El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-12-28

resent a wealthy farmer in Michigan,
Texas. or some remote locality. The
said farmer is a pure philanthropist,
with no desire TO profit at the expense
of the poor. He owns hundreds of
acres Of good farming land. He wishes
this land to be converted into small
homesteads and decided to worthy work.
ing people deserving of a chance to live
comfortably in their own homes. He is
willing to give away perhaps so or 100
lots absolutely free to serve as a nu-
cleus of a model town The agent is
to select these worthy people and to
secure their applications. 1t is necessa-
ry for the applicant to put up a small
sum of money, usually about SIS, for the
expense of recording and transfer and
the deed will be forthcoming. A live
agent will cover town in a few days
and perhaps secure a hundred appli-
cants with their fees and then depart
to new fields
Living By Wits Alone.
1t takes a very clever person to con-
tinue living in luxury for a long life
and keep up the appearance Of wealth
with nothing tangible to support him,
but there are number of such cases
on record. The greatest swipdIe of this
kind presented in the twentieth centu-
ry is Madame Humbert. Some 20 years
ago an American. Robert Crawford, fell
in fit at station in Paris. The
Humbert woman went to his aid and
he died shortly after Then it was
reported that he had left her a large
fortune. A couple of nephews appear
ed on the scene to corroborate the
statement. They seemed to be wealthy
men travelling for pleasure and with
their assistance Madame Humbert was
able to secure credit for large sums on
the strength of the millions said 20 be
coming to her. She bought a mansion
in Paris, giving in payment a promis
sorry note based upon the supposed mil
lions She bought d country estate for
100000 in the same way This she
mortgaged for $50, 900 in ready money.
Similar transactions gave her the
means she required and back of her al
ways were the reputed millions SOON
to become available In 20 years she Sc
luxury, and, at her death. left nothing
but pile of fraudulent papers locked
in her safe.
An Ohio Instance.
A man and his wife came to an Ohio
town, took a well furnished house and
joined a prominent church He opened
an account in local bank with $4,000.
which he afterwards increased to SIS
600. Within six months after gaining
the confidence OF business men and the
banker whose church he attended. he
went TO the bank with bundle of stock
certificates. These amounted to s6S,000.
according to a list he furnished He
asked the banker to permit him to de-
posit these, and after a slight exam
nation the charge was accepted and a
receipt give by the president of the
bank. A stock broker then accepted
the bank receipt for the list and sold
the stock for $6s,00o. its face value.
He paid over the money and the man
and his wife left town. The broker went
to the bank for the stock certificates.
which turned out to be bogus, although
the bank president had accepted them
as genuine The clever swindler with
$4,000 to start with had cleared $50
900 in less than a year.
Work on Sympathies.
Swindlers that appeal TO the sympa-
thies are always successful. In various
parts of the country sick engineer"
or sick miner swindle has been work
ed with good result. The tale is told
that the man was injured in a mine and
that as a compensation he was given
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