Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-02-14
THOUSANDS oFtApUPEs
CLAMoR ABOUT TURF INVEST
MErr comrAnfRs.
Three Chicago Concerns Seized, While
the Head of the Fourth eek
II
change" Escapes.

special from Chicago last night to the
New York Herald says:
| Three turf investment company offices
were rafded here this afternoon, by detec-
tives. A number of employees were arrested.
| The head of fourth concern warned of
| the proposed movement, escaped.
| The firms visited by the police were the
| H. Brolaski Company, 1856 Dearborn street;
| Benedict & Co., room TO3. 225 Dearborn
| street; The Mid Continent Investment Com
pany, 1s5 Dearborn street, and A. ]. Dem
| crest & Co., on the eighth floor of the
| Temple Court building, Dearborn and Quin-
| cy streets.
Locked doors and an announcement that
| the former occupants of the we'll furnished
rooms had departed surreptftfously greeted
| the callers at the'offices of A. ]. Demorest
& Co. Patrons of the house besieged the
| place with visions Of vanished fortunes
Pictured Great Fortunes.
Demorest, they told the police, had pic
tured to them how fortunes could be
| brought within easy reach. They believed
him, invested thousands of dollars in the
turf exchange, and, despite the fact that
they had been reading of failures of similar
| firms over the country-particularly In St.
Louis, where E. J. Arnold & Co.. j. j.;
Ryan & Co. and half a dozen others had
gone to the wa.I-they still had faith in
Demorest, and did not demand the return
OF their money.
When nearly a dozen mail clerks headed
by DR.. Thomas Butler demanded of the
firm return of their money Demorest fed.
While DemorestS patrons were planning
action the detectives started after the other
"get-rich-quick' concerns At the office of
Benedict & Co., on the floor below Demo-
rests place, four women and two men were
at work when the police entered.
One Man Lost ST. 900.
During the raid a number of men called
to ask that the money they had intrusted to
the company be returned to them. One
| man said that he had 81, coo invested with
the company, but was unable to get it out
A collector for the collection department of
the American Express Company and one
Tor the same department of the Continental
National Bank also called. Each had claims
aggregatlng several thousands of dollars
| most of which had been made by out-of-
town patrons The letterheads. of the COM
pany gave the names of John w. Benedict
as secretary and treasurer and w. Curtis
as manager.
All persons at work in the Office said they
had never seen Benedict, but that he was
probably at the main offices at South Bend,
Ind.
The offices of the H. Brolaski Company
were next raided. Brolaski was captured by
the officers. He declared that he had been
doing nothing wrong.
Women Made Investments.
In the office at the time were two women,
| who said they had made Investments and
that they had been unable to get their
| money back They gave their names as
| Miss Milton and Miss Haber. Miss Milton
! said that she had invested, $25, and Miss
| Habler said that her invest ment amounted
| to 500. 80.
| George H. Vincent of Davenport Iowa.
also appeared at Brolaski's office while the
| raid was In progress, and declared that he
| had lost 81, 100. He said that he had invest
| ed his money on the promise of big gains
but that he had not received a cent in divi-
| dends. - g.
At the Mid-Continent Investment Com
pany the stenographer, woman, was taken
| into custody, but the manager could not be
| found The desks in the place were broken
| open and the certificates of stock proprie-
| torship and lists of investors were taken in
charge.
| Just how much money Demorest took
away with him when he left his Office today
| Is not known, but the place was besieged by
| dozens of patrons all afternoon, who said
| they were heavy investors.
Hundreds of Thousands Lost.
There are numerous other turf invest
ment' establishments in Chicago, and fur
| Their raids by the police probably will be
made tomorrow. The circulars seized in the
| offices raided today reveal, 1t is said, sew
eral ingenious new schemes. Letters from
| men, women and boys in nearly every town
throughout the middle west were found,
with hundreds of communications from
| ChicagOanS.
Although no definite estimate of the
amount lost to investors can be made at
present, 1t is said the total will run into
hundreds of thousands.