Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-09-08
will. therefore. have to be by election CT
a new member of the government.
How They Make Money.

How They Make Money.
The Humbert swindle is. of course. I'M
paral1eled in magnitude but smaller
scale such methods Of raising money are
not unknown in this country. One of the
nearest approaches to the daring French
woman f1ourished In a large town in the
west country for nearly two years until his
exposure a little over year ago. He was
nondescript individual, now an auctioneer.
then a money. lender. an advertising agent.
and SO on, but never doing anything that
seemed like a settled business. How he
lived was a mystery for years. Then one
day paragraph crept into the local papers
that a distant relative had left him $4,000.
Creditors who had hitherto been dunning.
became obsequious; those who had shown
him their backs were now deferential.
Gradually 1t leaked out" that the gentle
man in question was really the illegittmate
son of a nobleman. who, having no direct
issue. was anxious that the title should not
become extinct, and so had determined to
apply to the queen to grant royal letters
patent for the transmission OF the title In
due course. Meantime, the heir apparent
had been instrumental In securing a cour-
tesy title. which was to be formally grant
ed on satisfactory provision being made for
its proper maintenance. sum Of 10000
was to be settled on the expectant earl, and
everything appeared to be working satisfac-
torily.
OF course, a specious story of this kind
would have been ridicued from the first
had it been merely the story of the person
himself But there was documentary evil
dence in support of 1t, and the fact that the
prospective peer was under the fostering
care of one Of the most reliable solicitors in
the town and was the constant recipient of
official documents addressed to him under
the new title eventually carried conviction.
An estate near the town was purchased and
a deposit paid. The modest house formerly
occupied was discarded in favor of a suite
of rooms at one of the best hotels; broug
ham, coachman and tiger all lent eclat to
4 l. to I'D 1Affo
received were various: some from his faith
err bore the noble earls crest and mono
gram on the envelope and notepaper; others
bore the imprint Of the privy seal office and
were posted at Osborne, Windsor, or wher-
ever the court happened to be al the time.
Spacious excuses for the postponement of
the granting of the promised title seemed
reasonable enough in the light of current
events. Local tradesmen were not the only
persons imposed upon. The budding WIS.,
count was not long In finding company
promoters in London on the lookout for
guinea pigs" and he had fees in advance
from more than one of them. Eventually
the whole claim collapsed like house of
cards. and the 'viscount," secure In the
conviction that those on whom he had i'm
posed were too much concerned In keeping
their names out Of the mess to take action
in the matter, disappeared after having
thrashed the editor of the paper who ex-
posed the fraud. But even this was not
one-Sided affair. OF course, the documents
and letters were clever forgeries, but there
must have been accomplices who purloined
the paper and envelopes. But no prosecu-
ton In this case was ever instituted.
Motor Hansoms In London.
Today I saw In Chelsea the only motor
| hanson cab which is yet to be seen in Lon
don. The Express Motor Service Company,
which Is experimenting with it, hopes to
put fifty cabs on the streets before the end
Of the year. Ones first impression Of the
new cab is that 1t has an Unexpectedly long
base. Automobilism ought to save room in
the streets, but this new cab Is not so much
shorter. one would have expected, than
the length of a horse and cab But, of
course, 1t Is possible that the new model
has compromising advantages. The driver
folding doors. At the side of his seat is a
bracket. so that a third passenger can sit
by him without doing bodkin'' in the old
way. AS for luggage, there is plenty of
room in a boot at the back of the cab. The
engine Is twelve horsepower, and the
gearing is low. partly in order to climb hills
well and partly, perhaps, to save the driver
from the temptation to drive furiously.
The cost of each cab Is about 1850. Inside
the cab an indicator will show the distance
Travelled. Motor cabs and indicators were
both tried in London three four years
ago. failed and disappeared. Yet no
doubts that motor cabs and indicators will
succeed as soon as they appear again. So
| much does success depend upon taking the
ticular improvements
Auto Race Of 1904.
The publication of the rules and regula-
lions which shall govern the selection
trials for the cars to represent England
in the Gordon Bennett race of 1904 have
caused no little commotion among the
smaller manufacturers. Through certain
advertising agencies one or two firms had
given thew bnildipP to
compete. But, alas! the Automobile Club
has ruled that deposit of $3.50 must be
laid with the club simply as a mark of
good faith that the builder will produce
his car for trial on the 10th of April next,
the money to be forfeited If the car does
not put in an appearance. The club found
such a rule and high deposit necessary to
prevent manufacturers attempting to Sc
cure advertisement or notoriety without
having any serious intention of supplying
a vehicle for selection. There is just one
question in connection with this race in
which automobiles are not agreed. The
club seeks to prevent any car selected from
entering for any race prior to the great
event, which will, of course, take place next
year In Germany, so that no risk of acc1-
dent may be run, but on the other hand.
some motorists contend that they must
be allowed to be used, so that chauffeurS
may gain sufficient knowledge of their new
machines, and so be able to get the best
speed out of them the day of the race.
This Is matter which will have to be
thrashed out between now and then.
The picture postcard craze Is bad enough
in England. but seems to be quite sane
compared with the craze on the continent.
Mercantile houses in the city say it is quite
common experience to have inserted in
business communications from the conti-
nent a request. please send some picture
postcards" There is weird story also
of a certain continental ruler including this
request in dispatch to his ambassador
here, and of the whole embassy max
ing a round of West End shops to
select the postcards. while the doorkeeper
was left at home to transact state business.
young friend Of mine. thinking to i'm
prove his German, entered into correspond
ence with resident in Berlin but when the
first letter he received proved to be an offer
to exchange picture postcards he decided
to postpone his linguistic improvement until
more propitious time. No wonder stamp
dealers are complaining Of bad times Post
cards seem to monopolize all the craze fac
ulty.
Famous Petticoat Lane
That renowned thoroughfare generally
known as "Petticoat lane" through which
Americans are frequently specially con-