The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1909-05-10
SWINDLBR A LUNATIC, MAYBE
LOSSES THROUGH John O.
DAVIS NAY REACH StOO,000.

LOSSES THKOCGH JOHN o.
DAVIS Nay REACH StOO,0O0.
He SITS In His Cell In Warrington with 3
Bib,e M . Hymn Book sad seetas
Perfectly ~Happy-Many Women Hia
Nctims-stAtement BY Prosecutor.
WASHINGTON. May a.-Furthsr invs1t-
Cation into tho afaifs OF John c. Owls
and Msrtin,T +. Davis shows that the opera.
tons of John were upon q larger sssls
than when tbs District Attorneys ohiSs
estimated on Saturday that the amotnt
obtained by him was In the nsighbor-
hood OF S2Oo.O 90, Now Assistant plStrict
Attornsy Proctor ssys ths amount may
reach $4,000. The two brothers srs
prisoners at the First. precinct station
house. Both seem u~nconosrnsd John
has q hymn book and q Bibio which h.
asked for when arrested. Martin says
that Us far as he 10 concerned his arrest u
a mistake aud be has nc fear OF tbs OUT
come.
alL1 r.T.E
Shareholders, Of the Potomac Loan
and Building Association. tarouga whies
the District At.Drnsy's odlos aud tbs
pnlioe claim the brothers .opsratsd, an
coming to the ffoht evsry hour y ~
develops that the brothsrs obt&Itkd
$1,000 from residents Of AlexandiA. Va.
including $4,000 from Chief. OF. Pullns
Goods and similar amounts from aevseAi
Of his relatives. Seventy cents is ths sum
total assets which the police have iocettd.
and this was found in The poekesA =
John Iavis. He inforrne I'd the poiics TINT
he did not drink nor smoSe.
From reliable sources tire polics lessped
to-day that John G. Davis wal in simIlsr
trouble In Wilmington. Y. O.. about pins
years ago and succeeded In getting sway
with something like 10000 .Hs s4rNsd
seven years In the State Asyluns Ior the
Insane at Raleigh and was: dischsrEsd
al cursd. He appears 10 possess q reiidous
mania and one Of. the peculiar actions
which led to his being adjudgsd insaNe
IN North Carolina was the presentation
to a small church Of q set Of Imported
chimes costing $4,000. The church wac
not large enough to accommodates the
chimes. It 10 said thet nearly all themonsy
obtained by.Dayis In his North Caroiina
Operations was given by him t0,otr1rnhns
and religious bodies g.
The larger percentage OF the victim,
Of John Davis were women. Many OF
them were In the Government service
John Davis il q member Of the MstTopoli-
tan Methodist Episcopal Church In Wash
ington and taught a Sunday school elass
there He y said to have had many
clients among the women Of the conerega-
ton. The Metropolitan was the churcs
Of Presidents Grant and Mckinley.
John Davis In his cell ct the First go
cinct station this afternoon was either
idiotioally happy or an excellent irnltator
Of q man mentally deficient. Efforts we're
made by some Of his alleged victims to
have him discuss the oass. They wantsd
information which might 10 Of bsne0t
70 them II any assets Of the assoctaAou
were discovered. Davis dismissed his
questioncn with this remark:
whats the OF bothsring about
business when I an % happy In the Lordl'
The District Attorneys ofaoc gavs ost
the following statement regarding tAs
men:
.Tbe criminal opsrahons of John C.
Davis came to the notiee Of the pfstfict
Attornev,s os3oA Friday through q con-
piaint on the part of Miss Nellie McKsown.
who by fraudulent schemes on the psrt
Of Davis had been sxindIed out Of $4,000.
@Sinca the announcement Of Mas
McKeown,s claim this ofics has bssn
flooded with complaints from many
individual rssidents of both wasAinxton
and Alexandria which show that q sysSaen-
attic method Of visionary business opera
tons which John O. Davis. at times
conducted indi yidually and ut other
times in connection with his brother.
Martin T, Davis. has svindlsd
treat number Of persons out ct
thousands Of dollars. Il appears thas ne
two men operated tosether throueh fhs
Potomac building and Loan Assoofatton.
an object Of their creation, evidently DON.
ceiyed and run merely as an instrumeu-
tality for their operations.
.In one case alone $4,000 was pro-
cured from q m From Indicators
naa neen uy inc ~
fact, the amount they obtained may run
far above this figure. Their s~windling
operations have been running on for
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