Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1883-02-22
PRETTY WIDOWS.
Rich Wives Focnd in the New York
Crowded Court Rooms.
Fortune Hunters in Search of Money
An Old Mans Story.

uuiet Friday afternoon. Judge
Knickcrbocker sat In the easy chair
which answers for bench, listening
10 the testimony OF half a dozen peo.
pie who were trying to prove the last
will and testament OF their deceased
relative. Their voices were low, as be.
fitted the solemnity of the proceeding.
Two old lawyers were sitting in far
corner of the court room with bundle
Of legal documents on the table be-
tween them. They were whispering
10 each other. A very pretty young
woman, with dark eyes, pale face.
black dress and a long Grape veil. sat
Just inside the space reserved for law
yers and their clients. She was alone
and appeared to bc thoughtful, but not
one of the court proceedings. She
looked at no one. There were five
Young men in different oarts Of the
court room, all of whom looked ex-
trcmely neat and eniDently respecta-
BILE. One of them wgs looking Mt n
manuscript he held, and two others
held papers In their hands. The other
two made some pretense Of listening
20 the testimony. They might have
been Inv students or young lawyers.
Neither of the five exactly stared at
them glanced in her direction about
six times per minute.
The minute-clerk sat at the left of
the judge, making entries in big
book. Two other clerks were writing
in other big books near by. The her
dtd reporter walked halfway down
the room until he caught the eye of the
minutc-clerk. The minute-clerk sol
EMMY shook his head. That shake
meant that there was nothing In the
book worth publishing, and the Her
did reporter turned to 90 out.
Come with me- whispered little,
old, fat, white-haired man, with a
smooth and smiling face. as he jumped
up from his chair and thrust his finger
through the button-hole of the report
cr's coat.
Certainly said the reporter, and
then the two walked over to the south
east corner Of -thc court house. The
little old man took one chair and the
reporter took another.
IF we are going to talk y whispered
the reporter, let's 20 somewhere
Cl4e.n
mo, whispered the little old fat
man, . want TO show you something
right III this room. You reporters
iancy that you have sharp eyes, and
that you SEQ every thing that Is worth
seeing, but you are blind, sir, positively
blind. Now, i would bet any thing
you can't tell who those young men
are, what their business is, nor what
they are doing bere?"
The little old man whispered this in
q kind oftriumph ant way ns he pointed
AZ the five neatly dressed and emi-
ncntly respectable looking young men
who We're CHANGING in the direction of
very pretty young woman.
They are probably law students or
young lawyers who are probably get
ting acquainted with tho practice i'm
this COURT" whispered the reporter.
Just what | expected you to say,
but you are all wrong. They are for
tune-hunters. The little old imam
leaned over until his smooth, fat face
was very near the reporters ear us he
whispered this last sentence.
"You will always find five or kix OF
them hanging around this court, y he
went on, '"l'hey are after widows
with fortunes. Some of them only
want the fortunes, and Will take al
most any kind of II widow, but others
are tastidious and insist upon having
the widow pretty. You zee, they can
take II look ut the widow here ami find
out within three minutes Just how
much property her husband left her
Then they make their plans to net tn,
widow and the property
but do they ever succeed ~ wills
pered the reporter.
"Succeedl ] should say thdy did
All ofthem succeed. This is cbmpar
al. LOT
oldish young man that Is looking IA
the pretty young woman now has beer
hanging around this court house long
or than any of the others, and has only
hcen here about eight months, III,
would have been married lopgIago, tx
ccpt that he Is too particular. Hi
widow must have at least S5Q000, anS
besides that she must have dark eye
and pale face, be yomglnnd yer,
pretty. / shouldn't wonder il this ON
would suit him" whispered the it'll,
fat old man, as he looked long at tn
pretty young woman,
"~hc may not do, though" began
The little fat old man again, after
pause. "He IL so confauhdodly pm
ticular that he insists that his willow
must have married her husband ate
he was iifty-iive years old, dOn
know exactly why he requires that
but ! suppose it's some nonsense abou
iiNt love. Two got no patience witl
suoh toOlishness.p
Bat how do they manage to inarr,
the widows after they lind out aholt
thom :" whispered the astonishcd re
porter
"Nothing CASTER whispered the "a
little old man. "lou must know tha
these are shrewd fellows, OF cours
they get the widows name and resi-
denoe here, and they probably find on
something about her friends here
'fhe next thing is.to get an introduc
tion, and that IL simply mutter o
scheming. The easiest and most com
mon way is through church. Mos
widows, even though they have no
been very pious before, will 20 I,
church quite regularly for seyera
months after their bereavement. Nh,
young man who pursues her, watche
her house on SUNDAY morniug, lol
lows her TO church, and nnmedlatclN
becomes q steady member Of that ron
gregation. He even itins the churcl
II necessary, II Is not long after tina
before he Is invited 10 some church so
cial. sunday school celebration, o
some one OF tho many social affair
which the rieus people provide ~