Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-06-30
A RATHER UNIQUE CASE.
The Manner in Which Lewis Albert Con-
ducfed His swindljnR Operations.

ducfed His swindljng Operations.
LONDON, June 29.-The crown prosecutor of
the city of Wolverhampton, in the county
OF Stafford, is in quandary. The police there
have in custody young man who is un-
doubtedly worthy of severe punishment, and
yet his crime is so entirely novel that he
probably cannot be punished at all, unless the
old statutes against witchcraft are revived. in
which case he might be comfortably roasted
before slow fire. This young man. whose
name is Lewis Albert, is graduate of Oxford
University. Soon after he left college he be-
came interested in mesmerism, mindreading
and hypnotism, and as result of natural gifts
or close study soon became SO expert that for
time he travelled about giving exhibitions of
his powers. He acquired wonderful infiu-
ence over the will power of certain classes of,
people and established such reputation that
ne might have made his exhibitions very profit
aole Dut Tor an unfortunate penchant for the
nowing bowl. This brought him so low that
Inree months ago he turned up in Wolver-
hampton in rags and without money or friends.
Then he began to hypnotic with ven
geance. Small shop keepers, usually women.
began to discover that the contents of their
ILLS very mysteriously dwindled after a visit
from the urbane stranger. Just what his
method OF procedure was none could tell, but
when they found, on comparing notes, that
thelrIosses invariably followed the visits of the
Rviso @hiuCIt, Iuty SeL Tile pOllCe 10 WHLCH ulIu.
Then some startling discoveries were made.
HIS custom was to enter a shop, make pur-
chase OF some trfhe and put down a copper in
payment Then the hypnotizing or mesmeris-
ing process must have been brought into requi-
sltion, for the shop keeper in every case took
up the copper and handed out change for
sovereign, which the young man promptly
pocketed. In only one case, while the police
were on his track, was there failure to befog
his victim in this way. The detective who fol-
lowed him about was mystited for long
time. being utterly unable to account for the
hallucinatlon which invariably seized Alberts
victims and led them to mistake copper coin
for gold sovereign and it was only after dis
covering his professional record that he began
to understand it.
Albert's last victim was youth of 10, the at
tendant at the box Office of theater in VOL
yerhampton. He stepped up to the window,
boldly asked for shilling ticket, handed the
boy dirty scrap of newspaper, and received as
change, without the slightest hesitation on the
part OF the boy. 4sovereigns and 10 shillings.
While walking off with this he was arrested by
the officer, who had been shadowing him for
two weeks The boy in the box office was dunn
founded when his attention was called to the
scrap of newspaper in his cash box, and still
stoutly insisted that the gentleman had handed
him 70 note He remembered, however. that
apeculiar sensation came over him, which he
describes as sort of numbness when the man
first approached the window of the office. The
legal status of Albert's offense is very difficult
to determine as 1t is without precedent, and
good lawyers say there is now no law in En-
gland to punish him. The case is exciting
great interest.