Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1884-01-31


heart. She was widow, had little
money and son Of twenty-five On
whom she dotted. The boy was sent tc
good schools, but almost from infancy
up he showed every evidence of thor
ough badness. At fourteen, he began
to steal, and though frequently detect,
ed and punished he kept up the prac-
tice. 1t must have cost his mother
thousands Of dollars to pay the people
who had been victimized by him, the
value of the goods stolen in order to
save him from prison. Finally, he
committed a peculiarly aggravated
crime and was sent to prison for two
years. His time expired on the day
before Christmas. The poor mother
had been seized with heavy cold, and
of course took fever. She was not
seriously i'll however. For days before
his arrival, she spoke of nothing but
her boy, She had his picture near her
and she scarcely spoke of anything but
the hear arrival of her darling. On
Christmas eve he arrived. She heard
his footstep and she became RADIANT
The nurse, in order not to be embar-
RAISING at the meeting of mother and
son, left the room when she heard the
knock at the door. Half an hour later
she heard the son descending the stairs.
She entered the room, and there to her
amazement lay the poor woman stiff as
in q trance, eyes wide open and CLASSY,
and breathing heavily. Restoratives
were applied and I was summoned
She finally revived. The first words
she said were to ask the nurse to look
under her pillow to see whether $l75
which she had concealed there were
untouched. They were gone. The
poor woman wept in manner to break
ones heart. "Dont do anything to
him. she pleaded. when the first par
oxysm of grief was over. Her plea was
too late, however. The nelghbors had
sent for q policeman, and he had dis
covered the villain of a son in neigh
boring saloon, Just receiving the change
out of a five dollar bill which he had
laid down to pay for q drink, He took
the lad in custody and the balance of
the money was found in his pocket
He was promptly sent back to prison.
The mother never recovered from the
shock. And her last moments were
devoted to her boy. They wanted to
take his picture away from her, but she
never left it out OF her hands, and she
died with it on the pillow beside her"
Bunko is hourshing in the streets Of
the city at present to marvellous 'ex-
tent, and the daring, adroitness and
ease with which the confidence men
finds and ileeces victims is marvellous
to behold. The local professionals
having become too we'll known, their
places have been taken to Il large cx-
t(nt by Western scientists, who if they
lack the polished exterior Of the high
class New York swinller, make up for
it in daring. There are all grades of
bunko men Some of them are so low
Gown as to make speciality Of robbing
children by trick and device. The po-
lice are actually making an effort to
root them out They are driven to it
by public opinion which for some time
has been shrewdly suspecting that the
so-called defenders of the righteous
public got their share of the swag In
this connection, it may be well to warn
Americans intending to visit Europe
during the coming season, that London
and Liverpool are full of American
bunko men, for whom either things
have been made too hot here, or who
find Great Britain pastures new and
much more luxurious than in the we'll
grazed paddocks of New York. A few
days ago l received a letter from an ac-
quantance in London, telling me that
"the town is filled with confidence
men My informant knows whereof
he writes, for ten years journalistic ex-
perience in New York has qualified
him to know and recognize men and
faces. He says that England is fast
taking the place of Canada, as a resort
for adventures and shady characters
The way they play their profession"
is this : "when the steamer reaches
Liverpool, they are at hand. They
know who is coming, and they are
primed with enough information re-
garding the personality and history of
the intended victim to readily beguile
him. A traveller in foreign country
is naturally helpless and appreciates
friendly assistance very highly. Trav-
cling for pleasure, he is also as a rule,
well supplied with money. Hence the