, 1884-04-01
HIS INHERITANCE.
A Family History Utilized in Work
ing a Swindle-
A Member OF the Fraternity OF
Thieves and SwindIers Corre-
ponds with a Number OF
Expectant Heirs
New York SUM-

New York Sun
At the window of a high stoop house in
Blocker street near Mulberry, was a care
fully dressed crook, or person connected with
the fraternity of thieves and swim ilers,
seated in a chair, twirling his mustache de-
jectedly with one hand, while tho other hung
l~istlessly by his side. His feet were on a
common round center table and his hat was
cooked well back on his head.
"You seem to be under the weather." said
a friend who entered.
The crook kicked a chair around toward
the visitor, and then said:
Eyes. Well, Pm not exactly under the
weather, but"
Here he stopped and drew a roll Of long
newspaper clippings from his coat pocket,
and smoothed them out. Handing them to
his visitor, he continued:
al am simply detected. One hates to be
beaten by amateurs, you know"
The clippings contained accounts of the
searches for the treasure alleged to have been
lost in He'll Gate on the British frigate Hus-
sar. with statements OF the amounts Of
money advanced to men who have conducted
the alleged search.
ain all my experience, said the crook, al
never evolved a scheme that could bring into
my hands anything like a quarter of such
sums but once"
hieLhOEJ VI IHdI sCueu16 Dr1RDtDn61
him up, and having lighted a fresh cigar, he
said:
AIN 1879, when everything was apparently
booming in business, and people were just US
anxious to become suddenly rich at small ex-
pense as they are now, l was one day rum
maging around the shelves of a secondhand
book store in Nassau street, in search of n
Greek lexicon. Economical Yes, economy
is the road to wealth. l always buy second
hand books, because it frequently becomes
necessary for me to change my headuuarters
suddenly, and it would not do to leave q
valuable library behind me. As 1 was saying,
in that store l found in two large leather
bound volumes the history Orwell, call IL
the Hopkinson family, because that wasn't
the name. With it came an inspiration.
Here was a list of names and addresses run
ming into the tens of thousands"
You could get addresses that were freshei
from the dealers in names"
"Yes, yes. You don't see. l immediately
bought the books for 80, and hail a quantity
OF letter-paper printed with n lawyers
card at the head. For several days 1 was
very busy writing and mailing letters which
read something like this:
4RoE, SMITH & BRowN. ATTORNEYS mi
C~ouNsELLoRs, No. - BROADWAY, N. Y,
-, 1872. Mr. JOHN j. HoPKINsoN, HER
KIMER, HERRIMER COUNTY, N. Y.-DEAR
SIR: The estate Of r Edward Hopkinson,
formerly of Quackenwell, Dorsetshire, Eng
land, who dice intestate at Valparaiso, s. A.,
Dec. 8, 1856, is now to be distributed. We
have been directed by Messrs Dodson & bod
son, Of London, to look after the American
heirs. There is a small sum, about Rt,0OO, to
be paid to a Mr.; John J. Hopkinson, of Her,
grandson of L. Mayo Hopkinson, OF Dorset
shire, England, u cousin of the late X. Ed
ward Hopkinson. II you can furnish legal
proof that you are the man the money will
be rcndy for you when the proper papers are
prepared, We must nave a fee of $50 for
preparing the papers. As we do not know
YOU, We are Obliged to demand this in ad-
'ance. Respectfully yours,
"RoE, Smith g. Brown, per g."
at is needless to say that the books had
told me that the deceased had run away to
sea in 1914. and had never been heard of, al
though it was rpmored that he owned large
estates in California, or some other place ON
the Pacific coast, and that my correspondent
was the descendant OF the grandfather re-
ferred to-"
"Your letter was very short,s
"And business-like. We weren't retained to
write an obituary of the deceased, but to dis
tribute his estate"
"How many H~opkinsons applied for their
sharesf' II
II think l won't tell you. 1 did not con-
fine myself to a fee of $50 though. When I
could find a Hopkinsou who was in either of
the commercial agencies as worth a good deal
of money l ran the fee in at from 500 to
$500. Men Of that class would have been
suspicious Of a $50 fee, In fact, I wouldn't
tell you this at all only l found it SO very
risky on account of the wrath of those who
were caught for large sums that l do not
dare to work it again. found it necessary
to seek a change of air before 1 had garrered
half the harvest"