Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1914-01-09
Oust;ng The Anarchists.
1r. John Sweeney, the Famous Ex-Detective Of Scotland
Yard, Speaks About Some Clever Criminals.

Nj: Sweeney. by the way. has no
great opinion Of the average anarchist
says. ARE apt to make heroes Of men
who defy the law. but I have never
yet met q romantic scoundrel. AZ q
matter OF fact. q criminal IL mostly In.
sane. bloated with eenseless egotism.
n blind to the inevitable nemesis
which certainly overtakes him sooner
or later. The criminal IL neither heroic
nor romantic. ignorant generally, q fool
always. The real romance lies in the
detection Of crime.
Almost Like Fiction.
Il remember" he continued. zone
particularly romantic episode. which
reads almost like fiction. An Austrian
aristocrat. banished for political Of
lenses from: his native land. had .,
most beautiful daughter. who went
with her father to anarchist clubs and
meetings. and became an ardent work.
er In h cause. She fell in love with
one OF her comrades. the affection was
r~eclprocated. and he. told her all the
s sSa rs. OF the group. When. however.
oeen chosen to murders well-knownI
man she WA horror-stricken and with -
view TO saving him from the inevitable
result OF his folly she gave us suf-
f'c,ens infornation to enable u to
AA0 HAOS 0IO OE08k U0 tho
gang. some OF tho members Of which
are stu serving aheir sentences in
prison. I might mention, that thu
lovers nave been married some years
now. ana have given many proofs Of
tneir regret at having ever associated
archists." N
famous criminals, Mr.. Sweeney aud.
oenly remarked that the story OF IL
ma who was generally considered BY
q police to be the cleverest and most
Sanserous criminal Of modern times
a never been told, and never vim
% told. Tor the simple reason that he
died within an hour Of his arrest. His
name was Roland de Villiers. ana he
was 2 Don Juan. Whitaker Wright. ana
q charlie Peace rolled into one. He
mas Deen described az q man with 4
hundred aliases and more than n hun.
! dred banking accounts.
The Anarchist millionaire.
He swindled shareholders out Of mu.
lions before Whitaker Wright had
taught the public the secret Of fraud
ulent limited companies. "A curfous
1act regarding him." said Mr.. Sweeney.
was that. although no absolute proof
a forthcoming. I had many reasons
for believing that much Of the wealth
ne acquired was devoted to ANARCHIST
causes. In fact, we called him tho
anarchist millionaire for there eeems
little doubt that his wealth was freely
drawn upon for anarchist propaganda.
His favorite method was to make
he married. robbed. and abandoned.
Bigamy was but . small detail in his
career Of crime. He was undoubtedly
guilty Of arson. In connection with the
hre insurance scandals which created
2 sensation in 1886. He obtained ESQ.,
L 000 r Vn1R RnR ~nUAHo0 NAn~~ ~l~-S-.
the changes on the owners Of various
~high-sounding names, who he alleged
were his directors. and In addition was
actually p~erpetrating swindles in other
parts OF England by long-nrm methods.
H kept an album Of s~ignatureA
memory. for otherwise he could never
have kept pacs with the aliases. He
had . palatial residence at Wembley
Park, which was honeycombed with
secret exits. and he maintained a'staff
OF private detectives for the sole pur-
ana guarding his own safety. I first
sought his acquaintance In connection
with q number Of anarchists who
gathered at the Holborn restaurant
meetings Of the Legitimation league In
f1Se7: but he .'dodged me, out OF the
face.
We q last rot ON his track through the
medium OF q solicitor whom Do Villiero
had. by . plentiful supply Of perjury.
s~ucceedsd In gettine struck OF the
dence against his enemy. found q clue
which in our hands led us to identity
De villiers with . whole host Of frauds
ard other crimes. ana by strategy We
managed TO arrest him In Q secret pas-
sage Of his baronial mansion ct Cam
bridge, whore he lived q DR.. Sinclair.
But even then he beat u. for he pois-
oned himself, and what romance lost
BY his death the world gained by being,
rid Of . ~danSerous. though sbrilllane