The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-05-23
MAY CHAMBERLAIN, BUYER.
STORY OF THE SBINDLER VINO
JOINED THE BROOKLYN J. ". G. 4.

Five OF the most notorious swindlers In the
United States stood at tho bar yesterday in Part
!. Of the General Sessions and pleaded guilty to
indictments charging them with ATTEMPTED
forgery. Among the nvo was Mrs. Ruth How
ard. n young woman who. for the past three
years. has been n member OF various swim
ding gangs. The Others were George YAH
rington. Herman l.. Cohen. Charles Pollock
and William Price. Tho gang operated last
under the firm name " wv. Is. Demlng 4 Co.."
having an Office In the Hudson building at -
Broadway. They were arrested in March last
by detectives OF the Central Onlce. They had
swlndled hundreds Of business men by pre-
tending to be the rcputable.lrm Of William Is.
Deming 4 Co.. dealers In railway supplies at
81 Exchange place.
After they had pleaded guilty. yesterday
Cohen. Warrington and Price each got II light
sentence OF six months in the penitentiary.
imposed by Judge Mcmahon. Iollack asked
TO be romanded for Il few days and was sent
back TO the Tombs.
George Robinson. who APPEARED az counsel
for the Howard woman. asked Judge McSlahon
to deal leniently with her. saving that she had
already been in the Tombs for three months
and that she had made Il confession which re-
suited in the running down OF the gang.
Judge Mcmahon sent her back to The Iombs
for the purpose OF inuuiring into her case.
Mrs. Howard was stylishly dressed when she
was arTaigned in court. crowd OF young
women who are engaged in missionary work
swarmed around her and told her to cheer up.
Mrs. Howard was arrested on March II. ar
ter the spurious firm had closed its doors.
She told Chief McClusky tina, in February the
gang had succeeded In ouerating to the eS-
tent OF about S5O.OOU. 1t was connected. she
said. with other gangs Of swindlers in the
leadiEg.cities One. gang would indorse the
promissory notes Of the.other.and also write
letters OF recommendation.
Mrs. Howard said that she was born in
Julesburg. Col. and that after finishing her
school in st. Paul. There she met John Agee.
a travelling salesman. and married, him. He
1Ieg ana as s"e buyer Muai Tor Marshall II Field 4 70.
She, became acquainted with a real estate
around swlndler and who used the name otG.
j. Russ and also Charles Howard. lie took
o or s Is H0.''T THEN they returned to Chicago
and finally came East, WORKING Pig sWlndi,hE
sing Sing. where , he !. nnow, Mrs Mrs II H? .How
New York and opened an office in a downtown
building. where they went ahead swindiing.
Will he was i in the Tombs awaiting trial
Mrs. Howard called upon him and tntCrmed
money in a Denver bank. Martin employed
Richard F. Price to defend, him AMI lrice
f Trise a 20 dT sse o on:th rs Denver Der iS"! NATIONAL @H' BANK Tor
$4,000. The lawyer. 1t is; alleged kept the
grand larceny. but has not been tried.
Mrs; Howard became acIuainted with VII.
liam Price Nr Th0 ' FIic. he D TSs a sF0 h.p to Of H the
mar. Cohen. who has some nine indictments
pending, against him. Cohen had been, a
s svrnM GSoHSSss1nnsas" . and he also has been
arrested for connection with LAWYER Henry
'lSs Hnt (. co6 Ha9 t 20 ( Mrs. Hoxa 9I% q an !"
swlndiinS: Ho tod her ihss ths nm 81 VII
had a rating at BradstIrrTS Of S30O.0Oo ami
that it would be an easy matter to open an Of;
He told Mrs, ,Howari that ali she would have
to do would be to 20 around and huy, goods on
f Ser xavy ne tI tSlf h hsF 'h h.r bark hsF '{pyi, n; s Ses' snd
the iuency Of her compensation would certain
y be m! most n0 yaI%9 ABLE in It the "l new s win nnMs sa l%in
several relic ious societies ana pose as Il rep
utable business woman.
Joined the Young Women's Christian Associa-
ton. She also Joined the Daughters OF Tenn
pArancs and several other women's societies.
good graces Of many well-knovn women
and then she began to collect letters OF intro.
duction. WHICH she used later on as a member
Mrs. Howard's new name was Miss May
Chem b sr IL. er Her Of sa re 4 Sei Tsminp G 4 Co as
Within SHfSr I a.fe SHS aa aFm large e! pack a. . OF goods be be-,
gan ~to.arriye at the Hudson building addressed
s sRa nM, WHO \; p semi Goods q Con on credit smPT %.r eE some nsG Of
the most prominent in the city; Ths buyer
for R the firm t GsiIss ugSn bG HIo 4 i xs1' snS eoi
twelve IIse0ddt DOZEN SIX sEirt.. worth 500. Wien
the Arm asked her for references she referred
s shat the Mu firm OF " william iHH 1si j. SemiuS ak" / Co. 5o" were
Mrs. Howard was thanked for her patron
age. As she was passing out she noticed that
r room A I'm the N same i ofhc., s so she Sou MsS SOD
worth OF trousers; On The foIlowing day she
that she was looking for sealskln garments,
She wanted to know Of some reliable furTier
S SnS E See a i Gsa, n] Of in,rod M'tf nI 70 A. i FfI. "n%
OF 7l3 Broadway. Going there. Mrs. Howard
S Ses IN s5 swo e Tsss s sSs t Wsn, Ss aro of iu rs y "a.
fur establishment Of Ruszits in Mercer street
S and got { Sis $500 % T Y6. hr9 of o in W. + fhe sS,,a :ne I a tS'
I los Reade street and to "harles broadway
Rouss' getting eSdn .S goods IsI from m each fo Fl these ( e9 On
at % Mercer street and bought more, goods
without money Within ou q fey weeks KEEL s she sue e;
goods in this way. In the meantime HeSrge
F. YHrrineto1. ThG had - ,}II neG the swGi H,nd G g
fourishing business along the same lines.
Then The entire gang d nS,aI care !; leaving
f fc tyre i" writer the FIJI s"a S en- HIiiSs 10y About 5o the us III,
time, the real firm Of W; Deming \ Co, be;
gan reeeiSinG o rta iof tne G"9ds + sent 10 me &c
the Hudson, building. An army OF creditors
and the, police found the poor Typewriter girl
anxiously waiting for the return OF her en-
ployers, She only knew Cohen as Mr.. Dem
Ing and to all uers.ns who inquired at the
town but would certainly come back in a few
days.
Capt. McClusky secured a description OF
Miss chamberlain, buyer, Detectives Me,
Conville and Pcrpcrted OF the Central Office
traced her to BroOklyn. where r. their sur
prise thev found her 20 lie Mrs. Howard
whose past history had been known to them
Cohen's record would III n book. lie re.
Gently testified in rho General Sessions as {
witness for the District Attorney and under
oath said that he was n thief but hoIed to re
form. He gave this testimony at n time TheT
he was n member Of the spurious leming \
10, but the District Attorney evidently did no
know who his witness was.
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PiID 4 FIKE DETECTITE.
Then a Cab starter became Suspicious an,