The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1909-12-12
UNCLE SAM EXPOSES
VETERAN FAKE
SPANISH SWINDLE" is SUBJECT
or REPORT TO DEPARTMENT
OF STATE.

/ Several times within the past Is
/ months il has been the privilege of
/ the Missoulian To explain the system
Of a certain gang of bunco men of
/ Spain whose method OF working the
| so called Spanish swindle" has gained
/ for them thousands of dollars from
/ American .come-ons." In at least one
! case the publicity given the scheme
] by this paper has resulted in saving a
| prospective victim. Now the govern
i ment has taken hold of the matter and
I from Washington has been sent out
| the expose of the swindle that will be
| found below. The description of the
/ fraud is so complete and so well pre-
4 scented that it Is worthy of being given
/ in its entirety.
] The department of state at Wash
| ington has received a report from the
/ American consul general at Barcelona,
! Spain, in regard to the band of swim
! dlers operating i'm various towns and
! cities in Spain. who make a practice
of writing to persons in the United
/ States respecting the Imprisonment
! of relative and the guardianship of
child.
! The consul general states that the
| alleged prisoner generally describes
himself as political prisoner from
I Cuba: he Is at the point of death and
has but one friend. the prison priest,
through whose good offices he is en-
abled to smuggle an occasional letter
out of the prison fort.
I The prisoner Is rich. He has for
tune in cash on deposit in the United
states. but the certificate of deposit
IS concealed in secret receptacle of
| his valise: the yalise itself has been
/ taken possession of by the court at
4 carthagena. which tried and con-
I demned him, and will be held until
/ the prisoner or his representative has
/ satisfied the costs of the trial The
prisoner has an only daughter: dying
/ in his prison. his sole thought Is of
/ this beloved offspring. He has no
friend or relative in Spain to whose
/ care he can commit her In this
/ emergency his thoughts turn TO the
/ distant relative in the United States.
/ whom he has never seen and of whom
I ne knows only through hearsay or the
4 family tree. viii the distant relative
assume the guardianship of the dar-
/ ing daughter and the darling daugh-
/ tefs fortune of about S30, 900 If the
| distant relative accepts the trust one
| i"ufth oil the prisoners entire fortune
/ VIII be the material reward The good
! priest VIII go at once to the United
| states and take the darling daughter
with him. There il but one condition.
/ the ready money which the prisoner
brought with him to Spain has been
| exhausted; the distant relative is
! therefore requested to send enough
10 hberate the yalise containing the
secret receptacle and the certificate of
/ deposit. This money is to be sent 10
the good priest at an address indi-
Gated. and. having received it. the
good priest will at once secure the
valise and start for America. the
3and of the free and the home of the
brave" with the darling daughter.
The Second.
The above Is generally the first let
Ter OF the series. 1t Is quickly fol-
lowed by another. in which the pris-
aner pathetically states that his
strength is rapidly failing and the end
Is near. He beseeehes his dear distant
relative tn assume the trust and be a
loving father To the darling daughter
The third letter is from the good
priest himself. who in brief. touching
terms and hopelessly bad English an
honhces the death of the unhappy
prisoner: the good priest adds that
the darling daughter il under his care.
lie Is ready To put his promise into
execution and start for the United
states as soon as he shall have re-
celNed the necessary funds from the
distant relative. The good priest fire.
ihehtly ineloses with his letter bo-
gus newspaper clipping announcing
the death in prison at barcelona of
the famous Cuban patriot tsometimes
called Angustin Lafiente): the news
paper notice also speaks cunningly of
the eonfiscated yalise and the darling
daughter.
III IL a simple scheme but presented
III sheh Il nleansihle way that almost
any nnsnspeeting distant relative of
European extraction would he more or
less deceived bs the ,plal rr,spa,, -,