, 1880-11-13

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su indie ss she Times

The Fool Killer
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swfnaie 81 she Tines
Ii seems about time that somebody
should write another chapter of the HIS
tory Of Popular Delusions," dealing en-
tirely with the phenomenal swindies hicn
during the past few years, have found
ample scope and numerous victims among
that portion Of mankind who wish to get
rich fast, First there was that Hanover.
ian institution, the most celebrated OF ar
whic., finally ruse to ;Le dignity OF being
made the bone Of conte ntion between po-
litic=i parties; more recently there was
that pretty Young Fraulein who establish
ed herself in Munich and boldly preteed-
ed to h., CARRYING on her business under
the patronage Of both the Church and
STATE. aad lastly there is the Boston
Ladies Deposit, as big a fraud as any.
The me hods Of all these concerns were
exactly the same they promised 10
depos.tors an enormous rate OF interest
and paid it cut of fresh deposits. Their
fate also has been similar. Their opera
tions. carried OH for . time, unnat'eed
among the ignorant and foolish, finally
attract the attention of the More eniisht-
ened, and ultimately OF the snthor1ties
The newspapers set their
sHARPEsr REPORTERS
to work 10 End out all about the people
who are making their comfortable for
tunes ou; of the dupes; The dnpes take
alarm; there Is rush on the Concern;
the Law is invoked. and down comes the
whole baseless fabric.
The Boston institution which came to
grief finally On Saturday last promised 8
per cent. per month interest on all depos-
is Of 500 and over The FRS. three
months interest was paid In advance, So
that it was really even higher than this
ninety-six per cent per annum. Fer III
stance. by depusiting 500 there, S4s, the
interest un that amount for three months,
was at once returned, So that the actual
deposit Was only Sl52. Preposterous as
this appears, it drew money even frnm
women Of education and intelligence Inc
rnles of the ba.,k were that none but SIN
Ole women, ami then only such as DID mol
own real estate, were eligible to Its privi-
leges, but it is not known hos tar these
rules were observed, ,..
The coaeern frs. attracted the atfen-
ton of a reporter Of the Boston Herald,
some time last January, while passing
through one Of the South End streets OF
the CITY A small liable pasted on The
door Of not very reputable locking house
set forth the programme OF the
LADIES DEPOSIT.
Subsequent investigation disclosed that
the Deposit" was located in a quiet side
street. that it did not even hang out
sign TO attract attention, and that 1t had
already drawn In the money OF many
women of the demi monde. The matter
was reported 10 the police; tWodetrc'I1,s
were detailed 10 inyestigate it further and
repor: whether any unlawful methods
were used, and whether any swindie was
in progress They learned that Mrs.
Sarah T. Howe, wife Of Florimand L.
Howe. of Boston, was President and
that she had associated with her other
women Of whom was called Mrs }. A.
Gordon. Mrs Howe said she was repre-
senting some benevolent people who had
established large fund TO aid working
women and spins.ers with slender for
tunes to become independent; that the
Ouakers' Aid Society was behind 1t, and
that several ri:h men had some times IN
creased the wealth at her disposal by large
bequests. The detectives kept the wom-
en- IN the strictest surveillance fer months
at time, bat could find nothing out '.f
the way. Deposits were never s.'iici;ed,
and 10 depositnr was refused her money
Oh application 4 young man dressed
himself III
FEMALE ATTIRE
and tried TO get at the system Of business
pursued in that way, but he failed to dis
cover any material points which could he
used in Showing vi" what he and a
large portion Of the community regarded
rs swindle.
Mespwhils the "I.adies' Depo-it' slip
ped away from public notice, and. as it
turned out later, had changed its quarters.
The notority given It by the Publication
Of several newspaper articles had attract
ed large sums of money. Abont SIX
months ago Mrs. Howe, after looking
about for more commOdious quarters,
purchased for $4,000 handsome resi-
dence on Brookiine street, Just opposite
the st. James Hotel A fine conservatory
was built aid stocked with rare plants
and flowers, while the house itself vas
richly furnished and decorated in the
IN. st costly style. The DeiGhboshooa was
on the Yii 6rre Tor several weeks, for no.
body knew who the purchaser was, or who
the occupant Was To be. The decorations
We're somewhat tiashy but expensive, and
speculation WAS rife among the gossips,
who wondered what nabob WAS preparing
to move in their circle. Their disappOint-
ment when an unpreposSessing "ld woman
richly but unhecomingly dressed, put in
al appearance, WIS great. She wasabout
sixty years of age, and deaf and ignorant
to all appearance This WAS Mrs Howe,
President of the ''Eadies' Drposit. With
Mrs. Howe came the "bank, and two par
lors were assigned for its accommodation.
Depositors poured in their cash and took
out its earnings with commendable regul-
arity. Over thousand names We're on
the books, whose owners held notes and
pass books Tor sums agggregating 81 ,OOO,-
600
Ab,ut month ago the Boston Adner-
tiser began an earnest onslaught on the
concern, and kept il up until finally
run was started on it, bat for some days
all demands were promptly paid. When
about s75, 600 had been paid out, how
ever. Mra Howe concluded to close. the
doors. as the deposits no longer continn.
ed TO come in. An excited crowd of
women gathered in front of the house, Of
course, but they could get no satisfaction.
4 large numier of suits we're brought,
and the tga women Were tsken TO jail.
where they now arr. In the judicial in
vest:gat;on, which has since been held
it has been asserted that three-fourths Of
the depositors live outside Of Boston, and
that they never have drawntheir interests,
which materially holped the Shank" to
pay IF city creditors The fact has been
revealed that a large number Of Boston
business a,-n have, s;ngularly enough,
raised every dollar they could get by