The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-01-02
"A CAT may look at a king,
&C "a but a con man goes the
"A cat several better"
VA This is the text of


VA This is the text of
the story of Harry Sill
berberg's life as told
by himself story which demon
strates that while Silberberg is with
out doubt one oftthe most experienced
and successful gentleman crooks of
his generation, he adds to his other
roles that of romancer.
The history of his many and OFTEN
marvellous misdeeds and the escapes
which have followed betrays tend
ency to put himself in the lime nght,
tendency which most OF the charac-
tiers of his kind exhibit. In following
this tendency Silberberg has come so
perilously near the truth in many IN
stances as to give his recitations that
foundation of. fact which makes them
the more interesting because the TACT
is interviewer with romance.
In many respects Silberberg's yolun-
tary confession, first published in the
New York Herald last August CORE
spends with the data In the posses
sion of the Pinkerton detective agency
and Sheriff Dreger." Where he has
based his narrative on facts he mas
drawn on his imagination for many
amplifcations which lend color to ms
story without adding materially to the
sum total of the authorities knoWl-
edge of the man described by the Hen
nepin county grand jury as faklr,
Swindler and thief.
There are also many incidents in his
career which are matters of common
knowledge in police circles, but which
he has not touched upon In the confess
sion; which is as bold as it Is charac-
teristic and which shows that Silber-
berg loves any. publicity winch does
not endanger his liberty. .,G
For instance he does not tell of his
arrest in San Francisco for uttering a
false draft, nor his ejectment from a
Mexican train because discovered rid
ing on q forged pass. There are times,
also, when he tells but half a truth
about himself, as in the case of the
King of Siam.
How He Buncoed Royalty.
This little episode exhibits Silber--
berg's versatility. The man who would
beat a board bill in Portland, Ore,
and fool widow in Houston. Texas
was equal to that more dramatic feat
of buncoing a king in Asia
And it is stated that not only did
Silberberg get from the King of Siam
valuable concessions secured thru the
presentation of forged credentials, but
that he assisted himself in securing
these concessions by the presentation
Of a forged check for 100000, which
he nonchalantly tossed into the lap OF
Siamese royalty as he might have
tossed bun to his favorite French
remarkable transaction have yet tC
4 be printed, but it Is reasonably GER
tain that he not only came away from
Il the Siamese court at Bangkok with
4 the concessions from which he sOugh,
Il to make a fortune, but he also had G
II check for $4,000, which bore the
4 signature of the King of Siam, or one
Of his ministers, and which he cashet
elsewhere before it was discovered
that the signature on the check was
+ a forgery.
/ In spite of these little discrepancies
the tale told by the prince of high
class sharpers, who seems to- have
accomplished his own tundoing whe1
he married into the family of q ricl
Minneapolis merchant who would no
stand "bIeedng,' tallies with thu
truth in many particulars.
Good Dog as a Decoy.
Before he gets thru with his tai
he, like Adam, comes around to tn
declaration. that "the woman temple
me, and did sim" 1t was woman
/ he claims, who first suggested a
alias and a really crooked life. An
his subsequent career, as confesse
and made familiar to the police Q
five continents. Is filled with alliances
legal and Illegal. with women.
His candid statement that he mad
the possession Of a dog one of hi
principles, because a dog always al
+, D, tracted the attention Of women an
nearly always led to profitable ia
q miliarity, recalls his claims to tn
ownership of a fancy bull dog whe
I he stopped at the West hotel, and
{. his attempts during his stay there
get possession of another bloode
v canine.
il Altogether this modern historic;
romance proves interesting reading
II the light of the prisoners predics
ment and his possible approachin
r, death. It's publication at this tin
" may also lead to the development
many facts in the case which wi
u remove the romance and leave tt
- history rather bare and revolving.
ii Dark Blood in His Ancestry.
II In his confession to the New Yol
OF Herald, Silberberg Of the many alias
"a says: - s.s@ -
III Somewhere In my ancestry the
eN must have been dark blood. Son