Arizona republican., 1898-04-08
TICHBORNE CLAIMANT DEAD.
Arthur Orton's Remarkable Imposture
 to Get Possession Of an Estate.

London, April 7.-Arthur Orton, the Tichborne claimant, is dead.
 Arthur Orton was at one time the most-talked-of man in England. For months he held the public gaze and by the most audacious and persistent per jury and trickery all but succeeded jn establishing his claim to a baronetcy of the kingdom and to estates valued at S125,000 a year. He even convinced a mother that he was her son. It was only after one of the most remarkable trials in English history that he was at last unmasked and sent to prison He persisted in continuing his role of nobility after his release, but three years ago, for the sake of money paid him by a newspaper, confessed the whole plot.
 Orton was the son Of London butcher who took to the sea and wound up in Australia, where he YVES by turns a butcher, cattle driver and cattle stealer. It was while in Australia that he conceived the idea of making a fight for the Tichborre estates. Roger Charles Tichborne, born on January ,, 1929, was after his fathers death heir to the estates and title of his uncle, Sir Edward oughty-Tichborne The hand of his uncle's daughter hav- ing been refused him in marriage, he sailed away in 1853 to South America He remained in Brazil almost a year and then set sail again for England on the steamship Bella, which was never heard from afterward.
 Thnrnfnro yty6n ,I iv, 1862, Sir Rogers younger brother, AL fred, succeeded to the estate. Sir AL fred died in 1866. and the estate was left in trust to his posthumous son. But meantime Sir Rogers mother. devout Roman Catholic, persisted in the belief that her son still lived. thar some miraculous power had saved him from the sea. She advertised for him the world over. and Orton. who. un- der the name of Thomas Castro, was living. hard pressed for money, in miserable hovel. determined to main tain that he was the long-lost heir.
 Twelve years had passed since the loss of the Bella. but Orton. afte- studying the history of the Tichbornes with the assistance of Englishmen in Australia. who had known them. wrote
 
 She believed him, and sent him money with which to return to Europe He met her in Paris. and without reserva- tion she received him as Sir Roger. The physical differences between the two men were explained by the lapse of years, and. after fortifying her idan- tifcation with an affidavit, Lady Tich- borne died, firm in her belief that Providence had rewarded her faith
 But the heirs were skeptical They resisted the claimants demands He was forced into the courts to substanti- ate his claims, and in the fierce fire of cross examination and rebutting testimony his case went to pieces From 1867 to 1872 the proceedings dragged along, but at last. after 1O3 days of continuous sitting, the highest court in England non-suited him. He was immediately charged with per- jury, and after trial lasting 1S8 days he was sentenced on February 2S. 1874, to fourteen years at penal servitude He was released iii 1884 and. still maintaining the justice of his position, lectured in England. In 1886 he went to America, ostensibly on a featuring tour, but failed to arouse interest He ran out of money. and for time tended bar in New York. He did not remain long. but returned to England where in 1895 he made a detailed confession of his great role of perjurer and i'm postor.