Evening journal., 1891-03-30

n
Get by Advancing sum OF Money.
Many Similar Attempts Exposed.
WASHINGTON, March 90 -R,S several
years past attempts have been maae To
victinize people Of prominence in The
United States by playing upon their cred
nlity. just who the would be swindlers
are, and TO what extent they have succeed.
cd is not known
The Plan Of the swindIer.
The fraudulent schemes are Of tha same
general plan but details are variel inn-
nitely 70 meet the character OF the Victim.
~ rule he is person who has at some
time had slight acquaintance with
Spanlard. He receives letter from q
Spanish priest telling him thai a laree
sum Of money has been devised "a him bv
this Spaniard on conditions thae a,,vays
involve the advancement Of a freater On
less sum Of money to pay necessar, charges.
The first notice the department II state
had Of the swindle was letter addressed
TO President Harrison soon after he AS
sumed his Office.
Tried 60 Bnnoo tho President.
In this letter the writer. a Catholic priest.
a. he described himself, informed hc presi.
dent that a Spanish army officer sft4run.
dergoing incredible yicisstudes 81 fortune.
had died in Spain He had delivered Ia
the priest q saehel containinins tgQa0oO.
which was to be turned over TO PRESIDENT
Harrison on the sole condition that he
would assume charge Of the officers little
daughter incidentally, the amount of
soooo was needed TO pay necessary ex.
penses The matter was confidential. and
tue president was TO direct his reply iH
Spanish 20 the priest, and inelose il in a
letter addressed 10 a Spanish lady
The priest also inclosed letter. from n
bishop, testifying to the good character Of
the priest, but, perhaps from inaavertanee.
or more probably to avoid conviction il
detected, the testimonial was mgilr ont foI
q person Of different name from thai
signed by the alleged priest
Several other Attempt-.
The next person selected as a victim was
General Bartlett, Of the pension Office IN
Washington. In this case great quantity
Of valuable plate was at stake, On Nnhered
with an innocent angelic child cf 4 Span.
lard whom the general really recalled az
an acquaintance Of his early years. His
suspicious were aroused at the unusual
precautions that were to be observed. and
he escaped without loss Then 4 promi.
nent druggist Of Paterson, n. u, Mas picked
out by the gang, but be paid no serious at,
tentiou to ii.
EARLY last week a citizen Of Cresson.
la, swas told that $4,000 in Jewels and
treasures was buried in his neighborhood
BY Spaniard he had known IN byaone
years He was % have a description OF its
location and part Of the proceeds Of the
property il he would send the remainder
70 daughter Of the Spaniard bonding
himself heavily and remitting money 10
pay charges before receiving THE chart
showing the location Of the treasure.
Tackled a Congressman.
A member Of the house Of repFesenta-
tives last summer also came in for one OF
these prize packages, which were war
ranted TO contain fortune and bcantf
ful heiress. A letter was addressed to
this member from the Parish Church of
San Jaime Atreida,r bearing thc seal Of
the church and the seal Of the archbishop
Of Toledo.
The letter, like the Others. purnnrtod to
be from prieat--Alberto Senar The
priests story is romantic. An iilustrlous
prisoner had died in castle TIE charge
upon which he was confined -cinbezzle.
ment from the state-wils cunnins.,v stated
with apparent innocence, althougA itssun
gestion indirectly accounted for the fort
une, about 81 100000, which tho prisoner
had secreted He had selected the Ameri-
can congressman 20 act as his executor
he had an innocent, angelic heile.s-and
was willing TO allow the executor the fifth
part OF his fortune for his trouble
Under the Confessional's seal
The priest had been told, under the seal
OF the confessional, that the treasure had
been secretly deposited in the lIank of
England
Ithappened that his baggage was in nos
session Of the court, and in seaiss. recess
OF one Of the trunks was concealed the re-
ceipt Of deposit Of the money The pris
oner had stipulated in his will that his ex-
ecutor should pay down 5000 for tie pur-
pose Of withdrawing the baggage lrom the
hands Of the court. Because the 3aggage
would not be surrendered by the court il
the secret were discovered, the priest en-
joins upon the congressman a scpulchraI
silence in regard to the matter
he Wanted Only $4,000.
The priest signs himself "Your most az
fectionate brother in Christ, ana iacloses
a letter from Antonio or Allavin0s. arch
bishop OF Toledo duly sealed, enjoining
beginning with draft Of s., 800 on London
or Paris.
In this case, as in the case Of ths letter
addressed to President Harrison, the nams
Of the priest as given by the archbishop is
spelled differently from the name given
by the priest himself Moreover. the real
Of Toledo is Don Miguel Pa
va Rico, and the pretentious seals are
probably not counterfeits, but extempora-
neous designs
Most Clever schemer.
The last communication on the subject
which reached the department Of state Is
rom an attorney at law in Nebraska. He
gives a modification of the scheme, which
vas attempted in 1888 In this case a pre
ended Catholic priest had learned at ths
Confessional that prisoner condemned foH
heft from the queen Of Spain There is al
ways an insinuation of the manner in
which the bogus treasure was come byf
lad died leaving concealed in America
arge amount of money, of which eonsid-
rable part he wished to leave to a banker
n Nebraska, if the latter would act as his
xecutor.
This particular banker showed the letteR
o an attorney, wh0 investigated tha
natter and saved the loss of money. The
ttempt was renewed last November upon
mother banker of the same city. The ola
tory was again modified, the names werv
hanged, and the place of writing was
Ialencia, instead Of Bilboa, but the hand
rriting was the same as in the first casa
he same attorney led the parties along I'm
while he in the meantims
ft..A4 . L..