The Bozeman weekly chronicle. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1883-1889, 1883-07-18

JULY 18, 1883.
BEAUTIFUL BALCKMAILRRS.
The Snares and Wiles and 1antraps
They set for Victims.
P One of the fungi of modern society Is
the feminine blackmailer, who fattens on
the follies and foibles of men who have
more time and money than the fortune
that rules their destiny should have
allowed them. She is in every sense an
adventures, and relies entirely upon the
luck that the day may bring forth. Like
the lily of the field she tolls not, neither
does she spin; yet she isarrayed far more
gloriously than Solomon, and is most
wondrous fair to see. With a pretty,
baby face, a magnificent form and a
superb carriage, she moves with q vel
vety tread until her large innocent eyes
have fastened themselves upon some
man of wealth and leisure, and her net
has been carefully laid to ensnare his
careless feet, and when she realizes that
her hour of triumph has come she Gre
ates havoc and lets loose the dogs of war.
The result in the majority of cases is that
the startled victim is willing at any cost
to stop their scandalous bayine, and q
round sum passes from her plump and
rosy fingers into a delicately-worked
purse, when she gracefully retires to
green fields and pastures new. Those
ladies who invade society but to kill and
destroy domestic felicity and break up
quiet homes are to be met with every
where. In Paris, London, Florence, st.
Petersburg, the German wateringplaces
and all along the route of the married
tourist they blossom like rose, and are
more plentiful than the dollars the in
fatuated victim lays at their feet. In
Washington, also, where the wise Solons
of America 60 annually to make laws for
healing preservation of the nation, they
thrive miraculously, and grow plumper
and more prosperous at every reoccur-
ring session of congress. Events likewise
occur at Albany each winter which make
the unhappy law-giver gpash his teeth
as he reluctantly parts with his hard
earned dollars to avoid a publicity which
at other times He courts, and causes him
to curse the day that he left his quiet
home in a peaceful country village to en-
gage in the heated turmoil Of political
life. But it is in New York especially
that blackmailing has been reduced to .
fine art by those brilliant fiends who
can smile so sweetly and alluringly and
yet be villains. Half the troubles of
the wealthy in the leading city Of the
republic have not been told, and never
will be, because they are in most cases
hushed up by silence that is golden
and dearly paid for. "These adventur-
esses," said the detective, whose years
have given him an experience from
which to speak, "come to US from all
parts of the world, and include all types
of beanty for all tastes. A woman, to
succeed, must be not only beautiful but
fascinating. She must be more than
ordinarily intelligent, and quick to see q
point and take advantage of 1t. She
must needs be as sweet and attractive as
the rose; and, like the rose, she has
numerous thorns with which to punct-
ure and bleed her victims. Tie occasions
upon which my services have been de-
sired to free the lacerated, but too con-
tiding, young man from tolls that he
could not break himself, would fill o
book. The last case of the kind l was
engaged in occurred but two weeks ago.
A very benevolent clergyman, was sent
for to administer religious consolation to
a young lady who was supposed to be
dying In great distress Of mind. He was
met by the mother and conducted into
the sick chamber, where the door was
upon him, and he was left alone by the
| bedside of the sufferer. But little con-
| versation had passed between them
| when the girl leaped from the bed into
the clergyman's lap, and began to scream
loud enough to wake the dead. Several
persons ran in and found the good old
man in this compromising situation, and
90 startled that he sat like one petrified,
with the girl upon his knee. She assert
ed that upon the departure of her mothe,
he had bent over and kissed her and
lifted her from the pillows. Had I moi
succeeded in tracing the unsavory ante.
cedents of the two women during former
residences in Baltimore and Philadelphia
it was very probable that the old man
would have been prosecuted into hi
grave, for he was very sensitive, and
felt his position keenly. Another case
which this last recalls to me is one upon
which worked month before I cleared
it up and set my client free. He was g
man of pleasure, and had recently been
left fortune by his father. Some un'
principled woman learned this fact, and
went to a ball which she knew he would
attend. The plans were probably laid 9
month before. He sew q handsome
woman in light costume. that exposed
the contour of her form, giving him 9
great deal of encouragement from behind
a coquettish mask, and it was not lonl
before he succumbed to her wiles. A
carriage was secured, and they drove Il
a well-known restaurant uptown, whert
a private room was taken for supper. II
the midst of this repast the door opened
and the young woman, with q startled
scream, exclaimed:
"My God! 1t is my father and broth
efs." A seemingly virtuous and indig
nant trio. confronted the gay Lothario
and nothing would appease their wound
ed honor but plentiful supply Of green
backs. Nothing was heard from tn
blackmailers until week later, whel
the crushed father called upon the younl
man to say that he was about to sue 70
the assaulting of his daughter unless I