The Red Cloud chief., 1881-10-27

The career Of the swindier and biga-
mist, Merritt. with = dozen aliases. who
was recently arrested NJ LINN. Mass.
by Pinkerton. would point = vcry i'm
portant and significant moral. II only
iber. were any one TO heed IL This
scounirel has lived for years upon his
wits. and made n good living apparent
~. He has had no local habitation or
permanent, abiding place. but has ,rav-
eled over the country upon passes.
either forged or obtained upon false
pretenscs. In 1879 be swindled a bank
IN Belo.t. Kas.. out Of 5000 In the
same wear he swindlei banks in Alaba-
ma. Three years ago he swindici sew
erai people aud banks in Missouri. and
when arrested his trunk WAS found full
Of burglars tools and forgers' imple-
ments. and dispatches showing he wa
abou, TO issue counterfeit money.
Ibis p~rccions scoundrers operations
were not confined to obtaining money
by swindIing aud forgery. He WAS an
adept in marrying, and he married
g~overncsses. widows, young women
and respectable. middle-aged women.
and lived with them just long enough
10 be- able 10 forge drafts upon their
friends and relatives, or borrow money
from them. and then he left them. The
record Of his marital adventures is al
most ludicrouS. In all. this
venerable scoundrel. yerging on sixty.
a grandfather IN years. and with no
hair on his head TO speak Of. has mar
ried fourteen young wonien IN about
three wears time. and never lived with
any Of them but two or three dass.
though in that time he has succeeded
in borrowing money from their isis
tiers, cousins and their aunts." and even
that ordinarily unimpressible class. his
fourteen mothers-in law.
The arrest OF the a however. dis
pels all the Illusions, and now the NOR
al stands out plainly. The fourteen
women whom he has recently married
were all young. looking and re-
spectacle. but they were eager and
willing to marry tn old man, though
he was a stranger To them. without in
quiring who he was. or what he was do
ing, or where he was going. or what
were his family connect ous. D. what
was his character. merely because he
protested to be rich, and they thought
they were about To nov into a sphere
of life where they would sport their
silks and diamonds, and ride in their
carriages. and make a sensation in So
cietv, and live without work. To all
appearances their friends and advisers
were equally indifferent. and only
looked at his financial p~retensiOns. He
was a good catch, and fourteen of them
caught on. and now have the poor ON
ISOLATION of knowing that they were silly
gudgeons who were hooked by vulgar
swindler. foryer and counterfciter. The
narrative of his career only shows that
there is a considerable class OF women
in this country, and respectable women.
too, who are SO crazy to live without
work and to make a splurge that they
are ready 10 jump at any bait
that appears TO be gilded. and
to marry anything in man-shape
that pretends to have money.
without stopping to inquire into his
antccedents or real character. The
ratio i'm this case IF fourteen to one
shows that there is a surplus of this
silly, reckless class, and that when the
Ostensibly rich peIsOn appears, though
he NAV be as old as Methusaleh or ugly
rs Caliban, he has only to solicit matri-
monial contracts TO have them filled all
over the country. without any inquiries
rs to the party OF the first part. And.
Uice Cersd, the career of the precious
rascal and the conduct of his dupes in
Inmates that this same class of very
good and very respectable wOmen think
that they would demean themselves by
marrying a poor man upon his merits
and running the risk of having to work.
The amount of unhappiness. even under
the most favorable circumstances. of
regret and of bitter conjunction that
the victims of these One-sided and il
judicious marriages have to undergo
seems to be no bar to others, however.
Where there is so much temptation "
ing about they seem to fancy they are
derelict if they do not yield to it, and so
rush blindly in. and where one sue
ceeds in getting her prize the others
pay a bitter penalty for their rashness
and silly ambition. Merritt's fourteen
victims ought to be warnings against
marrying for money. but the silly game
will 90 on all the same. -. Chicago Trib-
une.