Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1904-02-16
ALL WANTED HoUsEkEEPERs.
And So ida Brown" Of aalfour Wax.
ed Exceeding Prosperous Until the
Rude oAfeers Of the Law TumbIee
to Her Scheme. :, sS #l$

Rude ottieers Of the Law ,TumbIed
TO Her Scheme. PIC
Mrs. H. P. Brietzke of Balfour, N.
D., is under arrest charged with fraud
ulent use Of the mails. Her scheme,
while not altogether a new one, had
enough of novelty in it to make it
successful. She inserted the follow
ing advertisement in eastern papers:
Wanted Position as housekeeper
by a young and handsome widow who
was left dependent: Place with single
man preferred. Address Ida Brown,
Balfour, N. D.
The suggestive ADVERT m
brought answers from all classes of
men, including doctors, lawyers, mer-
chants and farmers throughout Mime
sofa and Iowa. Positions of all kinds
were offered, and quite a number of
those who offered the widow" places
were willing to go even further and
give the widow the protection of their
name in matrimony.
II have your kind OFFER" invariably
answered the widow, " of a position
and you don't know how grateful
feel. When my husband died l was
left without means and dependent up
on my own exertion for livelihood
Young, beautiful, pretty and pempered,
during my girlhood days and while
my husband was living, sought by
men in almost every calling, to be
left penniless is a serious, trying en-
barrassment, and the further can get
from the scenes of my former happi-
ness in North Dakota, the better it
will suit me.
But there is one thing that I dread
to touch upon, but which is really
necessary if ] accept your kindly offer.
Vanity compels me to hesitate in this
matter. I cannot take anything for
which do not give full return, and 1
must ask you that you advance me
sufficient money to settle a few obi
cations here and pay my railroad fare
to your town. Twenty dollars will an
swer for all purposes and I will start
as soon as I receive the money"
And where is the man-youth, bach
elor or widower-who could resist this
appeal from the dashing, lonely widow,
whether in need Of housekeeper or
not? If the number of postal and ex-
press money orders received in Bal
four shortly after the advertisement
appeared can be employed as a criter-
Ion, there wasn't a man in Minnesota
or Iowa who saw it but who was i'm
mediately impressed with the idea that
he was badly in need of a housekeeper,
and when one letter was received from
Ida he was satisfied that she was ex-
actly the article, and straightway he
made good her request for an advance
Of $50. ...@@.
Among those who answered was the
postmaster at Ackley, Mimi, who was
very, favorably impressed with the
young widows description of herself
and who really did need housekeep-
er. She only asked for an advance of
SO in his case and he sent her a
postal order. Days passed and still
the fair Ida did not show up. Grow
ing anxious he dropped her a letter
| No response. Anxiety turned to sus-
picion and he addressed letter tc
the postmaster at Balfour. giving him
the full details Of the case and asking
him to look up the woman who repre-.
scented herself as Ida Brown. The
postmaster's suspicious had previously
been aroused by the number Of orders
cashed for this woman, but which az
usual thing, were endorsed over to
| Mrs. H. P. Brietzke, who resided with
her husband on a farm near Balfour
The case was called to the attention
OF the postal inspector, and after three
| or four weeks of hard work he dis.
covered that Ida Brown was none
other than Mrs. Ida Breitzke, wife OF
Herman, the farmer. BY consulting
the receipts at the postofice and ex.
press Offices he soon secured a lone
list of victims in the states mentioned
and recovered the letters which had
been sent out by the woman, sample
this and other evidence at hand
Brietzke and his wife were kept under
surveillance, and on Thursday on war
rants issued by United States Commits.
sioner Montgomery they were arrested
by Deputy U. 8. Marshal Gil Stout
and taken to Minot, where they had
examining trials before Commissioner
Blaisdell. Ida was bound over to
await the action Of the federal grand
jury and was committed to the Devils
Lake jail and Herman Brietzke was
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