The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-04-14
DUPES OF SHARPERS.
Country POStmaSteTS Used to Carry
Out Cheating Schemes.
Plausible Devises For the Unwary.
The Kind of People Caught in the
Traps-Trials of Postmasters.
From the Washington Star.

From the Washington Star.
The mistakes of country postmasters
give endless trouble and anxiety to the
postoffice department at Washington.
For example, there is the business of
giving information to swindlers. Dis
honest persons write to postmasters all
over the union offering gold watches or
valuable books in exchange for lists of
the names of people who get mail at their
post offices. In this way they get hold of
innumerable alive addresses" among
which to distribute their fraudulent ad-
vertisements. The government of late
has been trying hard to put a stop to this
scheme.
The rural postmaster furnishes the list
required of him and waits hopefully for
his watch 1t is hardly necessary to saw
that he never receives 1t. Meanwhile,
complaints of the sharper have reached
the posJofice department. He is doing
business, maybe, from Jersey City. The
postmaster there is instructed to hold his
mail unless he will identify himself. This
frightens him and he fails to comply. His
letters go to the dead letter Office, where
the are opened. The postmaster's list
of names being found in one of the en-
velopes, sharp note is sent to hin, ask
ing what excuse he has for violating the
regulations, which positively forbid the
giving of such information.
Nevertheless, in the perpetual struggle
that is maintained between the posto u1ce
department and swindlers who conduct
their enterprises through the mails, the
latter have steadily the best of it. Now
and then one of them is caught and pun
ished. but such an occasional episode does
not seriously interfere with this species
of criminal activity. Many complaints
have come in recently to the ehect that
poStmasters are selling lists of names and
that respectable persons in various parts
of the country are receiving Objectionable
medical pamphlets and fraudulent litera-
ture in quantities. Those petty govern
ment officials, in fact, too often serve in
nocently as Intermediates between swim
dlers aud the people. They are utilized
as cat's-paws for working all manner of
fakes and skin games" at the expense
of confding public.
ESTATES IN ENGLAND.
At one of the most remarkable of such
frauds an effective blow has been dealt
by the arrest and conviction, few weeks
ago, OF man whose ingenious tricks have
puzzled the police here and abroad for a
number of years past. This was the in
dividual who. under the name of William
Lord Moore, conducted a so-called claim
agency in London, advertising to pro-
cure in England legacies estates amount
ing TO many millions of dollars
for persons in this country al
legged to be entitled to them. OF
course the saiu estates and legacies
were wholly mythical. The method
adopted was to send to country poStmas-
tiers all over the United States circulars
which they were req uested to tack up in
conspicuous places The documents thus
distributed gave notice that large sums
were due to persons who were believed
to reside in that vicinity, wherever it
might be.
Naturally, the number of answers sent
in response TO these circulars was enor-
nous. Persons who replied in the hope
that they might be entitled to- the for
tunes referred to, were informed that
they were happily not mistaken But,
before their claims could be acted upon,
they were required to send S25 to William
Lord Moore, in London, for preliminary
expenses. The money being forwarded,
nothing more was heard OF it. Undoubt-
edly the sharper gained an immense sum
in this way. He gave no end Of worry to
the postoffice department, which was
helpless, because the circulars and letters
were mailed in England. The British
authorities, being asked for help, became
gtodIly lnuSrtSJcu III pn6 CdSC' oub uuO
Scotland Yard detectives tried for years
in vain to hunt William Lord Moore to
his hole. Efforts equally fruitless were
made o corner a person called Leger
who acted as Moores agent in New York
Finally Moore was run down in London
and, England being too hot to hold
HIM, he skipped away to the United
States. He was captured in Chicago, but
escaped from themarshal who had him in
charge.
Before finishing the story it is neces-
sary to 60 back about twenty years and
review the romantic career of a person
known as the Rev. George Frederick Bur
goyne Howard. He was an Englishman,