The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-12-15

the part of the steamship officers, es-
lps,ially on board the big Atlantic lin
;ers, with a view to stamping out the
gambling evil, the win or lose In
stinct stiTl exists, and many thousands
of pounds are annually lost and won
on the ocean highway. Indeed, the
ingratiating, though unscrupulous'
gentleman who is ever anxious 10
stake a hand" continues to f1ourlsh'
as, ingenuity coming to his aid, all
sorts of lodges are now practlced-
frequently with great success-to VIC
itimize sea travellers who seem to have
more money than wisdom.
Quite recently an officer on one OF
the largest mail steamship lines be-
Gtween here and America informed
the writer of a case where a young
heiress was nearly trapped by one OF
these scoundrals. 1t appears the girl
was returning with her maid to rela-
tives near New York, and on the boat
became acquainted with a man who
had ever appearance Of being well to
do. -.
= Attracted by his manner, the lady
did not attempt to discourage his at
tentions, and by the end OF the Voy-
e the two appeared to be fast
friends. Arrived in New York. the
scamp-for he was nothing else
made violent love, and then incident
ally touched upon a matter of bust
ness he had in hand. Eventually ne
persuaded the girl to lend him a large
sum of money, and had it not been
for the timely intervention OF the So
licitors, who called, at her hotel and
hearing the tale stopped payment OF
the check, the ,coniding lady would
now have been several thousand
pounds to the bad.
Again, a good haul was made not
long ago by two of these gentry-who
often work in pairs-on a big steam
ship in the South Pacific. Almost
without exception the passengers on
large boats arrange a sweepstake on
each days run, which eliminates to-
ward the end Of the voyage in an
|'auction sweep" the difference in the
latter from the ordinary sweepstake
being that the allotted holders are.
obliged to dispose of their numbers
again by auction. For this purpose
n of the passengers is chosen to act
as %auctioneer, and the most fancied
run" often fetches SIS or more.
On this occasion n of the rascals
conducted the proceedings, but, on
obtaining the miles run from the cap
tain, Immediately placed the number
against the name of his confederate
upon the list in the saloon. In the
meantime the latter had induced the
lucky holder to exchange numbers for
the sport of the thing" and in this
way the scoundrels anne out of the
bargains over 800 to the good.
On another occasion the passengers
on a steamer bound for Australia
were i~ngeniously duped. One of the
first class passengers, who had every
appearance Of responsibility, repre-
scented himself to be the secretary of
a charitable institution near London,
and gave out to all on board that he
was visiting the colony for the pur-
pose Of opening abranch in Australia.
Whenever concerts were arranged
in the evenings the bogus secretary
obtained the permission of the cap
tain to place his collection box upon
the saloon table. Almost every pas
senger contributed handsomely tow
ard what appeared to be so worthy
q cause, and by the end of the voy-
age the donations aggregated a large
amount.
Not till too late was it discovered
that the tale about the institution
was a pure invention, the collection
box, which seemed perfectly genuine,
having been specially obtained and
labelled for the occasion. But once
the man set foot in Australia he was
never seen or heard of again.
Similarly, the ingenuity Of a rogue
on one of the German boats was we'll
repaid. Aboard the vessel were sew
eral hundred emigrants bound for a
South American port, who, Of course,
were anxious to obtain work the mo-
ment they landed. They considered
themselves lucky, therefore, to find
on the same ship a man who said he
was the agent of an employment
bureau in the Argentine, and gladly
paid the fees he asked in return for
certain and apparently lucrative sit
uations.
Though armed with full references
and credentials-all of which were
false-the man turned out to be an
imposter, as no agency of which he
pretended to be the representative
existed at all. Thus nearly all these
people were duped in heartless fash
ion, and their not overwhelmed pock-
cts suffered accordingly.
Only a few weeks ago the case was
reported of an English accountant
who obtained a position as purser on
board a Swedish vessel sailing for
the Black Sea.
One evening, shortly before the
ship arrived in port, a passenger pre-
scented himself in the purser's cabin