The Thibodaux sentinel. (Thibodaux, La.) 1905-1912, 1909-11-20
The So : Called Spanish
Swindle."

ington, has It ceIved report from the
American Committeeman at Barc,,o-
ma, Spain, in regard the band of SWIM
oilers operating IN various towns and
cities in Spain, WHO make a practice
of writing to persons il the United
States respecting the imprisonment Of
a relative and the guardianship of a
child.
| The Council General states that the
alleged prisoner generally describes
himself as a political prisoner from
Cuba; he is at the point Of death and
has but one frlend the prison priest
through whose good offices be Is
enabled to snuggle an occasional let
ter out of the prison fort.
The prisoner is rich. He has for
tune ia cash on deposit in the United
State, but the certificate Of deposit is
concealed ln secret receptacle of bis
valise; the valise itself has been taken
possession Of by the court at Cartha-
geua, which tried and condemned him,
and will be held until the prisoner or
his representative has satisfied the
cost of the trial. The prisoner has au
only daughter; dying in his prison, his
sole thought is of his beloved off
spring. He has no friend or relative
III Spain to whose care he can COM
nit her. In this emergency his
thoughts turn to the distant relative
in the United States whom he has
never seen add of whom he knows on :
" through hearsay or the family tree. /
Viii. tue distant relative assume the
guardianship of the darling daugh''
and the darling daughters fortune OF
about $4,000? If the distant reIa-
tive accepts the trust one-fourlh of
the prisoners entire fortune will be
the maleria! reward. The good priest
will 60 at once and take the DAZZLING
daughter with hun. There is but one
condition: the ready money which the
prisoner brought vita him TO Spain
has been exhausted; the distant re,a-
tive is therefore requested to send
enough to iberate the valise contain
ing the secret receptacle and the GER
tlfcate Of deposit. This money is to
be sent to the good priest at an ad-
dress Indicated and, having receiv, d
1t, the good priest will at once secure
the vailse and start for America, the
Gland Of the free and the home of the
brave" with tile darling daughter.
The above is generally the first let
ter of the series. 1t is quickly fol-
lowed by another in which the prise
oner pathetically states that his
strength is rapidly and the end is
near. H. beseechcs his dear dis
t ut relative to as ume the trust aud
DE a towing father to the da ling
iaughter. The third letter is from
he ,od prieot himself, who I'D brief,
touching terms, ana hopeiessy bad
English, announces the death of the
unhappy prisoner; the good pres,
add, that the darling daughter is un-
der his cara He is ready to put his
promise into execution aud start fo,
the United States as so,n as he shal
have received the necessary funds
FROM the distant relative. The goon
priest frequently incIoses with hi.
letter oogu, newspaper clipping an
nouncing the death III prison at Bar
ccIona Of the famous Cuban Patio;
Sometimes c.le l'Augustm naipnlc); /:
h. newspaper no ice also speaks cur- I
mig y IF he CD ti,cated vallse ano
-hc dars!ng daus inter.
Ii is simple scheme, but prese1 !
a IN such plausible way that a :
most any un Inspecting distant reia I
i've of EUROPEAN extraction wuni,.
De more or i,ss deceived by the ga {
prospect of falling heir 10 The ag,ee-
,t g lust ID; OF !. darling dsnghte
With big fortune, AMI a one-fourtl
interest the. EN- as ALI additional re- $
H
Naturally the first impulse Of tn Fl
Instant relative is to ask ii lawyer OF y
j ,dge or some authority what cours q
|. ought to pursue IN the premises. "
ut as he thinks of doirg this his a :
: alton is taken by the warning 10 ID r.
risoner's letter i,eseeching him nc L
0 mention the matter to any llvin, t
Gu! lest the secret of the valise aDd I
be hidden receptacIsi be in -'lseree ttl a
etrayed. "
The vaiise, after all, with It's cor K
sahd certificate Of deposit, il Ia Il
D the situation and possession mna il
e taken Of it before anylhiug cat 'H 4
one or SAID This $50 cunn,uglA "
ct forth by the prisone') is very ,
videBt to the distant relative, and 50
e quite frequently preserves the
,cret intact, and instead Of consulting
lawyer or writing to the American !,
ouncil General at Barcelona b. :.
litely sends draft for the sum de !.
anded to the good priest and awaits
suit. u course, he waits III van, =,
II the poor, dead prisoner and ,hs !.
,od priest ana the darling aaugh'l /.
,ha. cousse of tim" rass out IF h. II,
I forever lea ing him Only ~ ~ :,
mfortaDl m :nory Of TIL t,oee> h. -
chacrfa!y contributed % thr g" a
'ence game.
For nearly twenty years ii f.
me kna,cs huve btet pracilc 2 =.
cir swlnd:e, ar.'i it i. needles &, sGg-
st that they ere very gar fully W.
nized; thy have conf. d r,a.,s 70.
" in the United States BIZ i. nos,
her countries. Th. ..anfss!~fatos il.
est...u sn.1...: q NJ. -. s. O ..