Delaware City press. (Delaware City, Del.) 1913-19??, 1913-10-10
TAKING FROM RICH
How a Newly Wealthy Pittsburgh
Man Was Fleeced.
Mr.. Murdoch Met Atfable Stranger
Who Published Autobiosraphies,
and in Due Course Of Time lie
Separated from Much Money.

tOWu from the ore 0eluS, cuhnseu lhlO
steel in the blast furnaces, and. by
happy modern miracle. finally as
gold, banked to the credit of thou
sands of surprised, half delirious citi-
zens. Trade was stimulated beyond
belief; spending was lavish; heads
were turned. Pittsburgh became the
capital of gold.
OF course, following prosperity like
Nemesis. in trooped the vultures of
civilization. Crooks of all the known
varieties swarmed through the town
for decade, reaping the fat har-
vest with an ease and a daring that
were clamored half way around the
woodland in particular the under
world.
The police could do much to sup
press crimes of violence; it was not
so simple to thwart the vultures who
preyed upon the gullability of the
newly rich. Confidence games were
successfully worked in as many forms
as there were confidence men to in
vent them. do not believe that any
police officer In the world was ever
confronted with as many preposterous-
ly obvious methods of separating hon
est men from their money.
The case Of William Murdoch is in
point Mr.. Murdoch was pillar of the
community, man whose business
sense had helped make Pittsburgh
what 1t was. On certain Saturday
afternoon he emerged from a throng-
ed barber shop and was accosted by
a pleasant looking fellow outside.
why. Mr.. Murdoch, how do you
dol" cried the pedestrian. holding out
his hand.
The benevolent financier paused, ad-
justed his spectacles and tried to place
the young mans face. He failed, but
being a firm believer in sociabi-
ity, as we'll as the other institutions Of
Pittsburgh life, he fell into the
strangers pace, ventured remark on
the weather and pursued both that
| topic and his companions foot
steps until they reached Grant street,
a part of the town fairly unfamiliar
to him.
Upstairs I've got the finest history
Of Pittsburgh and its prominent citi-
zens that has been written" said the
tempter at that point. Your name
and your picture come first In the
book. I've been looking for you for
week. Don't want to sell you the
book, you know-it is not CONNER
cial venture. Only we need another
Fd aet.r Il or twSs about your life. Won'i
you step up and see the proofs?"
The old gentleman assembled with
alacrity They learned from youth
in the office that the proofs had beer
sent to the New York printer ont
short hour before. The conversation
extended now to three. was genial
however, and continuous. Mr.. Muir
dock had risen to leave twice before
the talk drifted to lotteries, specula
ton and the Ikea Fascinating sub
ject OF which Mr.. Murdoch prided him
self that he know no mean amount
The two men produced new apparat
us, a contraption of the chuck-a-lucl
. order. which the business man pres
: entity found himself whirling witt
I something nearer the gamblers pas
, sion than he had known In all his eau
tious career.
e In ten minutes Mr.. Murdoch ha
: won $4,000. The winnings, in larg
s yellow bills, we're taken from
t safe and spread before him on tn
d table. ..= ......
But of course we can't pay tina
over to you," said one of the mel
until you have assured us that W
would not have lost our money if tn
game had gone the other way. TIE
thousand dollars-not check, 20
know but the kind Of Hills that II
there on the table-you'd do as
guaranty of good faith
One of Pittsburgh's safest bushes
men considered a moment, then pi
tiently started out to assure the gel
tlemen of his sincerity. At his ban
he succeeded In obtaining four $50
gold certificates, one package {
sl,5OO in bills of $50 and 500 demon
nations and another $1,000 packag
of greenbacks of the same size froi
gasping cashier. causing hurrie
replenishment of the banks cash fro
a nelghboring institution. Mr.. Mu
dock found his new friend waiting II
him at the banks entrance, and t
gether they made their way back
the Grant street office and the gar
bling wheel
The fascinated old gentleman playS
again and again Ten thousand dollal
Of his money and half that amount
the strangers money were the stalk
= on the table. In half an hour M
Murdoch was informed that the C
lg prices OF the chuck-a-luck wheel ht
ut deprived him of the rightful ownersh
it, of not only his $1,000 winning but
n his $4,000 guaranty of good faith
,s-
vs. Dead Baby by Parcel Post