The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1902-06-21
THEY NEEDED
SOME MONEY
Two Men Arrested for an
Alleged Confidence Game.
BROTHER WAS DEAD
They Did Not Have the Cash
to Take His Body Home.
BROTHER WAS DEAL

A. H. Thompson and Ed Williams are
locked in the city Jail with the charge
ot vagrancy against them, but the real
charge is that they tried to work an old
German farmer out of fifty dollars. Chas.
Sternberg is a German. a farmer. about
sixty years of age. and lives near OF
tawa, Mimi, and was on his way to
Kingnsher. o. T.. to visit relatives. He
stopped off in this city to await a Rock
Island train yesterday. and had not been
in town two hours until he had found two
young men. well dressed and apparently
young professional men. To them this
German probably looked easy for it IS
alleged that they tried to work the dead
brother racket on him and get fifty dol
lars. These two men. said Stern
berg to the police, seemed to be in
great trouble and of course I asked them
what was the matter. They said that
their brother died day before yesterday.
and that they lived in Missouri They
came out here TO take the brothers re-
mains back to their old home. but found
that they did not bring money enough to
pay the funeral expenses. They said the
undertaken just robbed them and they
lacked fifty dollars of having enough to
pay the undertaker's fee and the railway
fare Of the corpse to their home. They
said they had return tickets. One of
them had a check for seven hundred
dollars which they said I could keep as
security if 1 would lend them fifty dollars,
-
send me the money and I could return
the check. The men told me they did not
know a soul in this town. and they could
not get this check cashed. as they could
not be identified. They pleaded with me
to loan them the money. and just then
the policeman walked up and took them
to the station"
Mr.. Sternberg would not stay in this
city to prosecute the men, as they did not
get any money from him, and he left for
Kingfisher over the $40 train. The men
were taken to the station and ''vagged,
and their trial will come off this morn
ing, and if convicted they will be given
an opportunity TO think over the ways OF
the police of this city, as they pound rock
for the street department. They are both
we'll dressed, but only IS cents could be
found on them when arrested. Both are
we'll known to the police as very smooth
confidence men. They have never operat-
ed in this city before, but their reputa-
ton has gone before them and the police
were on the lookout for them. They
landed in Wichita Thursday evening. and
ever since that time have been under the
surveillance of the officers, who waited
until they tried their hand at their IA
vorite game and then pulled them.
Mike Casey and T. ]. Welsh were each
fined S25 in police court yesterday after
room for vagrancy. These men also tried
to work a confidence game on E. q.
Carr. harvest hand who dropped into
Wichita yesterday morning TO look for
work Mr.. Carr is over sixty years of
age. but is hale and hearty. and was
raised in Missouri, -but during the past
few years has Travelled over the country
a good deal, and since winter has been
in South Dakota. He wanted work in
& harvest field, and these men said they
owned a threshing machine outfit that
they were going to ship up into Reno
county They hired Mr.. Carr to haul
" ater for them at s2.25 per day. The
machine was to be shipped last night. In
the Rock Island yards several threshing
outfits stand and the men said that one
of the machines belonged 10 them He
hired out to the men and signed their con-
tract. Then they wanted him to put up
two dollars for railroad fare. He parleyed
with them while and was about ready
TO give up the two dollars when they
said that one dollar would pay the BILL
and then he 'tumbled' and as some Of the
men in McCarty's saloon had noticed the
two fellows trying 10 set the money. they
reported them to the police who arrested
the men. AS Mr.. Carr had made a con-
tract to go west last night, the men were
tried Immediately and given fine and
sent to jail because they did not have the
TO pay the bill presented By
the police judge. Both men were shaobiiy I
dressed. and looked the part Of the hobo, /
Instead Of owners of threshing outfit in /
southern Kansas