The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1909-12-12

falling heir to the agreeable ctlstoay
nf q darling daughter with q big for
tune. and one fourth interest therein
~ an additional reenmrense-
Naturally. the first impulse IF the
distant rclatiy. Is To ask a lawyer or
d Judge 81. some authority what course
he ought T., pursue In the premises.
but as he thinks If doing this his at
tention is taken by the warning in the
prisoners letter beseeching him not to
mention the matter to any living soul
lest the secret Of the valise ard the
hidden receptacle be indlscreetly be-
traysd
The yalise after all. with its con-
ceaIed certificate If deposit. is the key
TO the situation and possession must
be taken Of il before anything can
be done or said This $50 cnnningly
set forth BY the prisnnerp Is very evil
dent To tho distant relative. and 50 he
quite frequently preserves the secret
intact. and instead of consulting a
lawyer or writing To the American
consul general at Barcelona he quietly
sends q draft for the sum demanded
to the good priest and awaits in vain.
and the poor, dead prisoner and the
in the course Of time pass out Of his
life forever. leaving him only an un-
comfortable memory of the money he
so checrfuliy contributed To the conf
dence zane.
For nearly % years these same
knayes have been practicing their
swindle. and it is needless to suggest
that they are very carefully organ
lied: they have confederates not only
i'm the United states. but in most
other countries. The confederates in
question select a man and find out all
they can about him: they get hold of
family names. family origin and fam
lily characteristics. This information
is transmitted to the rascals in Spain
and letters are at once written tn the
prospective victim. The scheme is
presented and aevcloaed in very
plausible way. and many of our fell
low countrymcn have bitten prompt
ly and chcerfully.
Under the Spanish laws n felony
must be consummated before the po-
lice may act. and a mere attempt ia
obtain money by false protenses does
not appear to warrant arrest The
money must be actually paid over and
the prosecuting witnesses must be
present in prnpria persona to testify,
otherwise prosecution would be use
less.
Recently the letters written to the
distant relatives have varied some
what from the original: the politica!
prisoner having become q noted Rus
sian banker who absconaed, leaving
deficit of some millions of roubles.
killed in quarrel in England another
Russian. and finally took refuge in
Spain. where he was apprehended and
charged with manslaughter.
This change of character, however.
Is immaterial. and i'm the future more
new characters will probably be intro
duced by the gang The scheme is
the same, and the public Is warned to
place no credence in such or similar
letters.
Every effort has been made by the
department of state and its repre-
sentatives in Snain to unmask these
scoundrels and bring them to justice,
and the Spanish authorities have also
been active. and several members of
the gang have been apprehended and
held for trial but so far no convic-
tons have resulted. owing probably
To the regularity of the Spanish law
referred to i'm the report of the consul
general at Barcelona.