The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1912-03-07
Old SCHEME PROVED WINNER
Head of Gang Which Sent Letters to
Kenosha Alleged to Have Been Taken
in Spanish Town and Records of the
Gang Are Taken by the Police. 4

" I'm the arrest In Bilbao OF q gang
OF, sWlndlers and the capture Of their
complete paraphernalia, the Spanish
police believe that they have at last
succeeded IN putting an end to the
Vaccinations of rogue who for the
last ten Years has been known to the
lpress of Europe and America as the
Spanish prisoner. Scores of the let
ters sent out by the gang Of swindlers
have been received in Kenosha the
last batch Of them arriving only few
days ago.
His operations first attracted public
attention after the Spanish American
war when certain soldiers, both Span
ish and American, who had been quart
cred in Cuba, began to receive lnysteri-
GUS letters. The gist and nature of
the letters to tie Spaniards was, that
a fair American heiress whose brother
had been in Cuba, had often heard
her brother speak of the addressee,
until she began to entertain for him a
tender affection; and would he not
send her his photograph
Usually the youthful romantic Span
lard, although not remembering the
brother, complied with the request.
Then succeeded correspondence,
which finally developed the fact that
the girls brother had died, and that
she had been left with her great wealth
without any protection but wicked
guardian, who would force her to mar
ry him so that he might become pos
sessed of her fortune. 40, for only
a few hundred dollars, - that she might
fly to her Spanish lover, who would
know how to thWart the wicked guar
dian! Usually the son of Spain fell
into the trap. All over Spain there
ARE sad eyed youths waiting for the
appearance Of fair and wealthy Ameri-
can senoritas.
The system the Spanish prisoner =
employed with Americans was slightly
different. Usually the letter declared
that certain parsonage, pursued and
prosecuted on account Of his political
gor religious ideas had buried in some
known spot, or deposited in bank,
large quantities of money in bonds or
specie, and that, in order to redeem
them, a sum of $500 or $4,000 must
be sent-the amount demanded Curl
ously fitted in with the known circum-
stances of the( addressee. As the
writer, usually and apparently wrote
from some Spanish prison, he became
known to the American press as ."the
Spanish prisoner.
More recently his agents have been
operating in The Hague and San Fran
Lcisco, Recently tenor at the Madrid
opera received newspaper clipping
stating that his long lost uncle had
just died in California possessed of
millions, while a local law firm had
actually been engaged to look for him,
who was sole heir to the property.
The agency at The Hague caused to
be published in the English press no
tices Of the demise of certain persons
whose ancestors had fled to Holland
during the religious persecution Of the
middle part of the sixteenth century
and had died wealthy without any
Dutch heirs. In these cases certain
London solicitors became the unconsci-
Gus agents of Ssthe Spanish prisoner .
and actually transmitted the money
necessary to present the claim to The
Hague, where it was never heard of
again.
In the house raided by the police
in Bilbao, was found a collection of
photographs, letters and other docu-
ments, and long lists of Spanish,
American and English names, with bio
graphical notes attached showing how
lit had been possible to conduct the