The Mathews journal. (Mathews C.H. [Court House]) 1903-1937, 1912-04-04
SWINDLERS FAIL
g TO FIND VIC TINS
Federal Postofice Department
Should Take q Hand and Co
operate With the Spanish
Government to Land the
Persistent Gang.
ICHM Nd. YA-Snecial

~ n M " N ~, fA.-Special.-
To judge by the number OF letters
coming here from the city of Madrid
ana written by persons supposedly
connected with the time-honored
Spanish prisoner" swindle, the IN
habitants OF Richmond must have an
international reputation as the orig
world.
Almost weekly reports OF the re-
ceipt OF such letters are laughingIy
made In one quarter or another. And
frequently the intended victim n "a
person of prominence and good sense.
whether any one actually takes the
pant or not Is not known. 1t would
seem, however, from the number of
the letters and the elaborate litera-
ture sent TO those following I'D the
hrst communication with Inquiries.
that the swindlers have a Thoroughly
organized force and that they must
pay out considerable sums for clerical
work. 1t is beginning to be suspected
that the Spanish swindlers have a
Richmond confederate.
The first letter to the American
sucker is almost always written bv
hand and usually the penmanship is
beautiful. And in most cases the Eng
lish is good, though now and then
there are grammatical and syntactical
errors, showing the touch CO q for
eigner.
The wonder OF it al is that the
United States has not taken a hand
IN the matter and sought through
concerted action with the Spanish
Government 10 do something to pre-
vent these attempts at swindIine
one is irresistibly led &c the con
clusiOn that the crooks on The ether
SIDE OF the water must derive some
prout from their scheme, for letters
of the sort alluded To- have beer com
ing mere for possibly decad. and Il
| half.
Nor do they stop with = hrst epist L.
| n one chooses to write for details or
Iurther explanations. In several cases;
! authenticated COPIES of wills and
other official documents arilStlca0v
/ printed or copied. have been received.
Ihese things show that the cooks
nave perfect organization and that
the springs to catch American wood
cocks are well and carefully set
! w nile nearly everybody -hereatoETS.
as far as is known, has taken The let
ters good-naturedly, much surprise
/ has been expressed that ihe govern
ment has not put some Of her secret
service men TO work on this business
| The last Spanish prisoner letter
received here-or. rather. the lav.
whose receipt has been reported 10
TINS offlce-is somewhat out al he
unusual order in that il uses Very
poor English-EnElish when Shows
only a feeble grasp on the langIas,
/ II runs somewhat quantity as follows
, unuer Madrid date line.
! Il am imprisoned in this citv and
known (sic) your honesty and HeY-
sonalitN. l beg TO beSeech you here
with whether you wants to com, hey.
10 take away my eQuipaFe seizure ir
order to seize upon trunk contain
ing a secret in which ] have hidder
an (sic) document indispe nsaIle Il
YOU TO come i'm possession Of ssO.6Oe
dollars that l have in the United
States.
AS reward 7 will yie'G v,.a IN,
third part Of the aforesaid sum F..r-
ful that this letter don't arrive az Nour
| hands. / will wait your answ.r and
then ] will say You my secret with
every detail and 10 subscribe Win uly
name.
AS here is n newspaper that pur-
| llsh all the cablegrams whose aC-
! dressee are unknown, which L i al
lowed TO me to read, and as ] cannot
receive here in the raol your reply
you must send a cablegram tC tht 40
dress indicated at the end
Notwithstanding your cable DoG
reach 10 me, this will be the sufficient
TO know that you accept my propoel-
ton.
Awaiting eagerly 10 read your mis-
sive, ] only subscribe,
''V. EX-RANK Pr
above all. please 10 answer bN ca
BILE, but not by letter. as following.
| Alfonso Larriva. Lara Is MADRID
Arrived Andrew"