Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-03-07
IN NAME OF CHARITY
saorilegieus Grating by
Smooth Gotham Crooks.
WOMEN THE LEADERS
THE FINANCIAL DISTRICT THEIR
FAvoRITE FIELD.
Men Whose Business is "Lamb- Shear
ing" the Easiest Victims Of
Their Guile.

Their Guile.
Special Correspondence OF The Evening Star
NEW YORK, March g. 1903
Swindlers operating in the sacred
name of charity bob up with amaz-
ing frequency in this town. A week
or SO ago two sweet-faced young
women. habited In the garb of Sisters of
Mercy. were nabbed In the financial dis
trict. They were making the rounds of
the brokers' offices with their silent ap-
peals, and, although the detective corralled
them before they had been working much
longer than a forenoon, the police station
matron found hundreds of dollars in bills
upon their persons
The detective who gathered in the pair
OF bogus Sisters of Mercy recognized in
them couple Of young women who were
sent to BlackwelPs Island by magistrate
last spring for working the same game at
the entrance to the Morris Park race
course. At that time also they were robed
as Sisters of Mercy. They stood silently
with outstretched hands, at the main en-
trance to the great race track on the first
day OF the meeting. when the Metropolitan
Handicap attracted something like 10000
visitors to the Morris Park grounds. and
few of the men bound inside passed the
take sisters without putting a coin or
bill In the hand Of one or the other Of
them They were still at the gate when
the crowd began to leave the track, and
the money that was bestowed upon them
by the winners-the sports are good at
charity an "openin' wine when they are
fush-made a large sum. But the bogus
sisters didn't get away from the track with
the loot. The aforementioned detective,
who Is assigned particularly to keep an
an eye on the species Of mean crooks
known as religious grafters,' had his sus-
picions aroused by something in their man.
ner, and he took them in. The mother su-
summoned. instantly pronounced the pair
of sweet-faced young women to be SWIM
dlers. They received terms Of three
months each on the island.
Disposition of the Loot.
The police authorities were puzzled as to
what disposition should be made Of the
money, nearly 81, 600 which had been taken
from the counterfeit sisters. and ended by
returning 1t to the swindling women upon
insisted, when the matter was referred to
him, that that was the only thing that
could be legally done with the money.
Will Be Vigorously Prosecuted
The women were held, upon their recent
arrest, for trial at special sessions, and the
Catholic authorities of New York are going
to be at some pains to see that they are
adequately punished for their despicable
form Of cheating charitably inclined people
New York is nearly always being worked
by one or more fake Catholic priests. Very
few of these tackle persons Of intelligence
They confine their operations to imposition
on ignorant servant girls and more or less
ignorant but devout women Of the Catholic
faith. One of them was reaping harvest
along such fashionable thoroughfares as
9th and Madison avenues when he was
,,rrl1& IL orrY
ming and good-looking rascal, an Irish
American of thirty-f1ve or SO. apparelled
with fine attention to detail In the street
dress Of cleric of the Roman Catholic pro-
fession. He was devoting himself, he told
the servant girls to whom he appealed In
the Easements Of their fine working places,
to the collection of funds for the erection
Of new Catholic orphan asylum on the
East Side. He had his route scientifically
mapped out, and when, after his arrest.
he was searched, lengthy list was found
in his pocket giving the names Of hun
dreds Of wealthy householders along 9Th
and Madison avenues employing irish ser
want girls. One day he appealed to an
Irish girl whose native shrewdness told her
that the young man in the priestly garb
was carrying rather an extraordinary
amount Of alcohol for a Catholic clergy
man engaged In the solicitation OF orphan
age aims. She told him to walt in the
basement while she ran around the corner
to borrow a bit of money for his cause
from one of her friends. She went to the
residence Of her parish priest instead; and
brought the priest around to the base
ment where the impostor still sat. The
priest addressed a word or so OF Latin to
the fakir, whereupon the swindler hung
his head and began to edge toward the
door The genuine priest proceeded to be-
stow an excellent and well-deserved drub-
bling upon the mean impostor, and then
handed him over to the police: All the
same, several of the bogus priests have
bobbed up since then, and the detectives
are still searching for one or two OF them
of remarkably slippery propenslties. Ihese
latter have reduced the game to a police
lodging science by working part OF Man.
haitian one day, section of Brooklyn the
next, a region in the Bronx or on Staten
Island the next, and so on, thus rendering
their apprehension difficult.
They Work the Financial District.
Men who have offices in the financial dis
trict are frequently victimized by CROOKS
who work in the name Of charity. An
adroit young chap who claimed to be
layman member OF the Presbyterian mis-
sion board cleaned up Wall and Broad
streets in great shape last fall. He made
so much money in the course Of his can
vass Of the financial district-one seemingly
reliable report made the sum $15OOO-that
when he was apprehended he was enabled
to pay the price of retaining one OF the
most notable criminal lawyers in New
York, and this lawyer got the 1eiloW OH on
a technicality.
1.-The Woman In Black" whose career
came to close few months ago when
she was arrested and sentenced, worked the
financial district for years, and to the tune
Of so many tens of thousands Of dollars
that the headquarters detectives who final
~ rounded her up hesitated to give even an
approximation of her gleanings from the
open-handed spectators whom she made a
speciality of tackling She was living, sur
rounded by luxury, in a beautiful home OF
her own when she was arrested. This wo-
man-she is only a bit over forty-very
much resembles In features, form and man
ner of dress the lamented '"Tombs angel
who was burned to death In hotel fire a
couple of years ago. She has an extraordi-
narity pure and noble countenance and a
sweet musical voice. She always arrayed
herself tastefully In black. She pulled off
about three skillful raids per annum down
in the district of finance. She was known
to the rich men as sweet-hearted woman
who was always engaged in some new form
of charity, so that literally hundreds of
them fell into the habit Of responding to her
appeals for aid without even questioning
her as to how the money was to be ex-
pended. On one raid she would be solicit
ing funds for lying-in hospital for poor
women, on another aid for a colored or