Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-12-17

Health Officer. The peculiar vein in his
composition OF declining to pay his debts
again cropped up, and one day an indig-
nant creditor called him Cd Negro" !"
whereupon the doctor" broke pitcher
over his insulter's head and was con-
signed therefor to the horrors of dun
geon for two months, and in addition was
mulcted in a fine Of 5000. He attempted
swindling transaction on his release
but was tripped up, and for the next six
months saw the sun from the wrong side
of massive set of prison bars. Mon
treal was evidently a good place
for him to leave go he dropped
over to Prince Edwards Island,
where he would have been married
for the second time, but for the fact that
he obtained money from local bank on
a bogus letter of credit. The fraud was
discovered, and the doctor" once more
was nearly measured for suit of striped
clothes, but he obtained the money with
which to reimburse the bank and the
prosecution was stopped. The affair of
course destroyed his marital prospects,
so he emigrated to Ontario, where he
burst on hoteldom as the special COR
respondent for a number of Canadian,
English and French papers. The
swindle worked successfully, and Griffin,
on the strength of his journalistic powers,
obtained passes over the railroads and
induced a couple of the Grand Trunk Of
ficials to join him in land
investment. They gave him their
notes for their part of the
capital stock and he turned them into
money, but his partners became aware OF
his intentions and forced him to disgorge
under threats of prosecution.
OFF TO ENGLAND.
The bogus doctor then sailed for Eng
land and set up an establishment in Vic.
toria street, London, the most fashionable
part of the town. He hired magnifi-
cent suite of rooms, engaged liveried
lackeys and advertised that he was the
representative of the Pacific railroads
and the agent for lands in the far West.
He promised to secure valuable clerical
appointments for well-educated gentle
men, and from each of his host of appli-
cants he exacted fee ranging all the way
from $25 to 500. The business was a
paying one, but the inevitable crash
came when the swindle, in the
ordinary course of events, was laid
bare. The doctor" fed, but was
arrested at Liverpool as he was on the
point of sailing for America, and for six
months he had an opportunity of study
ing prison life in England from an in.
mates point of view. On his release he
carried out his former intention of re-
crossing the Atlantic, and turned up in
Canada again as lecturer on "The
Temperance Question" and "The Holy
Land" His career in this character
was short one, for he met and married
his present wife, Mrs. Nellie Lennox,
the daughter of prosperous London
(Ont.) tailor. The happy couple went
to Victoria, B. c., where at the Windsor
Hotel Mrs. Griffin's dowry was spent
with liberal hand by her beloved
spouse. From Victoria they went to San
Francisco and registered at the Melville
Hotel, which place, after resi-
dsnce of several weeks, they va
Gated without paying their bill.
the doctor" pleading poverty to the
landlord, although, it has since been
ascertained, he had $1,000 in local
bank at the time. In the early part of
1887 the pair arrived in this city, where
as the agent for the Carbolic Smoke Ball
Griffin soon gained renown. His career
here is too we'll known to need recapitu-
lation. Dry Sparkling Champagne and
land agencies acknowledged him for
their head, and with an indebtedness of
several thousand dollars at his back the
doctor" set sail for British Columbia,
where his adventures are of 30 recent
chronicling that mere allusion to them
is sufficient. There is no doubt that he
was the author of the blackmailing let
ters, "By order of the Black Hand, !"
that disturbed the peace of the Hon. r.
Dunsmuir, of Victoria, B. @.