Wilmington daily gazette., 1873-08-09
DAILY GAZETTE.
PH'LADELPHlA IN A FERMEMT.
Hundreds Of People Rsaaed -Hov the Ssoindler
Leslie, Aolasssd a Million Of DoHars-A Fuoi-
tfoe and of. for Europe.
Correspondence N. Y. Herald.

tt PHILADBLPHEA, August 9th, 1873.
It is seldom that the people of this city have
Dsen so excited as they were last evening over the
expose OF the great frauds in the cice OF the Ra-
corder OF Deeds. It Is subject that affords food
lot intense alarm in every circle o-day and is VIZ
tai 70 fhe interests OF every owner Of real estate
throughout this great city. The frauds have been
performed SO systematically and In such q hur-
PT1ging and successful manner that but few lndl-
Vlduals who have purchased properly OF late years
can feel safe until his her title has been searched
thoroughly by whose integrity is undoubted. The
rumors concerning the sWndle were so startling
and conhicted late at night that it as matter Of
lnposslDNty at tue time when the HerdLds exclu-
sye account was prepared for any one to approach
WIthin hundreds of thousands Of dollars the exact
ngure winch the alleged conspirator, Leslie. had
succeeded in obtaining from his victims At one
tlme IL was placed at over u million dollars, anoth-
81 moment Il was 100000, and finally 1t was set
Slea that his fraudulent transactions amounted to
ooooVOO Ihls morning these figures have bsen
COnslneFahly reduced and it will be weeks yet be-
iore the whole Is made known, and even then It
may Lar exceed the calculations of those who are
now at work examining the records. The Record
sEs once 10 Chestnut street has been thronged
throughout the day with anxious property owners
WHO have had dealings with Leslis. 1t was pain
1ul 10 watch the moYements. Some have given
up 10 despair, and settled feeling of Iuln rsems
70 abide with then, They have loitersd around in
AnotS OF twos and threes, with the title deeds Of
tneir property an their hands, many Of which have
~ ~ Is alleged, been manipulated dsastrously for
their interests by Leslie, and discuss the matter
others, more excItable, rush frantically here and
tners, yainly demanding that Leslie be given over
20 tnem Tor summary eqecution, while dozens fly
around tue Law Offices OF Third and Fourth streets
'csnhHlting legal gentlemen as to the best means
ior obtaining redress. Oae poor German, who
lost S4 OOe through the alleged misrepresentation
aud fraud OF Leslie, was SO violent in his
DENUNcIATIoN OF THE swINDLER
that ne had to be carried away by an officer, and
was evidently insane, Many ladies were also
present, looking after their interests, and were
greatly excited. ln fact, it was a sort Of BLACK
FRIDAY" for property owners, and will long be
Fememoered IN this city. @. NJ Leslie, the
eilef Originator and chief worker In the sWindling
scheme, is native Of this city and Is q man Of
nne physique and splendid business qualifications.
ne has tor years been one one OF the largest
dealers IN real estate of every description that
Fnlladelphia has produced, and his yearly sales
have IN times past reached hundreds of thousands
Of dollars. Exactly how and when he cOmmen-
GEO his netarious business is at present unknown
but It is ooniectured he began three years ago. 1t
la said that TO successfully accomplish his design
1t became necessary for him TO form intimate
relations with the clerks of the Recorders Office.
IhiS was the administration of Mr.. Housman,
HIS success IN this respect was only too hatterng,
as the result proves. HIS previous sterling iAte-
gritty and unblemlshsd reputation as a man Of
honor gainsd him the g0OdWillo Of not only, the
Recorder but the search clerk, and, as he was q
frequent visitor to the Office ON business apper-
tanning tehis profession, he began 10 be Te1ar-
ded almost as fixture and was rendered every
facility In
sEARcHINo FOR TITLES OF ExoUMsERED
.fa l-F PROPERTY.
At last having beComs Involved heavily through
unfortuna ate speOulations, IL 10 supposed that he
resorted 70 bis hinge and ingenious mode OfsWind.
ling as the only means by which to clear his In.
dsbtedness, aud after he had been adjudged
bankrupt In the courts he more assldn0usly cultl-
int ann 80 DnAA Anwsu ,fTao
His mode corporations were so nicely planned
that 20 suspicions we're entertained Of anything
being wrong, and the search clerk, by being feed
MS 10 alleged, allowed him to make his own scar
ehes for encumbrances on all properties, and
when he had Axed them to suit hlmsalf, would
amx the seal OF the Recorder to the aame as II he
the cleEK, had personally made the examination
In this manner Leslie is alleged to have disposed
Of hundreds OF lots Of ground that were heavily
encumbered to parties, and producing q "eleaI
certificate" under the Recorders seal, disposeC
otthem al "grsat profit to himself He had mad'
hiMselt an authority on real estate encumbrance
and transfer matters that his experience and ad
Ylce were sought by pqople OF every grade
puring the past three years he was heavy oper
ator as builder, and erected speculation Iarg'
rows otcity residences, some OF which have crea
ted great deal Of attention by their beau tifu
locations and supurb designs. Among th'
properties he thus speculatsd In was one know
US "St. Albans." The ground on which it wa
erected was taken up by him ct price Of nearl!
quarter OF million OF dollars, for which h
gave heavy purchase money mortgages, and thel
Subdivided Che egrouhds into numerous lots. b
SERIES OF HoKUs-PoKUs coNvEYANcING
through dummies, ," ground rent, having {
principal Of $500, was saddled to. each O.
them. This part nicely fixed, and having
placed the operation in the usual manner o
'sbonus' building transactions, he is alleged Il
have laid his first great base work TOR fraud
To make success d0ubly sure he put sec0nC
encumbrapce on all of the lOtsnamed, and jus
here the same dummy" which had acted ai
ground landlord, turned up, this Vtlme, how
ever, appearing In the role OF mortgage, u
the amount Of twenty-five hundred dollars Il
;thlIty-hYe hundred dollars on each property
Like the ground rents the mortgages wer'
presumably without consideration and no mon
ey passed.. Thus the encumbranceS on TIM
properties exceeded the value. Consequently
he either sold them outright at heavy, dis
count, or the ground rents, being real estate
were themselves mOrtgaged or the mortgages
were placed out as collateral for loans. Wish
ing still farther to increase the usefulness o.
the lots, he raised additional "colIaterals'' OF
the same by getting clear certificates frou
the Recorders Office as he dad done hundreds
of times beforehand none but he was the wiser
with the possible exception Of the elerk, who's
duty L. was to do the searching and for which
the Recorder Is allowed certain fee by law
To make the sWindle more complete and plau
sible to the dnpe 1t was requisite that the ex
istence OF one set Of these claims against the
properties should be concealed and searches
clear Of second incumbrances be presented IL
proper shape and accepted by the lenders anc
the money on the third liens paid over. Suct
was
THE SYSTEM PRACTIoED By leslie.
No doubt the head Of many family vii
awaken ere the week closes to the knoWledgl
that the homestead for which he has wrought
hay been oncumbarAd for far more than ttS In