The evening times., 1896-04-30

| Francis j. Alvany, better known as
HUNGRY joe" u .crook' who has oftei
been driven from Washington, and who II
| serving term in the Maryland peDiteDtiar,
on the charge OF having buncoed william
| Il. Rausemer, of No. 221S McCuiloh street
Baltimore, out of $1,000 on December
| 1890, will he Il free man on June 20.
He was committed TO prison IN Baitl
| more under the name OF W. Z. HOWARD
| This celebrated crook has been an exem
| plary prisoner, and when he leaves the por
tails OF the institution that has screened
him from the outside world for nearly sia
years, he will take with him the good wishes
| of Warden Weyler and all of the other OF
| ricers in the penitentiary.
HUNGRY joe has always declared his
innocence in the BIDsemer case. Whei
| he was first put in prison he made iohe
| statement, in which he showed thit Ut
was in New York when Bansciner was
| robbed, and said that his conviction was
all brought about by Supt. Byrnes' OF New
York, who had malice sainst him-
..Hupgry Joe'' made that statene nj
nearly six years ago, and he auheres to II
TO this day. Shortly after his incarcera
ton Joe expressed the desire To nave ms
opinion OF the case and trial Ventilated
and after some days a reporter was grant
ed an interview with the prisoner. He
said:
Il am as innocent OF the crime for which
/ am now serving time as you are, and had
! been granted the opportunity to bring
witnesses from New York, l could easily
have proven that on the day Mr.. Bansemer
was robbed was in the city of New York.
DECLARES HIS INNOCENCE.
"True, l pleaded guilty. but what else
could l do? / was brought to Baltimore
Oh Friday and hurried to trial on Tues
day. on the day preceding that on which
/ was convicted my couD Dsei came to me
and advised me to plead guilty, otherwise
! would be sent up for the full term OF
fifteen years. i begged for more time lu
open court, but when that was denied me
| was compelled to confess myself guilty
OF crime of which ] was as Innocent as
q babe unborn. lEa
CRITICISM OF PROCEED ING.
IAN the proceedings against me We're
entirely irregular. In the first place,
was not identified. on the night of my
arrest IN New York / was hurried TO head
quarters, and from there transferred TO
the precinct station-house. Here / re-
mained in close confinement until the ar
rival of Capt. Freeburger and the man from
whom it was stated, hired the wagon
These people tiadsprcyiously been o.
formed of the coluf OF my overcast and the
fact that | wore a silk hat. as unfair ou
the part OF Inspector Byrnes as t was
unprofe essioual. Nevertheless, when hur-
ried into their prese nee it was only after
much hesitation tina the livery stable
keeper said he thought ! was the man.
Then when Mr.. Bansemer came he, too,
was told of my attire, and yet when brought
IN with Sc ven others, only one OF whom wore
a silk hat, and his face was smoothly
shayen, Mr.. Bansemer could not identity
me.
Later / was again brought before him.
with only two others, and then, after looking
me over again, he placed his hand on my
shoulder and. turning about, sat down
This was my Identification. Inspector
Byrnes knows as well as / that / had
nothing TO do with the affair. and SO in
his heart does Marshal Frey.
"Byrnes has grudge against me which
dates back some years. 1t was on ac-
count OF some money matters. had made
some $4,000 in Chlcago-but never mind
that. II was disposed to tell all knew
the public would have less confidence in
Inspector Byrnes. If he had received all
he deserves, he, and not I, would today be
serving time.
HE made his reputation by sending
for robbing the Manhattan Bank, and
know that Hope is innocent Of that crime.
1t has long been Tom Byrnes aim TO do
me, and this was his opportunity. 1t
was he who prevented me from engag ging
in legitimate business.
when / called at the office of New
York paper and stated that / intended to
follow an honest calling, ! told the truth.
had been offered $50, 900 to go into the
booknia king business, but Byrnes stepped
in and broke me up. He pulled me down
at every turn. This is n true story of my
conviction and should prove my innocence
OF this crime, which, by the way, even ac-
cording to the evidence, is not even con-
structive larceny, but simply gambling"
HIS FORMER CAREER.
"King of the Bunco Men, His real name
is Francis ]. Alyany, and he was born in
this city. He is also known as Joseph
Lewis, Henry F. Post, w. c. Howard
and many othfr aliases. Being good
talker, and of a gentiemanly appearance,
he always played for big game, and seemed
to take pride in his crooked profession.
He hailed originally from Chicago, but
worked in the east for many years. He
is about forty-four years Of age. and is
five feet thr rec inches in height. He
gained much notoriety by swindling 0s-
car Wilde during that eccentric individ-
uars visit to the United States. Joe and
Oscar were close cfpInfs for about one week.
They lunched and dined at the cafe of
the Hotel Bruins wick yand took frequent
drives. Joe then attempted confidence
game on Oscar, in which the latter said he
was fleeced out OF $4,000. Oscar did not
give Joe the monty, But check on the
Second National Bank Of New York.
Discovering the scheme. he stopped pay
ment on the check. In 1 $50 Joe was ar
rested in Detroit for, shooting Billy Flynn,
a notorious character but was discharged
because q verdict vas given that the shoot
ing was in self-defense. He was mixed
I'D in any number of cases. and on May 27,
1885. was arrested in New York city for
bunco business.
The charge was for swindling Joseph
Ramsden, an English tourist, out of $3.50.
In this case he pleaded guilty and was
sentenced to four years in the State prison
nv Recorder myth