Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1883-04-08
DETECTIVE PtOT.
A VERY ACCOMPLISHED scoUNDREL
How Detective Turned BlaekmaiIer and
Made It Pay-Two Hundred aad
Fifty Thousand Dollars Plum
der in Five Years.

with those Of Europe, never forget to
assert thesuperiority of the English po-
lice service over our own. In many
senses the management of that service
is better than ours. But 1t Is by no
means immaculate either. There are
black sheep in the flock of British
thief takers as well as in that of Amer
lea, and from time to time corruptions
are disclosed in connection with the
service that would do credit to the days
of Boss Tweed in New York. The
famous detective conspiracy is one Of
these.
In the fail Of 1876 London was star
tied by the discovery of one of the most
astounding frauds that had ever been
unveiled there. The facts Of the case
are these:
Some time before, a society had been
formed called the Discretionary Turf
Investment Society" The prospectus
Of this society argued that the chances
of horses very frequently varied, and
that it might be necessary to change
ones bet on the very day of the race.
Those who could not be presentat races
themselves should hand over their bet
ting money to trustworthy persons.
The society undertook to give those who
became its clients
Absolute Assurance Against Loss.
A newspaper was printed which spoke
in eulogistlc terms Of the scheme, and
the continental papers were Hooded
with advertisements detailing its viz
tues. 1t was afterward discovered that
in advertisements to advance this
scheme no less than Sl5O,OOO was
spent.
In week or so no less than $50, 900
were sent by one person alone "a
French lady named Nine. De GoncOurt
and $780, 900 or 800, 900 were sent by
other people. 1t is needless to say that
the whole thing was swindle, and
that the persons who formed the dis.
cretionary society," simply put the
money i'll their pockets.
The police obtained information of
the affair; the swindlers We're arrested,
put on trial and sentenced to different
periods of punishment. Shortly after
lie town was startled by the report that
three of the best known detective Otli-
GERS of the city had been placed in the
dock at Bow street for completely in the
fraud.
The principal drdHatiS pcrSonT in
the affair were William Kurr and
Harry Benson, who were the concOctors
of the fraud, and Inspectors Meiklejohn,
Druscovich and Palmer, three men
whose names were as familiar as the
streets to per sons in London.
MeiklejOhn was Inspector of Police
on the Midland railway, and was at
the head of his profession. DruscoviCh
was Bulgarian by birth, early in life
attached to the English Embassy at
COnstantinople, and, thanks to his tai
| ents and manners, transferred to Lon
| don. His activity, his quickness and
| his good education Tor he spoke sew
eral languages fluently), rapidly pro-
cured him promotion, and in nearly
| every case of Importance, especially II
| foreigners We're concerned, his services
were employed. He was complimented
over and over again by the authorities
for his exploits, and, being extremely
| civil to journalists, they always had a
| good word 10 say for him in the press
as the opportunity arose. When for
eign sOvereigns came to London DruS.
covich was one of the persons who had
| to look after their personal safety. Pal
nrr was also very well known and
A Very Much Respected officer.
Kurr was the son ola baker in Isling-
ton, received a good education and,
generally speaking, was well brought
up. At fourteen he became clerk at a
small salary; at fifteen he ran away
He returned for short season to hon
est employment. The accounts he gave
of his exploits read like story from the
arabian Nights" In his short ca
reer he must have obtained between
500, 600 and $50, 900. II esimply, it would
seem, asked people to send him their
money and they sent it. In
| one fraud alone made $4,000
in eight days. He lived, o.
course, in the most sumptuOus style;
| kept race horses, q trap, and made and
| lost large bets Oh race-courSes.
About 1874, having already exercised
| his arts on England, Ireland and Scot
land, he thought the time had come
fer a change of scene. lie advertised
| FOR person who could give literary as
sistance in French, and among the per-
SONS who answered his advertisement
was man who called himself GOnge.
YOnge was an assumed name-the man
! was Harry Benson, Jew, the son of q
| tradesman of some means in Paris, who
gave his son an excellent education. He
spoke French, English and German
| with equal perfection, was, it is said, 8
good musician and could unqueStiona'
| Div cow erse with remarkable intelli'
gence. Benson had already dipped
pretty deep in crime. He had, among
! his other exploits, obtained 5000 from
London Lord Mayor by representing
himself as the mayor of a French town
and passing off a forged check. For
this offence he had just completed his
sentence when he came in contact with
| kurr.
Two such men were not long in un'
| derstanding each other, and they went
to work together on the great enterprise
ofswindling the public. Several time:
| they were detected, but each time they
| managed to escape and to retain a lot Of
! the DluQueT. DeLSOu WAS cNcu mOLS
| luxurious in his style of living than
Kurr, and indeed did not associate with
him or any ofany of his companions
He lived in an aristocratic house, kept
a brougham and a French valet. He
paid occasional visits, like other aris-
tocrats, to Biarritz and other pleasure
health-resorts of the Continent, and in
England portion of his time was spent
at the Isle of Wight, He even hOnored
journalism by at one time belonging to
| its ranks. He was connected, while
living in France, with the Gaulois, aud
be also, while in England, founded the
Isle of Wight Journal.
The bubble at last burst, and Benson
and Kurr were taken into custody. One
was sentenced to ten, the other to fiji
teen years of penal servitude. Almost
Immediately after their condemnation
they communicated to the Crown their
dealings with the detectives, and after
a delay of some months Meiklejohn,
DruscOvich and Palmer
Were Placed I'm the Dock.