Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1896-02-08
London Done Up
By a Bogus Earl.

Julian Ralph, the famous American
journalist, now representing the New
York Journal i'm London, writes his
paper as follows:
The officers Of one of the city banks
have been annoyed for nearly a year
by the frequent presentation of checks
bearing The signature Wilton" and
always presented by ladies' who have
had 10 be informed that no such per
son was known TO the bank: they. in
their turn. insisting that Wilton was
the Earl Of Wilton and had given the
checks in the course of peculiar trans
actions. At last this led to the ar
rest Of Adolf Beck, q Norwegian,
whose case has been furnishing some
peculiar matter in the Westminster
Police Court on his frequent appear
anceS before the bar IL appears that
NE has an office in Victoria street.
Westminster. and says he is a gold
mine promoter who came here from
Colon in 1885 with a concession for
selling the Galapagos Islands to Great
Britain. He says he was a major in
the Peruvian army and fought side by
side with Colonel North, the nitrate
king. He is charged with flching
jewelry and valuables from many young
women.
His case shows that there is as good
a field for playing the part of a bogus
lord i'm London as there is i'm the most
distant English colonies, for, if the
testimony is true. he carried on the
deception for nearly a year with unin-
terrupted success in the very neigh
borhOOd where lords are thickest. All
the world loves a lOrd-at least all the
feminine world d0eS-and I'm London
lords are much less accessible to the
masses than they are even in New
York, where they are fewer in num-
her and more democratic in habits
Beck has been reranded and brought
u0 o~9in no less than seven times, and
e~Cl time the witness box has been
kept all a-tremble by the excitement
or the feminine victims who have fol-
lowed one another i'm giving informa-
tiOn against him. Their names are
an KEPT secret. because many are we'll
TODD and respectable: in fact. nearly
an are respectable women, though
others OF several sorts ara I'm the
throng. Their testimony shows that
Beck met them on the streets or fol-
lowed them into their houses, and by
dattCry and plausible stories got them
TO strip themselves of their jewels and
hand them over to him.
Hsre Is a sample Of the testimony:
a lady entering the witness box gave
her name o1 paper. She said she lived
I'm P.ccadilly. ana one Saturday after
MON IN January she ms- the prisoner.
He sad she was a very charming wo-
mln. He asked her card. and arranged
~ call the following afternoon. The
59v following a telegram came pu-pCrt-
ing TO t5 from The Carlton Club, TO the
effect .A3t the gentleman would call
Tim prisoner called and had tea the fol-
lowing afternoon. and said he had q
most lovely es.ablslm N ST. johns
Wc.I That he rad QuarTellsd with his
mistress. ana tha- he would Ike wit
r~7s 70 take charge Of his place. as he
r7d s., many stylish friends en- the
S--,l1 Exchange. He also sad thai She
was not dressed gr1rdly enough fer his
position. and requested her TO get him
note p2Dar 10 maxi out list OF aer
-equ.reueats IN tabernacle dresses
e.c. He made CHE the list, and asked
VIA iew=lry she possessed She told
him not much. and he said ne would
v-..e q chsck for eos. He wrote sort
O. check en- blank paper. bui the sigma
ru~a Looked Ike a scr3wl. He tc3n said
she mus have some diamonds. and t22,
be we-ced &C. borrow a ring for the size
OF her fng-r. She was net going 20
p7-- Wen s-- welding r.rg. Sc she Dor
r1wcda small gold buckle r-ng from hs-