The sun., 1905-12-18
"SURROGATE'S MANS" GAME,
NE TELLS YOU YOUR UNCLE HAS
DIED, LEAVING YOE MONEY,
And Collects Fee In Advance HAS Names
and Relationships Down Pat-lsldor
Appel Arrested and Accused by Four
Women OF Being the Lcgac, swindler.

Women OF Being the Legacy Swindler.
Isdor Appel, who says that he il manu-
facturer living at 3l3 East l28th street,
was arrested on Saturday night at the
Alhambra Theatre in Seventh avenue. on
charge of swindling. If he is tho man four
women say he is, he IL the "Surrogate's
man" That is how the swindler intro
duced himself to his victims.
Appel was identified at the Tombs police
court Yesterday by Mrs. Blanche Stover OF
80 West 1l4th street, who said that. ne
lieving him to be from the Surrogate's
Office. she and her daughter gave MIN
$50 so in order to get legacy OF $lOooo
which he said was awaiting them That
was August 10 last and Mrs, Stover didn't
see him again until yesterday.
According to the detec tves who have
been after the "Surrogate'S man in all
parts of the city. his game has always been
the same. except that his charges varied.
| He took all he could get, and in one case
where he couldn't gel any money he took
a gold watch. There are sixty complaints
in The Bronx alone against the "Surro-
! gates man. There are many more in
this borough. and others from Newark
Jersey City and Brooklyn The police
believe the game has been worked all over
the country.
All of the complainants that the police
have talked with have had the same story
to tell as Mrs. Stover. The man has al
ways picked out people of moderate means
living in flats and made his call generally
at the same hour, about II o'clock IN the
forenoon.
"I've got some good news for you
madam" he would say, with countenance
all smiles, when the door opened and he
saw it was a woman and not man Al
the same time according to the police,
he showed badge.
I'm from the Snrrogate's Office, madam
Your Uncle So-and-So. who died recently
out West, it seems. has left you nice little
nest egg Guess you didn't know about
it. eh? Welt. the matter has just gone
through the Surrogate's Office here, and We
been sent to inform you Of it. I'm notary
public, and you are to pay the fee to me
The Surrogate's man would then produce
n paper which looked like a legal docu-
ment and fix the cost at whatever his
victim could fork out In Mrs. StoverS
case it was $39 80. in the case OF negro
woman who appeared in court agaihs'
Appel Yesterday. it was only $3.50 In
, lot of cases the amount seems to nave beer
$iO50. The victims often went out TO Dor
row the money while "the Surrogate's man
waited at the door. When he got 1t he gave
a receipt and stamped il Surrogate .:
Court. City of New York" with rubber
stamp which he had in his pocket, Under
this stamp he signed his name. The name
he used in most cases was j. H. Hammeil
just how the man got the names OF rela
tiyes of his victims the police haven
fathoned vet. In Mrs. Stover's case tn
relative was an uncle named Short, WHIT
: lived in Lancaster, Pa. Mrs. Slower sait
that she hadn't heard anything about hin
: in wears and doesn't know how in the *orl
1 the swindler could have learned about tn
relationship.
In a number of cases where the -Surro
gates man has called on widows his stor
. was that the legacy which had been left t
the husband could be transferred to tn
: widow for a consideration. The police sa
o that in such cases he oulled his victim
= from the list of advertised deaths. h
= ALWAYS promised to bring the legacy aroun
= in the afternoon.
: According to the police. "the Surrogate
E man was first heard Of three or four yeal
ago The complaints have come in MOI
1 frequently in the last two years. Man
b women have called at the Surrogate's offic
= looking for lesaoies that had not come
t hand. The people in the Surrogates ofttt
g have been cooperating with the police
> irving to run down the swindler, but abol
IA all they had to work on was a persona
description. About year ago he caiie
IS on a cires-maker in East IwentY-sccor
e street He had legacy of $4,000 waltir
= for her and wanted 1880
}. Take it ont of the $40 900. said she, Ear
,l give me the change" She caught him
# the coat and threatened him with her sci
- sors, but he broke loose and got ava
q She will be asked to take look at Appel
Appel would not have been caught O
Saturday if he hadn't been spied in II
Alhambra Theatre by Mrs. Annie Probst,
:, negress from whom he got $3.50 some da
" ago She grabbed him Just as he was lea
ing and Detectives Graham and Bresns
~ arrested him.
H. Appel insists that hc isn't he Surrogate
~ man" at ALL He told Capt. Thompson
a. the West l25th street station that he W
'n once a deputy sheriff in san Francisco al
~ that he is now a manufacturer of sh
III polish.
an In court Mrs. Stover. Mrs. Probst and
a Mrs. Hsberdoru and another woman iden
ed fed him as the man who had called on the
lis with the same story: Appel said that
wsa o case of mistaken identity. Mag
trnte Whitman held him for further exam
nation on Wednesday, when the poll
al expect TO have host OF women complal
-. ants.
- ~ LIVES IN DANGER.