The sun., 1909-02-14
ENGLAND'S TURF FRAUDS
SuINDLING on 4 LARGE SCALE
IN THE SEVENTIES.
Gang Of Ciever Msuipalsters VINO Oper-
ated q Newspaper and . Hank OF
Thc,r Own ana Heavily victimized.
among Others. q French Countess.

ated q Newspaper and . Hank OF
rhc,r Own ana Heavily victimized
among others, . French Countess
I'm recent article written by Alfred
Alison in the London Sporting Times
s,he pink un.' the great turf frauds
which caused a sensation in England
in the '7Os were rstold and have since
revived other stories OF similar nature
Mr.. Allison writes
In oleverness Of conception and reck-
,ess daring in preparation the great
turf frauds OF the '70s were probably
the most remarkable In the history
q, syipdling as associated with racing
They we're better known as the DE
Goncourt Frauds from the fact that the
chief victim was wealthy French widow
NJ that name. What makes them more
remarkable lie the fact that the perpe-
traitors managed to suborn Scotland
Yard TO such an extent that four Of the
Leading detectives Of the day were sub
,,1uently put on trial for aiding and
aoetting the swindlers TO escape justice.
Both trss occupied many days and re-
suited in revelations which created the
greatest interest throughout the ooun-
trv. especially in sporting circles. The
pnme schemer was the notorious Henry
Benson. one of the most extraordinary
criminal freaks Of the century.
Among various. schemes and methods
adopted for avoiding the stringent pro-
VISIONS of the betting house act was that
Of offering by circulars and other means
iaci tiles for discretionary investments.
They we're all more or less the work OF
srndlers When the principals were
exposed and things got too hot for
them they simply changed their names
and the venue Of their operations and
started in fresh fields
Prominent among others advertising
from Edinburgh was a firm who traded
under the name OF Gardner & Co., and
they flooded the country with their cir
tulsrs and messages of various kinds,
1h he head and chief OF this enterprising
Lody was natural genius named William
kurr He was a man of about six and
twenty years Of age and would have
rassed as a successful and honest young
farmer Nature had been kind to his
face. for he had not enough honesty in
his whole composltion to impregnate a
honse fly. On the contrary he was a
cunning, courageous scoundrei-a man OF
intense energy, resource and ability.
lie Was the son of baker and when only
~ years old he was fulfilling the duties
G, clerk on the South Eastern Railway,
we've months of this employment was,
uoweyer, enough for his youthful ener-
. rs and he took up berth as clerk in
pney lending company called the Gros-
nor Investment Trust. This in due
olrse collapsed. Kurr then returned
g., his old love of betting or rather cheat
80, and as he frankly confessed. he de-
ted the rest of his life to living on his
ts by swindling and plundering the
lnlic. Gardner 4 Co. seems TO have
'en part Of the machinery for carrying
4 this programme.
Excellent, however. as we're the profits
this firm. they did not ill the cup Of
IRIS ambition. The British Isles were
30 limited and the legal veto possibly
90 stringent to allow Of the full devel-
,pnent of the firms ideas. They wished
10 spread their net on the Continent
nd TO gather in some of the wealthy
rds ripe for plucking abroad. Fortune
vas with them at this juncture, for they
,iw the advertisement Of a person looking
Tor situation who possessed exactly
The qualifications they needed. After
nsgotiations they secured the services
( Mr.. Young the author Of the adver-
'sement,
Now, If they had gone seriatim through
he ranks OF all the dead wrong uns'
from John o 0roat's House TO Lands
Ind they could not have picked a more
seiu addition to their ranks, for in the
'"rson Of Mr., Young they had secured
Henry Benson. who became one of the
n,ost notorious criminals Of the latter
"ud Of the last century.
1t was after Benson's engagement
Nth the firm that Gardner q Co. got |
,ariously to work and started operations |
on the Continent. The first brilliant
cdort in this direction was the issue of
il paper which bore the name Of Sport. |
This journal had but one number. though |
The one circulated was described as No. |
;l3 Ii was published in Edinburgh, |
only no copies being printed. This |
naper was represented TO be the prop |
elty of a Mr.. Montgomery, a gentleman |
who was lauded 10 the skies in it's pages
iur his noble efforts to put the Engl lish |
urf on sound basis MIR. Montgomery |
was but one Of the numerous aliases
assumed by Benson in steering amio
ne rocks and quicKsands which crowded
he way in his stormy passage through
Me
Mr. Montgomery was represented
IS man who by his knowledge OF turf
matters and unique method OF getting
Information was enabled to make fabulous
fortunes out Of betting. To judge 10y
he praise lavished upon him by the
'dlior OF Sport he was sort OF walk
hg encyclopedia Of stable secrets. a
'a"ker wade mecum. and an unparalleled
Ward IN racing affairs generally. Owing
70 these fortuitous circumstances he had
won money not only by the thousands
nit by the tens OF thousands and millions.
OIt wlthal he was d charitable man, for
among other things he had given from
10 the Lancashire distress fund during
lhe historic cotton famine.
Judging from the journal i have
quoted Mr.. Montgomery by his win
mngs had become a sort Of book makers
nightmare fact possibly not TO be won
dered al when his enormous and repeated
successes were recorded, In order to
retalate on Mr.. Montgomery the book
makers, readers were told. began TO boy
cotl him. They would not taSe his BETS
or offered him so much below the odds
mar his life became q burden TO him
hi0rtunateiy il was impossible said the