Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1898-07-16

AIlEMfI III MILL BlkhlN.
money lenders whose names he had for
gotten. 1t is believed that Callan, the
money lenders and Monsoon were all &C.
completes in a conspiracy to murder Biz
kin.
Monson, who is not yet 35 years old, is
credited with having ruined more young
men than any other person in England.
He Is the most conspicuous character in
the fast set Of young men who pervade the
music halls and night clubs of London.
His notoriety alone is sufficient to attract
attention from many newcomers to the
metropolis Monsoon is hand in glove with
more young noblcmen than any other man
in London. He knows all the fast sciOns
Of the great houses who come to London
in the season.
When one Of them comes into his titles
and estates, he is, if disposed to go the
pace, soon found in Monson's company,
and rs long as his money lasts he is sur
rounded by seeming friends. But there is
nothing new in swindling spendthrift
of his money. What has made Monsoon
notorious is the number of suspicious
deaths in which he has been concerned
These were all the deaths Of influential
young men who were friends Of his and
| who had recently been insured for enOr-
| nous sums of money.
He is supposed to be the originator and
chief of gang of censpirators now oper-
| ating in England with the object of vic
| timizing British and American insurance
| companies, trust companies and similar
| financial institutions. Tho young noble
men with whom Monson associates attract
| to him great numbers of untitled sons of
| the wealthy classes. Among these people
| in England it is no unusual thing for sin
| gle individuals to carry life assurances Of
| $3.50, 900 to 100000 They have also un.
| der British law disposing power over large
| sums of money dependent upon another
| life, SO that the deaths of people who never
knew Monson may benefit his victims or
himself.
| London was for a long time puzzled to
know what MOnsOn was up to- Every
body who met him-and he knows thou
sands of people in London-was assured
| that here was man who would never lie
idle. His face is full of resolution and
| energy. He has a strong character and Is
| natural leader. One of his most surpris-
ing characteristics is his power over young
| men almost after the first meeting. He
exercises a great and peculiar fascination
1t was supposed for time that Monson
WAS living an extravagant life upon the
money he acquired through the death of
Hambrough, but after time the records
of the bankruptcy court-that great clear
ing house for broken fortunes and ruined
noblemen--began to throw his name to
the surface
Almost every young swell who came
into the bankruptcy court was a friend of
Monson. Most of them We're indebted to
him. In great many cases he it was
who encouraged them to squander their
fortunes and then introduced them to the
money lenders The mere fact that q man
was bankrupt was no geason why he
shouldn't have plenty of money if he were
friend of Monson. Did he not have a
life insurance policy? Was he not heir to
some property in which some other living
person had a life interest? Was he not
heir to an entailed estate, no matter how
far removed? These were only d few of
the forms of property upon which Monson
knew how to raise plenty Of ready cash
One must remember that there is no
usury law in England, and that rates of
interest as high as IS per cent or 100 per
cent or Suo per cent are legal ana can be
collected by law if cnce the signature of
the victim is secured
The majority of Monson's victims are
never heard of in the law courts. as their
families pay almost any sum of money to
save the family honor. 1t is, however, a
far more serious matter in which he is
now concerned.
This is what is known rs the Tangier
mystery 1t bears a striking resemblance
in some of it's features to the Artilamon,
mystery. Both are also suggestive of the
celebrated Burcbell-Pelly murder case,
which occurred near Woodstock, Ont, a
few years ago and excited both continents
In that case Reginald Burchell, an Oxford
man of good family, like Monson, dccoyed
young Ens.ishmen to Canada TO murder
them. Ho was tried and convicted for the
murder of Douglas Raymond Pelly and
was duly hanged. The Tangier mystery i:
being closely investigated at the present
time by the Scotland Yard police.
Herbert Birkin, the victim Of the Tan