The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-08-13

"A niece of Mrs. Henry Blum" was
the reply.
Why, Mrs. Blum has no niece" said
Desboillons fills.
"What?" exclaimed Desbouiilons
pere, and out he went. Nowhere did
he see his late customer He thought
of Mr.. w. S. Blum, and to his Office
he went. Much excited he told Mr..
Blum the story, and the latter. much
to his regret, had to inform Mr.. Des-
bouillons that his mother had no niece
in this country.
MIR. Desbouillons' next visit was tc
Theus Bros. There he met Mr.. T. ~
Theus, whom he asked If the woman
describing her, had been there. He told
of the trick she had worked. Mr.. Theus
mournfully admitted that his firm, too
had been duped.
The Police Notified.
The police were notified at once. The
superintendent and the detectives got
very busy, seeking some clue to reveal
the womaH's identity. Mr.. Desbouiuons
told about the woman having said that
she was from South Georgia, being
here on visit to her aunt, Mrs. VIII
liams. Though admitting that moth
ing, save the reverse, could
really be argued from this, Mr.. Des-
bouillons and the detectives decided
they would go to the Savannah Union
Station to see if they could not in
tercept their quarry, whom, they
thought likely, might be about to leave
on Atlantic Coast Line train No 25
at 5:15 o'clock for her alleged South
Georgia home. A Morning News rep
resentatiVe was there also. and trips
through the cars were made and a
close scrutiny followed of every one
who entered. This was without avail,
however. The woman was too shrewd
to be caught that way.
Stories of the Victims.
While at the station, both Mr.. Des-
bouillons and Mr. Theus told their
stories. Their first meeting had been
too hurried. as they were anxious to
get the police at work. so they did
not know just exactly what modus
operandi had been worked.
"She got me for more than $780,"
said Mr.. Desbouillons. sorrowfully, only
to have his face frightened at once
by the thought of how bad it might
have been when Mr.. Theus declared
She got me for more than $1,000"
She said her name was Miss Julia
Williams" said Mr.. Theus.
Told me ii was Miss Katie Blum"
said Mr.. Desbouillons.
My note was written in pencil" said
Mr.. Theus.
so was NINE" said Mr.. Desbouil-
Ions. and tightly sealed"
Mine, too" chin1ed in Mr.. Desbouil-
Ions
Had to cut it with a knife"
so did t.
Was "a smooth Customer.
Well sir" said Mr.. Theus to the
newspaper man, "she was certainly a
smooth customer Just as self-possess-
ed, cool and collected as anybody ever
saw. She was an artistic. There was a
manner about her that would have
gone far to relieve any suspicion"
dtamonds s"e get anything besides
Jerusalem! no, she didn't want any
thing else?
"Of course | thought 1t was all right
when she showed me that note from
Mrs Blum said Mr.. Desbouillons. 81
knew that Capt. Blum was good. and
she could have had the whole store"
Van Keuren & Co. and Sternberg &
Co. were asked if the woman had also
victimized them. They replied that
she had not been to them at all.
Mr.. Blum in Ignorance.
Mr.. w. S. Blum was seen, Capt.
Henry Blum being out of the city. 81
cannot imagine who the woman was :"
said Mr.. Blum, MY mother has 70
niece in this country. No, / know
OF no such woman having come to our
nome on any pretense, and [ do not
know where she learned that she could
use my mothers name with such sue
cess. l saw the forged note Mr.. Des-
bouillons had. 1t bore no resem
blance to my mothers handwriting"
On inquiry at the home of Mr. ]. p.
Williams, it was ascertained that both
ne and Mrs. Williams are out of the
city, having left Saturday for a visit
to Kentucky. Mr.. Theus had submit
ted the note at the j. P. Williams
Cos. office where is was pronounced
a fabrication.
Some of the detectives seemed Ia
think it very likely that the woman
was at the De Soto. Haunted by thi.
idea. they went to the hotel, where
they subjected one or two of.the guests
to close espionage for few min
utes 1t was finally proven to their
minds, however that they were far
off the track, for when Mr.. Theus and
Mr.. Desbouiiions were shown those
who were Swallowed, they at once said
that the detectives were on wrong
trail.
Left Few Cues.
The police and detectives are work
ing sedulously on the case. Superin-
tendent Reilly and Detective j. J.
Murphy worked until midnight togeth-
er. The entire detective force is en-
gagged in investigating every circum-
stance that might prove clue. The
police have been instructed to keep a
sharp outlook.
The officers worked for several hours
on one clue that brought them none
nearer to solution than they were
when they began the investigation.
The woman who was suspected as the
swindler was found to be innocent. AT
late hour last night the officers be-
gan to work on another clue, furnished
them by Mr.. S. f. Theus. This clue,
Mr.. Theus stated, was based upon the
supposition that the woman was not
a professional crook but some impu-
dent novice.