The Black Hills union and western stock review. [volume] (Rapid City, S.D.) 1904-19??, 1905-04-07
CASSIE LOOKS like
A SELLING Platter
Compared With This Mistress
Of Graft She's Left at
the Post.
CAREER OF SOPHIA BECK
She Is Supposed to Have Got Away
With About 100000 of the S.
100000 Loot Philadelphia Vic
Tins Gave to Syndicate.

Philadelphia, March 3o.--In the guise Of
"stenographer" Sophia Beck is believed
to have engineered Il successful incurslon
into high finance" in connection with
"got-rch- quick concerns recently eX-
posed. and to have escaped with $l,Wo,Ooo
and the man of her choice, while her fel-
low conspratorS are left in the lurch. AS
a secress MISS Beck of Chicago Is to Mrs.
Chadwick, as an automobile to common
cart.
The swcct-faced Chicago girl, now Mrs.
Richard Graham. was the real power be-
hind the Storey Cotton company, inc
Provident Invcstme company and of one
or two other smaller concerns under the
same control. Remarkable as was the
success of the Storey company and its al
lies under the dcft management of Harry
Latimer, Stanley Francis and Frank c.
Marin, it was as nothing compared with
the flood of gold she managed to draw.
Dupes Are Easily Found.
The Storey company, in its general
working was an ordinary enough get
rch-quick" concern. the most puzZins
fca ture being the ease with which 1t Sc
cured dupcs. i pretended to deal In cot
ton The Provident company pretended to
deal in wheat. Their mailing lists and
references We're the same
by means of these concerns. Latimer
Frances, Marin and Sophia Beck are be-
licvcd to have plundercd the public Of
more than 100000. a large part was
spent in riotous living. Latimcr and Mar
rim are believed to have sailed large
sums, and Sophia. the slyest of ALL must
have gotten away with =, least 81. 900, 600
Francis, who stayed behind and put on
an air of injured innocence, seems to have
been duped completely. He is unable to
| furnish $50 COO bail
A Euujtive from CHICAGO
The history of Sophia Beck is fascinat
ing On February 3. 1900, she fled from
Chicago with Frank G. Marin, alias
Judge" Franklin Stone, when the latter's
get-rich-quick concern in Chicago crashed.
Under the names of Mr.. aud Mrs. Edward
Dunno, they were arrested in New Or
| leans.
Marin aftcrward deserted the woman,
and three years ago she turned up here as
| the companion Of a musician in Dam
rosch's orchestra. named Miller. She was
not clad in silks and satins: she was plain
Sorha Beck. just as she appeared when q
country girl out on the Illinois prairie,
| where she was reared.
But the life of a musicians wife did not
appeal to the fancy of the woman who had
| operated a gct-rirh-quick' concern In
! Chicago several yaars previous, and who
with the mcnTH derived from this fraud
had lived az the rr.ta of 100000 a year
She tree RI i.
A. c. toward. +. e. Storey and Frank.
lin Stone of the Storey Cotton company
crossed her path this time. Soon she was
employed as "stenographcr'' by the Storey
Cotton company at salary Of $500 a week
Takes Control of Game.
Sophia Beck had strong hold on The
officials of the Storey Cotton company
She twisted them about her fingers at hei
WILL 1t was hers to order and theirs tt
obey She had plenty of money and LOOKED
around for some one to share 1t. Sht
picked out Richard Graham, the son of {
highly respected widow of Jenlentown
He was a teamster.
In the fall of 1903 A O. Howard, nomina
manager of the Storey Cotton company
began to make frequent visits to 9Th,
woman with money to burn" and abou
this same time Sophia sent Graham on
trip to California. In a couple Of months
he came back and Graham and Sophia
Beck were married In the Jenk.ntowl
Episcopal church.
The Grahams purchased a home OF
Navajo street, which they occupied unit
March T. when they disappeared. Durin,
their residence IN Chestnut Hill Graham
and his wife INDUCED in all the GAZETTE
money could afford Their first week
grocery bill ran something like this: Fo
provisions, $3.i5; for wines and liquors
SGT So