Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1884-1886, 1884-07-30
R0PlkG THEM IN.
LEE TAYLOR,
Late A Ill. Vet. Vol.

some weeks ago lllcTe tepafic'i from
Wichita very sleek gentleman known
by HE name Of l.. w. Crouch. He
pretended to do ioan business. but il
was a fact well known TO his acquiin-
tancos that the greater part of his
time. money and labors were spent IN
the gambling dens and gin-mills q! hat
bad city Nevertheless many persons
unfamiliar with his habits OF life en-
trusted him with their business, among
them 5. W smith, better known as
"Wiudy." William l.irkey and Tom
Roley, I'll of Alien township. I Ia" two
latter gentlemen are son-in-iaW OF the
blatant MIR. Smith. For each Of these
the ailabc Mr. Crouch had procured
loans, they paying the usual interest,
commissions and giving mortgages on
their farms.
When fortune had smiled upon them
with big crops and their accumu a.
tons of worldly wealth enabled mem
to liquidatc their Indebtedness, they
went back 10 Crouch and on his prom
| ising To procure a release of the mort
cages on their respective farms. paid
over TO him the several amounts dur.
Mr.. Smith couLted into the ample
, palm of the distinguished ciiizcn OF
| our neighboring city. the snug sum OF
1910, Mr.. Larkey $3.50 and Mr.. Roley
| about $500. the grand total which
these residents of Kingman entrusted
to Crotch being in The neiehborhood
of 81 900
For week or two they waited pa
| iiently, watching each mail expecting
il TO bring them the document which
rendered their property unencumber-
ed. But il came not. Again they
visited Crouch. lie seemed 10 b. as
much astonishcd a. they that the pa
pers had not been returned, and Wilhal
was so aiiabe and had so many ready
excuses that he quoted their fears as
to any possibility of the money being
lost in transmission. and they returned
home satisfied to wait for another sea-
son for their release. Neither of the IN
suspected at this time that Crouch
not only had failed to transmit the
wealth, bat had even taken the liberty
of appropriating it to his own use.
Tom Rolev was the first 10 tumble
TO The true situation. He j.
the whole matter over PRAYER
fully. a vision of light dawned
upon him, and thoroughly arming
himself he called upon Crouch when
he was alone Taking the prccauiion
TO close the door so as tobc free from
intrusion he interviewed him with the
muzzle of u loaded revolver and when
the conference had ended Roley had
his money. Coming back. he commu-
nicated 10 the breezy Smith and the
Docilc Larkcy what had iranspircd
and they. after waiting little longer,
also went over into Sedgwick. They
had tarried too long. Procraslina-
ton. the thief of time, proved in their
ease also TO be dishonest enough to take
money. Crouch had fed and left no
clue as 10 his whereabouts. That their
visit was barren of any good results 10
them j. amply attcsted by the follow
ing from one of the Wichita papers of
Tuesday: 1.-TWO men from kiGginau
were in the city yesterday inquiring for
the late L. W. Crouch. One of them
desired to see him S460 worth and the
other wanted $3.50 sight of him"
There is moral in the above, very
valuable. /, may not be worth the
price Smith and i.arhey paid 10 have
il deduced. but other residents of this
county may profit by their experience.
Procure Your loans AZ home. Never
go abroad TO hunt a scoundrel Ia do
business with, while YOU can find
plenty OF honest men ia YOUR own
COUNTY competent To tranSac; Ill
king1nan Courier.