The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1893-12-13

IL
only other way of raising the money
would be by selling the property for
taxes at ruinous sacrifice.
Yours respectfully,
| JOSEPH LEGER.
Following is sample of the de-
| cree:
THE SUPREME COURT CHANCERY.
Whereas, the decree heretofore made
in favor of Mrs. - is hereby con-
iirmed and tho title to the property
declared vested in the said Mrs. -
forever, no person having appeared in
tho time specified to dispute said title.
wherefore the official representative of
| this court, to wit: Joseph Leger. at
present in America, is hereby com
manded to notify the said Mrs -
ana after receiving the taxes on lega-
clcs and bequests to issue possession
papers and to report to this Court at
| once.
(Signedl De TONGUE, Chancellor.
Aug. 20, 1892.
Amount OF taxes, United States
money, $35.
(Seal) G. w. RAWLINGS, Assessor.
THE POLICE TAKE A HAND.
me real cause OF Williams retire
mcnt to watering place was not so
much fatigue, the result of the arduous
iabors in " looking up this claim" as
the fact that the London police had
been apprised of his little scheme to
ROB the unsophisticated. A letter to
ono of the claimants from the Scotland
Yard authorities says that William
Lord Moore" alias "Felix Howard"
was swindler, and left England for
America about the time Joseph Leger
began to figure in New York. About
the same time the United States post
Office department learned of the opera
| tions of the gang in New York. Ever
on the alert, the schemers got wind of
an Intended arrest and decamped hur-
ricdly.
An examination of scores of letters
| written by William Lord Moore, Felix
Howard, Joseph Leger. e. Ross and
| others concerned in the conspiracy
| shows that the text of all is about the
same. They were all dictated by the
same person. Some of the claimants
| failed to pay the bonds required, but
many of them did, and enough money
was paid to aggregate probably several
hundred thousand dollars for the
| schemers.
HOWARD AS a LAWYER.
About this time the Rev. G. F. B.
| Howard arrived in Jackson, Tenn,
| where he had formerly lived and occu-
pied conspicuous position. He hung
out his shingle as a lawyer. He was q
learned man and had travelled extern
sively. He had some success at the
the prace of law in jackson. but he de-
voted himself more particularly to
arousing the interest of the citizens of
that place to railroad enterprise, the
! Gulf and Tennessee Railway, a pro-
| lect which had been agitated long be-
| fore but never brought to focus. DR..
Howard went at the business energcti-
cally. He went to England to interest
capitalists in it. He organized the
company and was himself made presi-
dent, after which he established elab-
crate offices at Jackson, with many
clerks and assistants.
+ .A6'IFNTLE EEEI. .ER. --4s>71s-r--'
| Between March 25 and april Is,
lSH} several thousand postal cards
wclp mailed from jacobson, Tenn. bear
ing the following:
III may be to your advantage to write
to the president of the Gulf and Ten
ncssee Railway Company, Jackson,
Tenn, who has just returned from
Europe. Send stamped envelope.
These postal cards were sent out to
no persons except those who had been
in correspondence with the London
and New York gang of swindlers
They evoked replies from nearly every
man or woman to whom they were ad-
| dressed. Then letters like the follow
ing were sent out:
Dear Sir While in Europe last
month l earned by accident that you
had tried without success to collect
some money due you over there. l can
be OF assistance to you. as | am now
making specially OF collections in
various parts of the United States and
Europe. visiting Europe once every
year. 1T will be to your advantage to
put the matter into my hands instead
OF giving it to some unknown foreign
collector. Shall look into the matter
for you? | have legal collections over
there and can thoroughly sift your case
without loss of time. | will charge YOU
nothing unless my efforts result in
something of value and Importance to
you, in which event you will find my
charges very moderate.
Yours truly.
G. f. b. HOWARD,
Attorney at Law and President G. and
II. Railway.
p. S.-Send stamp.
SUCKED THEM AGAIN.
These letters were sent out on the
letter heads Of the railway company
whcreon Howard figures as president
OF the company, also collections Il
speciality" They were calculated to
interest the recipients, and they did
not fail of their purpose. So the game
was commenced all over again, and
many shekel dropped into Howard IS
palm Following is a sample bill sent
out by him:
JACKSON, Tenn, May 10, 1893.
Mr.. James II. R
Talmagc, Tex.
DR.. to G. Il. b. Howard.
Office of President G.. & T.. Ry Co.
TO records, certificates, deeds,
Official records and documents
examined preparatory to ad-
vice or legal proceedings $23 O(
Although making a specially of col
lections DR.. Howard did not permit his
railroad enterprise. to lag, but got the
matter to such shape that the citizens
OF jackson were about to vote on a pro
position to give the road cash bonus
OF S6O,OOO in order to secure it, but
some events transpired which brought
these affairs to an abrupt termina
tion.
AT THE END OF HIS ROPE.
Some OF the gillies who had beer
biting continually at the English estate
scheme from the time it was first
sprung in London began to make in
qnirics regarding Howard. The Fed
eral authorities were Interested in the
case. Espionage was placed upon his
actions, his business and his mails