Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-08-26

| vfEA1'AT
! B.. realizing that she had played her trump
card and lost quietly resigned from the
| club. and since then she has been ''cut" by
| the members of the set which her aspira-
lions to lead had caused her to try black
| MAIL
| Holding letters over persons head is a
! faVorite and frequently successful method
| OF the blackmailer. A certain titled wom-
| an of London engaged In an indiscreet
| correspondence with young man about
town. In the course OF time he lost his
patrimony in riotous living and was re-
duced to dire straits, when a man of his
acquaintance offered to give him a lump
sum or 1900 in exchange for the letters
written to him by the lady of title. The
bargain was struck, the lady was made
aware of II. and one by one the letters were
fed to her at G20O each, until she had Sc
cured possession of all except eight. Then
her money ran out and she threw herself
upon the mercy of her husband, who
showed his forgiveness of her conduct Tor
! was 1t fear OF a scandIo by paying over
lump sum for the remainder of the let
tiers. All told. the letters cost the distract
ed writer and her husband little over five
thousand pounds.
The Property Blackmailer.
| OF course. you have destroyed all the let
tiers that could be used against you did
they fall into designing hands; or perhaps
you've never written any. Very well, but
how about your property? Let US call the
man who wanted to own a certain corner
lot in certain section OF an eastern city
John Jones. He made numerous attempts
| to buy it, but each succeeding time the
owner asked higher price, and at no time
would listen to the figure named by Jones'
Some two or three weeks after Jones had
made his last futile attempt to buy the
property the rumor began to circulate in
fhnf hn
haunted. Now. the residents of that part
ff.sf the city were all lately come from parts
| OF the old country where the belief in
| ghosts Is deep-seated and haunted houses
are numerous. So the rumor gave way to
| conviction. Many persons began to declare
| that they had actually seen ghosts fitting
| by the windows of the house, and by night
| the neighborhood collected around the house
| to see the ghosts. One night the crowd be-
| came so large and excited that the police
| mad to be called out and in this way the
| matter got into the newspapers
| From the beginning of the talk about
| ghosts the owner of the property had
bravely tried to laugh it away But when
the papers took it up he became alarmed
| for the value of his holding and set about
| TO sell 1t. On every side he met with dis
| couragement; no one wanted to take
| over haunted house at the figue he named
AT this 1uncture John Jones once more ap-
| peared upon the scene.
| IN relieve you of the house at the fig
| ure first named" he said
| The bargain was struck and 1t was
marked enat shortly after the deed had
been transferred the talk of ghosts died
| down, and so far as known has never been
| renewed In connection with this piece OF
| real estate.
| The Great Do Not Escape.
| former mayor of New York, now dead.
! against whom not breath of scandal was
/! uttered during his more than four score
| years and ten. and who was held In high
| esteem by the entire city. was walking
| along the street one day when he saw a
] young woman, evidently faint and in dis
| tress, and went to her assistance, On re-
gaining her composure the young woman
thanked him profusely, and on the plea
that she would like to tell her father the
name Of the man who had been so kind to
her managed to secure his personal card.
"A few days later she wrote the former
mayor a letter Of thanks; he replied
courteously. stating that he was happy
| to have been Of assistance. Then he
forgot the incident. but was forcibly re-
| minded or 1T when he received a second
| del1cately scented letter from the young
woman, asking for an appointment; and
then M, ne sm 1s blackmailer
W nat oid ne doF He went to the
| police and had an officer assigned to be
present with him in his office when the
young woman should make her appear
ance at the hour named in the reply of
woman walked in the officer recognized
| In her notorious character-and she got
| out Of town that night.
Treatment Of BIackmailers.
| A somewhat similar use of the police
was made by another man who. at ona
| period OF his life, began receiving anony-
| nous letters, In which he was accused
| OF certain indiscretions. Finally, when
| he despaired of securing any trace of
the writer. he met an acquaintance on
| the street. and after the usual greeting
| the latter said casually:
| 4 understand you've been receiving
| some anonymous letters lately"
Instantly the thought sprang to tba
| mans mind that here was the author
| OF the letters Admitting that he had
| received such letters. and engaging the
! acquaintance In seemingly earnest con-
versation concerning them, he oufetIv
led the other to the door Of a police
| station house.
As luck would have 1t, the CAPTAIN
in charge of the precinct was standing
| there.
Captain" said the man who had "a
ceived the letters, what is the punish
| ment for person who writes Anonymous
letters for the purpose OF levying black.
| mail?"
| Prison, was the reply.
There was more talk along the same
, line When 1t was at an end the ac
quaintance for whose benefit the captai,
had been interviewed sneaked; and the
other man received no more anonymous
I letters from that day forth.
| That's one way to treat a blackmailer
male or female. if you have the nerve
and 1t is generally conceded that you
! should have it. whether you are inno-
| cent or guilty of the intimidating charge
| brought against you. Another way I'd
handle the male b1ackmailer was once
described in these words by the late Sir
| Richard Mayne:
Strike him with anything you have
In your hand and give him a very
severe chastising. Such people are all
l towards physically, and the thing they
most fear is personal violence This
remedy Is the best and is easily ap-
piled, fer. of course, a clever black
mailer will not be so rash as to put his
| threats or proposals on paper, so that
when he opens the matter to you viva
voce You can then give him the re-
CURED thrashing."
j