Connecticut western news., 1882-04-19
THE BOSTON BANCO GAME.
A Wealthy Maine Banker Relating
 His Experience with Sharpers.


 Since the publication of the extraor- dinary revelations concerning the swim dle by banco thieves of the Hon. Charles Francis Adams, of Boston, the Hon. Samuel Blake, of Bangor, Maine, has related to several friends a similar ex- perience, wherein the same parties, as he supposes, were the actors. MT. Blake is about seventy-fve years old, tine-looking, and of commanding ap- pearance. He has amassed fortune by lending money on first mortgages. Years ago, in anti-slavery times, he had a desire to go to Congress, and obtained the Democratic nomination, although himself Whig, but was defeated. He has served in the Legislature, was for years a Railroad Commissioner, has been the President and principal stock holder of the Merchants National Bank. of Bangor, for many years. Mir. Blake says:
 "I was in Boston two years ago this month, and while walking down Wash ington street was accosted by young man, finely dressed, suave in manner, who called me by name, and asked if I had recently come from Bangor. He introduced himself as a Mir. Shaw, son of Charles Shaw, Esq, of Dexter, Me, a prominent gentleman with whom I was personally acquainted. The young man said that he had just returned from Europe, and among other valuable curi- osities, he had brought home splen- didly illustrated encyclopedia, and re- quested me to step into his room, which was on the second floor in the rear of Sears's building, at the head of State street, and examine it. I readily accom- panied him to his room where another man was sitting at table writing on slips of paper. Shaw immediately asked his companion, Have they ar- rived ? and the reply was, Not yet. , The man at the table was making figures on piece of paper, and asked me to guess the number of one of them. Ide- clined; but, as he pressed the matter, I guessed the number forty, and he said sixty. l guessed again the number thirty, when he said it was fifty. Shaw was standing close by me during this proceeding, and from that moment I knew nothing more until I Twas informed by these parties that had been gam bling.
 "I protested that I had not, as knew no game of chance, nor hardly knew one card from another. They still persisted that l had been gambling, and as evidence produced certain checks, drawn on the Merchants Bank. One was for $400, and the other was for &, ,0Oo. The signatures appeared to be in my own hand, but the body was in another. l seized the $400 check and tore it in pieces, which I threw on the floor. The s, 900 check they refused to give up, although I made repeated de, mands for it. Thereupon I left the room, and as soon as recovered from my bewilderment I laid the case before oAAO ShAOA VI OAAoO, WAO tOuAu tA0 ludu, ovtained the check, gave it to me, and I destroyed it. Not desiring public no- toriety, and having, as supposed. se- cured my checks, returned to Bangor and kept silence"
 About month ago a person came from Boston to Bangor with check for 8, ,000, drawn on the Merchants Ma. tional Bank, of which MT. Blake is president, of even date with the former check for the same amount which MT. Blake supposed he had destroyed. It bore the signature of Samuel H. Blake. The man did not present it to the bank or to MT. Blake, but at. tempted to negotiate it with third parties. In this he failed, and after leaving it with a lawyer for collection, left the city.