Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1903-03-16
Are Charged Against J. W
Wright, London Promoter.
Arrested, Sunday, at New York, on
Arrival from Europe.
Accompanied by Young Woman, Call
ing Herself His Niece.

| accused of being concerned in colossal
| frauds in connection with the organi-
zation of various financial corpora
tons, was arrested, today, on the ar
rival of the French Line steamer La
| Lorraine from Havre. The arrest was
made by two Central office detectives
at the request of the London police.
Wright was taken at once to police
headquarters and then to the Tombs
police court where he was arraigned
| before q magistrate and turned over
to the United States authorities. He
was then taken to the Ludlow street
| Jail.
With Wright on the steamship was
a tall, good looking young woman, who
said that she was the niece of the
niece of the prisoner. Her name was
on the passenger list as Miss F.
| Browne Wright when told that he
was under arrest showed no evidence
of excitement and said that he was a
friend of King Edward. His principal
concern was to avoid publicity and he
asked that his arrest be kept from the
newspapers. Wright and his compan-
| icn We're entered on the original pas
senger list as II. Andreoni and Mile
| tAIidl Gull. "llSHl llI IOl eApVCl W
be arrested is shown by the fact that
soon after the steamship left Havre he
| told the purser that a mistake had
been made in making the tickets out in
the name of Andreoni. His name was
| accordingly changed and appeared on
the additional list as Mr.. j. w. Wright
| and that of the woman as Miss F.
| Browne.
| Wright is thus described in the cable
message from the London police "Ab-
| sconder charged on warrant with fraud
| to a large amount, Whitaker Wright
| manager Of London and Globe Finance
| Corporation of this city. Age so years;
| height > feet, 10 or II inches; complex
| ion florid, hair and moustache dark;
| large head; small eyes, receding fore
! mead; small chin with fleshy roll I'M
| derneath; stout build and weighing
about 252 pounds. Wears gold trimmed
| glasses with gold chain attached.
| Speaks with a slight American ac-
cent
Wright and the young woman oc-
| cupied one of the finest deck suites or
| the steamship. Wright was sitting at
q desk in his cabin when found by the
| detectives. When addressed by name
he at oEce admitted his identity and on
| being told that he was under arrest al
the request of the London police said:
That was business transaction. |
understood that the matter was all set
tied in Parliament. This is a surprise
TO me. | am willing to go with you.
All L want is to get away from here
with as little noise as possible. Don't
let the newspapers know anything
about this
They then went on deck and the
woman, Miss Browne, was told quiet
~ by Wright of his arrest. Wright
then told the police that he was ready
to go and, with an officer on either side
of him, walked down the gangway He
vas taken before Magistrate Barlow.
Two United States marshals appeared
with n warrant for Wright's arrest,
charging him with being fugitive
from justice. and he was formally
turned over to the custody of the mar
shals who took him to the Ludlow
Street Jail.
Miss Browne who was left on the
pier, remained looking after the bag
gage. She is q rather tall, slender per-
son. She declined to make any state
ment beyond that she had come over
TO visit friends. After her baggage
had been examined she left in d cab
instructing the driver to go to an up-
town hotel!
Nothing was known on La Lorraine
as to the identity of the pair. They
made no friends and Wright appeared
in public but little. La Lorraine left
Havre about P. NJ, March Z. Wright
and his companion came down to
Havre on the train, arriving about 2.30
in the afternoon They went at once
to their rooms. During the trip across
Miss Browne did not leave her room
until the vessel was one day from port.
when she appeared on deck Wright
spent most of his time in his suite
The financial crash of the company
foated by Whitaker Wright came in
December. 1900. There were IL of these
including the parent company entitled
the London and Globe Finance Corpor-
alton, with a total capitalization of
s6O,675,000. Wright was the managing
director.
Few millionaires lived in the same
princely style as Whitaker Wright. In
Park lane. London, he had a minia-
ture palace, in the drawing room of
which was copy of the famous cabi-
net Du Roi of Louis XIV. 1t took three
years to Complete the palace and the
cost was thousands of pounds. At
Godalming he owned a country seat in
identifying which 800 workmen were
engaged, 1t contains costly fountains
and statuary brought from Italy.
Wright's stables alone cost a small
fortune. They have upholstered oak
and leather settees and polished gun
metal fittings while valuable paintings
and bas reIefs adorn the stalls. His
private yacht was fitted up with SINH |
lar righteousness and at one time he
was credited with the intention of con-
structing racing yacht to beat Sir |
Thomas Lipton's Shamrock.
One of the victims of the crash was |
the late Marquis of Dufferin Ava, for |
merly governor general of Canada and |
British ambassador at Paris. He con-
scented to be chairman of the London
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