The Washington herald., 1912-07-28

i
and under the key number" 66. was
the first man named in the Indictment.
Wonderful System of Crime.
One of the mcst wonderful systems Of
crime the world has even known was
charged. The Mabray gangs activities
/ covered States throughout the Missis-
sippi Valley; its agents and workers were
In cities large and small, and the aggre-
gate of gain through fake prize fights.
wrestling matches. horse races. and other
athletic contests has been calculated at
more than H.Oo0.0O0. The conspiracy was
entered into in 1906 the Indictment re-
turned at Omaha charged, and until Feb
lruary q. 1903. was continuously In exist
ence.
Victims. known in the gangs parlance
as mikes" after '.interviews'' In which
they we're relieved Of sums varying from
a few to many thousands of dollars, were
scattered throughout the land. Most Of
them would not ''holler," for the Mabray
gang worked on psychological principles
under which the prospective victims were
In most cases skillfully allured into
wrongdoing before the coups were made.
| His Part Not Told.
Exactly what part Frank w. Brown
played In the transactions Of the gang
was not brought out In the courts, for
he escaped trial by the laws delay. un-
| til, unable longer to escape the laws de-
mand that he face the bar OF justice. he
took poison and died.
Men who knew Brown say that II he
had any part. probably 1t was no subor-
dinate part He liked no subordinate
part.
In the complex system, Of course. there
were many subordinate parts. OF the
leaders there were twenty-five, IL was
gener ally said. They were the men who
Tposed as millionaires and as the secre-
taries and followers of the miilionaires.
who. In their leisurely wanderings here
and there in search of Investments, would
not be denied their sporting pleasures and
SO were constantly pulling on for their
own amusement such interesting contests
| as the matching Of horses on the track,
the pitting Of wrestlers and boxers one
against the other, or of young men to
/ race.
The insidiousness OF their scheme. II has
been pointed out. was largely in the
fact that they overtly invited no man
to bet or otherwise participate in their
contests except to be stakeholder or
secret" layer Of wagers for one OF
the party. The prospective victims first
| experience generally was an ac-
quaintance with a secretary or Jockey
| OF the "millionaires'' who was sore"
because of some scurvy treatment. and
was anxious to get even" This sore"
underling needed a man to place money
| for him.
Bet 100000 on . Race.
The next experience generally was
| an introduction to the ''nillionaires''
who. like the sore underling. had real
money. In one case no less than slo0 900
| In real money was wagered on a horse
race.
The poison OF easy money" began
to work through the Mikes" blood.
1t was sure thing" he let himself
be persuaded. What made II surer still.
| the Mike held the money-not only his
own. but 500 900 in cold cash belonging
| to these millionaires.
He couldn't lose: he held the game in
his own hands. A fake? Let EN- try TO
fake: he held the money. 1t would seem
| that few OF the Mikes" ever got away
from that thought-th-y held the money
in their own hands. their money and the
mllionaires', 200.
And then. in the swift, wild fury OF the
race, while Mixes heart almost choked
him, there would be the hurting OF a
particolored figure through the air at a
snort turn in the course. harsh, fright
ened cries as all the tense, eager men
| about the finish hurried down to where
the figure lay with the blood softly
| oozing, tricklins from his mouth. eyes,
nose, and ears.
Don't Tarry Long.
A man killed in a criminal transac-
ton. A life snuffed out while the Mike
was holding money and betting money
on horse race conducted against the
laws OF the State.
Mike" had little need to be told to
fly. Wings grew spontaneously. And
when or II he found out later that the
blood he had seen came from a device
fixed in the Jockeys mouth. Mike
even then had little inclination to
''squeal"
Methods of acquainting Mike" with
the scheme and of handling him after
ward varied. Prize lights We're frequent
ly employed. But there was little diff
ference in the result. except as to the
sum of mulctng.
Everywhere the "steerers" were work.
ing. interviewing" victims at once dub
bed Mikes" and gwen. as We're all the
operatives in the system, cabalistic num-
bers and letters by which they were des-
ignated. So elaborate and exquisite were
the handling of the cases that all papers
relating to Individual interviews" were
Jackets with photographs of the vic
tins, and with full data as to the
amounts and methods involved.
Two Sacks of Documents.
From Little Rock. alone, two mail
sacks full of such documents were OBJ
tanned by a postoffice inspector, who was
prominent in the case.
Those matters were brought out in
trials of the conspirators, who were sem
fenced to various terms in the peniten-
tiary. Frank Brown did not come to
trial. He was arrested and imprisoned
by United States Marshal C. T Elliott
in San Francisco on warrant issued
by United States District Judge John J.
De Haven, November %. 1909. based on
the indictment returned at Omaha. An
order for his removal and delivery to the
Federal authorities at Omaha was issued
by Judge De Haven.
Brown then applied to the Circuit Court
of the United States for the Ninth Judi
cial Circuit, Northern District of Cali
fornia, for writs Of habeas corpus and
certiorari. He contended that his arrest
and confinement were Illegal alleging
lack of Jurisdiction: that the indictment
charged him with no crime against the
set forth in the indictment had been
entered into three years before the in
dictment was returned.
Appenls to Supreme Court.
.nroaI, fror, C{rc,,if Court'~