Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-07-30
A BIG LOTTERY FRAUD.
How q Man was Enabled TO Win 4S0,.
OOO F1orins. The Parties Arrested.

LONDON, July so.-Dr. Roser, member OF the
Austrian reichaf, who has been for Is years
ngnung the government lottery enterprise,
now has the opportunity Of q lifetime and 10
not slow TO avail himself Of IL. He has lust in
roduced for the twelfth lime bill for the
abolition OF all the state lotteries and In the
present peculiar condition OF affairs il conf
oent mat the measure will pass The change
OF feenng on the subject OF lotteries upon
which Dr Boser builds his hopes for success is
not pased upon any moral considerations. 10
Is ony that six weeks ago q man who was q
total stranger in Vienna won s2Oo.OOO Of the
governments money by what now appears 70
have been clever trick. IL is this circum-
stance that has opened the eyes Of the Austrian
Legislators TO
THE wIcKEDSEss OF LOTTERIES,
and which will probably pave the way for the
final overthrow Of the state lotteries in Aus
tria. The game in which this unprecedented
winning was made is precisely that which i'm
America is known as policy" The gambler
selects certain numbers, places them in a cer-
tain order and puts up his stakes. IL the num-
bers are drawn in the order in which he places
them he wins great many times his stake,
the proportion increasing. OF course, with the
number Of numbers which the gambler at
tempts to place.
In this case NJ Farkas. that is the lucky in
backed his opinion at several different govern
ment Offices in Vienna. Five numbers are
drawn daily out Of ninety placed in glass urn.
On this day the numbers drawn were the five
which Farkas selected He went 20 the treasury
department, showed his tickets and demanded
his 600. 900. So large an amount of cash was
not IN the Office, but the minister of finance
promptly secured q loan Of the amount from q
vienna bank and Farkas went of rejoicing,
with his 10000 forins in crisp new notes
packed in a leather bag
After the money had been paid the officials
BEGAN TO SUSPECT FRAUD.
Attention was called TO certain peculiar incl
dents at the drawing, which no one paid much
attention TO at the time, but which every one
remembered when Farkas' immense winning
became known. The boy who was 20 have
drawn the numbers on that day was ordered
by the lottery official in charge 20 stand aside
and another boy who presented himself was
likewise rejected, a circumstance in itself not
SO infrequept to cause suspicion But at this
stage young woman appeared and asked as a
favor that her son. whom she brought with her
be allowed 70 draw the numbers The official
good naturedly permitted this and now the po-
lice discover that Farkas and this young wo-
man were well acquainted with one another,
and It Is even said that the boy is Farkas' son.
Two OF the lottery officials in charge Of the
drawing, Farkas himself. the young woman and
the boy have all been arrested, and the police
are leaving no stone unturned 10 ferret out the
modus operandi Of the swindle-for, that there
was swindle seems certain. Not only in Vi
emma, but all through Austria and Hungary,
where everybody PLAYS in the government lot
terles, the big winning and the romantic SEQUEL
are the sensation of the hour.