New-York tribune., 1885-03-01
Copyright, 1885
A NEW BUNCO" GAME TRIED.

STORY OF A FORTUNE IN ENGiAND-PA"Nkp JEW
EIKY-A LOAN AsKED-FAILUREs
The most fruitful soil for the confidence man to
work has schemes against the plethoric purses
of the rural visitors to the city. who wished 10 see
tbe as;ghts of Gotham A young man with Eng
l,sh accent however, seems to have conceived
scheme by which he expected to obtain amounts OF
money from confdng yOung LAWYERS who have
dc.ire TO handle large cases. The result of the
scbeme from a financial point Of view appears to
be a failure tor if there are any who have oceh
duped by tho cunning rogue they nave Kept the
secret The first appearance OF the confidence man.
an far as can be learned was In Brooklyn, last
week. Lawyer Baldwin f. Strauss was
selected for a victim. Tho man called on MT.
Strauss at his office. showed him letter written on
black -bordered paper dated in England ana sigrcd
by Mary j. Thompson" who. the man said' was
bis mother. The purport of the letter was that an
uncle had died aud left him large fortune. abont
ESQ. 900; that the executors Of the Will were on
THAR WAY To America with 800. 900 for him, but
that he would have to return the family Jewels
which he had stolen from the uncle before u w0uh
be given to him. The letter advised hm 10 llre
some rcputabl lawyer to visit England TO attend
to his interests. The man answered questions
freely and promptly He explained that the reason
he did not go to England himself 10 LOOK ai.cr ns
the English Army lilo also sad that he ilnd
pawned the jewelry for $50. Mr.. Strauss accepted
An
iewelry After leaving Mr.. Strauss outside several
nlaces while he went in to borrow money from
friend to redeem the jewery, hO sad that ho bad
only succeeded IN borrowing y3O. ana wanted To
borrow $50 from the lawyer Mr.. Strauss SAID that
he would look at the ewelry first Tins being Just
what tho man did not want, he gave MI.
Strauss the Slip and the lawyers bright dreams of
a big case and trip To Europe at somebody's ex'
pense vanished into thin air. -
The next appearance Of the man was III Harlem
He called upon Samuel Middleton Smith. and told
sn snDstantially the story. and showed letter
signed Lizzie Cunningham" Mr.. Smith was
delIubted and stuck to tho man closer than q
:,rother and M VISIONS of greatness dawncd upon
him set ND the drinks several times HE lawyer
accom- panicd him to the homes Uf several alleged
friends of the confidence man, but they were out.
LAWYER Smith saws that re offered to loan the man
S25 the amount that he said lie needed to redeem
the iewelry, and that the man refused 1t. Why
he refused an offer of Just what he wantedls tho
peculiarity of the Smith case. Mr.. Smith has been
investigating the and has tried to follow Jhe
man up but has been unable to do so. The address
that he gave was u fictitious one On Monday the
same man called on A. G. Butts. Mrs Dudley's
counsel. with the same story and with the result
already lpubshed in TIE TRIBUNE. The young
man has a light complexion. is of medium height
abont thirty years DID, and has scar over his right
eve His mode of selecting lawyers appears To be
by inquiry at liquor stores. He also shows his
letter to bar-tenders, and whoever may be III the
| liauOr stores In this manner he often secures
drink, for drinking with an heir to fortune Oh
f25O,O00 is not an everyday occurrence.