months since, had no
money transactions with him, and of course
there could be no indebtedness between the
two. About two months ago their acquaintance
began, and before it had lasted week the Erie
magnate was SO completely under the influence
Of the supposed Scottish nobleman, millionaire
and stock operator as to entrust him with
several hundred thousand dollars in securities
and currency, just to show his confidence in
the genuiness Of the lords professions Of
ability and inclination to aid the failing for
tunes of the old Erie management 1t would
be curious to inquire whether this was the first
time any of the Erie Ring believed in the Lord;
but, however this might be, a large amount of
property-a fortune, in fact-passed from the
hands Of the sharp Erie operator into those of
the spurious Scottish peer. It is to recover
back this property that the present suit is
brought.
We read in story books Of the ancient belief
in witches, and even in these days, in some of
the benighted districts where the name of the
HERALD is unknown, people may be found
simple enough to be. imposed upon by sharp
ers who pretend that they can per-
form oil sorts of miracles Thus, few
months ago, a well-to-do farmer in Eng
land was persuaded by one Of these i'm
posters to bury his ready money, some
three thousand pounds, underneath particular
tree on a bright moonlight night, in the belief
that through SPELL during the operation Of
which the owner of the treasure was to remain
|
gold would be quadrupled in amount The
daylight brought relief to the weary and
stifened prisoner, but the money and the
wizard had disappeared together. It would
scarcely have been expected that the sharp,
shrewd and matter-of-fact railroad magnate
who few months ago ruled over Erie with
absolute sway could have been induced to
bury over half million dollars at the root Of
ducal or other noble tree without receiving the
pledge of very ample collaterals for its safe
keeping. Yet jay Gould appears to have been
as confding as the English farmer, to have re-
mained bound and blindfolded by the ban
dages of British nobility, in the expectation
that the hidden treasure was to swell into mil
lions through an extended term of power OBJ
tanned by the assistance of the wizard Earl,
and to have opened his eyes to the startling
fact that the coronet and the cash had both
disappeared.
The curious feature of the affair is to be
found in the barefaced absurdity of the story
told by the supposed Lord Gordon, as set
forth in his affidavit before the Court. He rep
resents himself to be the youngest son OF a
| Scottish duke" and asserts that his father
died in his infancy The Duke was his moth
er's first husband, and there was Obligation in
reference to her first marriage" He refuses
| to give the title borne by his father, but de-
clares that he was ''of the family Of Gordon"
although of which distinguished branch Of
that family he declines to state. The title of
sLord Gordon he claims to have used from
his infancy and to be entitled TO USE 'as the
younger son of a duke" Now, it is matter
Of notoriety-and reference to any peerage
will show-that for centuries there have been
only three noble families Of the Gordons;
first, the Ducal House, or Dukes of Gordon,
Of which this Gordon claims to be member,
inasmuch as he asserts that his father was
duke; second, the Huntly House, the head
Of which is marquis; third, the Aberdeen
branch, of which the head is IN earl,
who alone bears the title of 'Lord Gordon. +"
The title of Duke of Gordon has been extinct
since 1896. The Duke Alexander died in 1880,
and was succeeded by his only son, the titular
Marquis of Huntly, who died six years after
wards without issue. The latter had received
wound in Egypt in 1904, while commanding
the Forty Highlandors, which rendered
him an invalid for life. If the Erie Gordon
had been son of either Of the above-which
is somewhat improbable, inasmuch as he was
not born until some years after their deaths
the title of Duke Of Gordon would not now be
extinct, and the sharp operator now in New
York would be either the Duke or Lord Cor
don by right, and not by courtesy. If a
natural son of either lie had no right to the
title or the name, and his claim to either would
be fraudulent pretence
In the family of the Marquis of Huntley the
eldest son bears the title of Earl of Aboque
and the younger sons are Lord A. Gordon or
Lord B. Gordon, as the case may be. The