The daily morning journal and courier., 1904-08-04


 American promoters rose to great pro portions. Its head was a man who moved in the highest financial ciccles, and in his employ were men, both m London and New York, who dug up whatever evil they could find concern ing the biggest new companies. If they found that the ore of a certain mine on exhibition in the promoters office had been taken from some other mine, or that the secretary had a bad record out west, or the title to the company's property was under cloud. they would transmit these facts to the head of the bureau.
 No sooner did the promoter land in London in his quest for British capital than he received an emissary from the bureau asking for employment, the wages ranging all the way from one hundred dollars to one thousand dollars week. If the man was refused he simply dropped the hint that he knew such things about the company, which might Teak out" and generally the lblackmailer found work.
 Blackmailing in England is practiced more widely and secretly than here, though it seldom wins as large stakes as in the new world. The British ex- tortioner is not likely to become as ra- pacious as his American cousin, and hence he is less liable to make his vic- tim turn against him. The many noble families offer field for the blackmailer which he does not find in America, for the British nobleman values the name of his house so highly that he often would willingly spend a good part of his estate to save it's escutcheon from a stain. Even if he has not a past him self which he is ashamed to let the world know about, he possesses skel- eton in some closet of his castle, per haps, whose exposure would bring him lasting disgrace. Some relative of his may be a black sheep,
 There are several clubs which exist l in London for no other reason than that their members are all persecuted by blaekmailers, and have thus united for some measure of protection. Of such a character was the Society of Reformers, the existence of which was brought to light in 1898 by the suicide of one of it's members. On investiga- | tion it was found that this unfortu- nate was only one of fourteen who in their desperation had killed themselves lin the preceding twelve months. The Reformers had stylishly furnished clubhouse in Kent road, and among those who sought it's rooms for the slight solace which an association with fellow victims might bring them were three whose names were to be found in l Burke's Peerage.
 There as here the vast bulk of black mail is paid in secret, unbeknown to the gossiping world, and only now and then some sort of social cataclysm will rend the veil, Thus it was not long ago that the daughter of a wealthy and promi- | lnent Englishman was about to be mar ried to the son of a leader of the Libe- ral party and member of the House lof Commons. The father had past, (which he had carefully concealed from 1 his fellows, and through years of ear- nest and persevering effort had raised himself to high station of honor, The morning before the wedding a rough looking individual, who looked to be navvy from the canal, aecosted him at his door, with the salutation: Don't yer know me? We done time lin the colony together. Now you're rich, han I hain't. You can pay me a thousand crowns han I won't say nothing. Hif yer don't there won't be mo weddin', see.''
 l Before he could recover from his re- vulsion of feeling he had hurled the old prison comrade to one side and ap- ipealed to the police. The man was lcaught, and told everything, and by noon all England had seen the ace be- hind the mask, and had learned all the details of that early crime. The we'd lding was postponed, and the next morning the body of the daughter was found dead at the bottom of one of the two lakes in her fathers country es- tate. In his bedroom that same night l the father blew out his brains.