Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1882-03-10
CURIOUS InsrAsoEs CT osEDUlIgY.



Of fiction they would be secuted as unns-
tural. Such case has just been brought
! to light in The San Francisco Police Court,
and 1t is SO strange as to deserve special
attention. Fannie Clark, and Julia Tay.
lor, her mother. were arrested upon
charge of conspiracy to defraud Mrs. Elna
Bennett out Of certain personal property.
and the story of the prosecuting witness
is q remarkable ore. According to her
statement she made the acquaintance of
tie defendants in a boarding house kitchen,
where they met while preparing meals
After this acquaintance had ripened
somewhat she was informed by
Mrs. Clark that a gentleman of
high rank and great wealth had seen and
taken a great liking to her Mrs. Bennett),
aud desired to fern her acquaintance. She
was informed that this gentleman bore the
title Of the Duke Of Leicester, that he was
of advanced age, and that be was residing
in this country under the name Of Dr.
George Logan, as he had reasons for con.
csaling his rank. Before meeting could
| be arranged Mrs. Bennett was told that
the Duke had gone to Vallejo, where he
had contracted the mumps, measles and
chicken-pox all at once; and when it be-
came time for him to recover from this
complication of diseases he was opportune-
ly smitten with a plague of boils, which of
course kept him indoors. In short Mrs.
Bennett never did succeed in seeing the
Duke, tut he wrote her many letters, all
of which, according to her own statement,
expressed love of the highest type.
aud these letters were delivered to her by
Mrs. Clark, who acted as the go-between
throughout.
In this way it was finally arranged that
she was to marry the Duke as soon as he
was well. 1t seems that he was net only
Duke, but an Eal and Lord too, and,
what is somewhat singular, he had seat
in the House of Commons as well as in the
House of Lords. He was enormously rich,
and great number of boxes of clothing,
ailverware, jeweiry. ETC., were said to be
on the way from England, whence also
many members of the aristocracy were
travelling, on their way to the wedding.
Mrs. Bennett appears to have had but one
passing qualm of doubt during all the time
these things were being told her, and that
was when she was informed that the Duke
had had one of her photographs colored,
aad had sent it to Queen Victoria Ia the
pride OF .his heart. When she was asked
for various articles of clothing, such as
shawls, comforters, wristlets, etc. ,sfor the
Dukes use, she supplied them cheerfully,
and in all appears to have furnished some
sixty dollars worth of personal property
in this way. The Duke continued to
write letters expressing Glove sof the
"highest type. and poor Mrs. Bennett
continued to read them over until as she
stated to the Court, she had 'slearned
them by heart" And SO profound was
her faith in the existence of the Invisible
DDaakke that even after she had made her com.
plant against her false friend, she wrote a
letter to Vallejo addressed to " the Duke
"of Leicester, and was very much sur.
prised when the Postoffice authoities re.
turned it with the Endorsement that no
such person resided there.
The theory of the prosecution in This cage
is that Mrs. Clark flor Mrs. Taylor does
not seem to have been party to the de-
ception) wanted TO get hold of some prop
erty belonging to Mrs. Bennett, and that
her confederate was man who personated
DR.. George Logan and the Duke. This
man has no. yet been found, and it seems
possible that he also may be myth. The
victim in the case was evidently very
easy prey. She never made any inquiries
as to the existence OF Duke of Leicester.
She took everything on trust, and even
though she has ceased to believe in Mrs.
Clark it is plain that she cannot bring her
self to give up her dear Duke, and least OF
all to cease to cherish the love letters he
wrote to her, and which, she told the
Court, are still Every precious to her.
Bat strange as is the credulity displayed
by Mrs. Bennett, it is exceeded by an
English case which is now before the
Courts. Several years ago Lord Arthur
Clinton, young peer who had been COM
promised in very disgraceful scandal.
died suddenly, and it was generally be-
lieved that he had committed suicide. But
suddenly there appeared near Liverpool
young man who revealed in confidence to
several persons that he was Lord Arthur
Clinton that the funeral had been a
sham and that he was living mcognito for
time until he could obtain the Queens
pardon, and be restored to his estates.
He told this story first to his landlady,
and she was permitted to divulge it to
some of her friends who possessed prop
erty. The result was that the pseudo
Lord Arthur Clinton succeeded in obtain
lag upwards of $685. from his dupes,
and that he kept up his game for seven
years, during which he freely forged let
ters from the Vice. Chancellor and many
noblemen. to show his victims as proofs of
the commences of his claims. Aud when
at last the imposture could not be kept up
any longer, and he was arrested, the dis
covery was made that the swindler was
really a young woman named Fourneaux
She had victimizsd probably fifty people
all or most of whom were business men,
and presumably Of average intelligence.
For some years she had bled them freely,
had met and Quoted all their suspicious,
had made them believe the most ridiculous
nonsense, and had in fact established a
kind Of clan, the members of which were
prepared to believe any thing she told them,
On the whole this is more remarkable
imposture than that of Johanna Sou h.
ootk g. thara uoe hara No olamorr of