Sharp County record. (Evening Shade, Ark.) 1877-1976, 1899-12-01
II fraud Witbin a fraud

VOHN WILD naQ lived 1Or several
ii years in Kimberley at the palmy
period when sovereigns were literally
as plentiful as shillings are to-day in
many an English town Of similar popu-
lation. He had been engaged in man
agerial capacity, from which he real
lied fair income.
Thirty pounds month was not con-
sidered an extravagant salary to men
of class who in this country would
consider themselves well recompensed
at 80 shillings a week. When he
reached the fields from England he was
as hoAest as the average clerk, and
fully meant to remain so. But every
body lived high" in those days. The
clerk and the shop assistant ate, drank,
dressed, smoked and otherwise recre-
ated after fashion which in these
isles would be considered the height of
folly to anyone with an income of less
than C 1900 a year. Extravagant hab-
its were everywhere engendered. Men
who had previously considered bottled
ale luxury got used to dry cham
payne at Is shillings per bottle.
The result was inevitable, and might
have been foreshadowed. Indulgence
in alcohol, except in strictest modera-
ton, almost invariably induces some
loss of self-respect, and it is not sur
prsing that Johns moral principles
deEenerated during his residence on
the fields. Temptation to dishonesty
in Illicit diamond dealing lurked at al
most every corner, and many erstwhile
good men, in their haste to become rich,
fell and are to-day leading the con-
g. life, among some of the vilest on
,.A. on the Cape Town breakwater.
John Wild had many burst and
committed many peccadilloes, but of
actual crime against the law he kept
aloof. Still, when he got to the end of
his tether-that is, when fast living
had rendered him so nerveless that his
occupation was gone, he experienced a
pang at the sight of persons around
him in the height Of prosperity who
had neither toiled nor spun, and who
Of natural ability had less than him
4'f
.verything, however, impelled him
20 leave the perilous place before he
vas left, like hundreds of Others COM
Eletely on the rocks or Micawberizing,
and with only a few pounds in his pock-
ct, but trihe better in health, he
found himself in London again, There
it was neither easy to reenter his
former groove nor to adapt himself to
his former Surroundings
What he was able to obtain as remun-
Grafton for his efforts seemed pittance
after the high living to which he had
got accustomed on the diamond fields.
He soon grew dreadfully disconnected,
and open to almost any opportunity
that would land him back again in the
glamour Of fast life. That opportunity
soon came.
John was just the man for whom
"syndica,e' was looking. They had
learned how diamonds OF the value Of
sometimes hundreds OF thou
sands Of pounds-were lodged in the
miserable galvanized iron office Of Kim
.r diamond merchants. The latter
.r.. ell enough themselves that their
,,aents were no protection whatever
.,,a,nst the midnight marauder but
they felt they could rely upon their
safes, Of which each had at least one
Of the best. And their confidence was
justified, for although attempts at bur-
glary were, despite elaborate police pro-
lection, frequent, rarely were they sue
Cessful.
So the plan OF the Syndicate" was to
export TO Kimberley number Of safes
Of approved pattern and with the GUS
tomary kind of keys. Only Of the lat
ter the syndicate was 10 retain dupl-
Gates. These safes were to be sold to
diamond dealers, u necessary, at
heavy discount. When these safes had
got into use and had got lodged in them
good stock Of the glittering gems the
offices were to be raided by two expert
enced oraclGsmen sent out with the tex.
petition" who, with the duplicate keys,
would easily make grand haul,
John was not long in tumbing to the
plant" and he was just the man to 20
out as n salesman of the safes. The
scheme was deliberately planned, and
with six safes the expedition" Of three
persons was soon en- voyage. There was
OF course much delay In getting tho
heavy safes from Cape Town to Kimber.
ley q distance Of GOO miles, the greater
part OF which had then 10 be covered
by the cumbersome ox-wogon,
Once on the iielde, nevertheless, John
speedily es"nyed business lie an.
nounced In the Advertiser and lnde.