The Washington bee., 1899-06-24
ROIHSCH|ID FREE AGAIN
Western Convict Liberated
From Penitentiary After Sew
eral Years Incarceration.
A DESPERATE CRIMINAL.
Under Some Forty or Fifty Aliases
Abe RothSchiId Has an Interna-
tional Reputation.

Hanging by the Liberal Use of Money
jew elers' Protective Association N Ads
it Hot for Him and He Turned Gambler.
The steel bars which have for sew
eral years confined Abe Rothschild in
the Missouri State Penitentiary have
been lifted and the prisoner once again
breathes the fresh air of freedom. Ap-
parently his freedom will be of short
duration. as, by the terms of his con-
victiOn, he is required to leave the
country Immediately upon being re-
leased or he can be rearrested and
tried upon several other indictments
which are pending against him.
ROthSchild, under some forty or fifty
aliases, has an international reputa-
ton, obtained while he was engaged
in acquiring other peoples property
without going through the fOrmality
of paying for it. He is known all over
the civilized world as a criminal who
has had more narrow escapes from
getting his just deserts than any other
man known to the police of this cOun-
try or Europe. ROthSchild has the
further distinction of having been con-
victed Of murder and escaping hang
Ing only by the liberal use of money
and influence upon a second trial
He is product of the West. as are
many successful criminals, having
been born in st. Louis forty-seven
years ago.
He first came into public notice in
1871, when he married a woman
known in the West as Diamond BeS-
sic" Moore. and induced her to go to
Jefferson, Tex, where he registered at
a hotel as "A. Monroe and wife, Gin
cinnati." They remained at the hotel
hut a few days when Mrs. RothSchild
disappeared. and Abe, telling the hotel
proprietor that his wife was visiting
friends took his trunks and went to
Cincinnati. a few days after the body
of the unfortunate young woman was
found in the woods a short distance
from the hotel She had been shot
through the head and stripped of dia-
monds and jewelry.
Abe ROthschild shot himself on the
steps of a gambling house in Cincin-
natl on the evening of February IL.
1917. and upon his recovery from the
wound was arrested and taken to Tex
as for trial. The trial resulted in con-
victiOn and a sentence to hang but
later il was set aside, and after an i'm
priSOnment of three years RothSchild
secured his liberty and the murder OF
Diamond Bessie remained un-
avenged.
He engaged in many swindleS, his
usual mOdus Operandi being to take
the name of a prominent merchant
who was we'll rated in the commercial
agencies. Then he would seEd to other
merchants. principally diamond deal
ers. orders for goods to be shipped to
the town where the prominent mer-
chant did business. Then addressing
a letter to himself under the name of
the merchant he had selected he would
incloSe n number of drafts for a large
amount and mail it, following the let
ter Immediately.
Arriving in the town he would ask
at the postOffice for the letter which he
would allege he expected He would
express surprise to learn of the exist
ence of the merchant of the same
name but would at once call upon him
and introduce himself, dwelling upon
the coincidence of the similarity Of
names Then he would ask for the let
ter which he had reason to believe had
been delivered to the merchant. and aS
the merchant would have no reason
to become suspicious, he would turn it
over.
The rest was easy for man OF
ROthSchild's unlimited resources. He
would ask the merchant TO hold any
parcels reaching him by registered
mail which were not intended for him.
and within a few days would receive
the diamonds and jewelry he had or
1ered and would leave the town. The
swindIe would not be discovered for mt
least thirty days when the diamond
brokers who had shipped the goods
would send in their statements and
the merchant would learn Of the huge
swintlle which had been successfully
perpetrated.
The Jewelers. Protective Association
sent circulars broadcast warning their
clients against Rothschild. but he sue
ceeded in reaping a rich harvest be
fore publicity made it dangerous for
him to work. Then he developed into
a gambler and frequented the race
tracks. making money rapidly.
He was a plunger. and several "kill-
ings" in the betting ring were engi-
neered hy him. He amassed fortune
and sailed for Europe, where he soon
became well known on all the English
and French race tracks. Luck turned
d0ilHSt Hill, lllOuSI- anu ditti "a iOii~
campaign he became ''bLoke' and
again turned his attention to swim
ding He finally fed to Ontario To o.
cape the United States authorities.
who were hot on his tracks. but be
was arrested and taken to Missouri.
where he was wanted On several
charges.
1t was stipulated when be was ex-
tradited that he could only be tried
on two charges. and he was convicted
and sentenced to four years in the
Jefferson City PenitentiaFy. which
time he has served. Rothschild has
only one eye. an artificial one occupy
in. TIE place-of the other. which he
shot ont when he attempted suicide
prior to his arrest for the killing of
Diamond Bessie" in 1877.
Evolution and JnyoIutIOn
They afterward thought that the I'm
conscious Imbecile purposely directed
the conversation TO the subject Of eyo-
luton and environment.
Certainly" the Lay Figure had as
sented. II am aware that climatic CON
ditiOns operate sometimes to retard
the course of evolution. but it is new
TO me that they have ever reversed the