The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1916-11-16
CAN'T find ANNIE SHAUPLEY
Vast swindle of Old Jeffrey Company
Built Out of Loss of Thirty-five Dol
lars by Two individuals - Feet
Tickling Burglar Still Missing.

Kenosha went down on the newspa-
per map on Sunday as the port OF
'1bum steers" SO far as newspaper
men were concerned and three stor-
iesD which looked like world heaters
were badly bent when reporters for
Chicago papers who rushed on Kenosha
to get the facts wired the home offices
that there was nothing in Kenosha to
warrant the belief that the big ends
of the stories were true.
Annie Sharpley, the Melrose Park
woman who made the first page OF Chi
cago papers when she fled a petition
in bankruptcy which showed that she
had been swindled out of some eighty
thousand dollars by New York men
who had promised TO produce her play
Lights Ahead" was the first object
of the search of the Chicago news men.
Miss Sharpley, who was alleged to have
secured tens of thousands Of dollars
from trusting friends, was declared to
be in Kenosha. 1t was alleged that
she had come here for visit on Thurs
day and the city was combed all day
Sunday in an effort to find her. Up to
late hour today the combing process
was still going on, but no trace of Miss
Sharpley had been found in Kenosha.
The woman fnancier whose opera
tions recalled the story of the famous
"TCassie' Chadwick was described in
one telegram as being almost a
dwarf and four feet wide. " Men who
work up about the depot insisted that
they could not have missed seeing such
D monstrosity Of womankind and they
insisted that the woman had never
come to Kenosha. Two unfortunate
young men who happened to bear the
same name as the Melrose Park woman
and who are living in Kenosha, were
bombarded during the day. Some of
the visiting scribes thought certain
that these men must have Miss Sharp
ley in hiding, but both of them de-
clared vigorously that they never heard
of the woman. The search for Miss
Sharpley in Kenosha is still on but it
is probable that the attorney for the
woman has her concealed in Chicago
and gave out the story that she was in
Kenosha to keep the reporters off her
real tracks.
Mammoth Swindle Exploded.
Long about five clock Sunday even
ing Chicago telegraphed the news that
mammoth swindle had been pulled
of in Kenosha when a man whose name
was given as Frederick Mueller had
victimized the old Thomas B. Jeffrey
Company to a large amount by giving
worthless checks for deposits on large
order of trucks for the United States
government. When this story was in
vestigated, it was found that the man
. got in the neighborhood of thirty-five
dollars. He had come to the Jeffrey
plant months ago and had represented
himself as government inspector of
motor trucks. He got just as far as
the front office and no farther. He
was, however, first class good fellow
with an exceedingly active tongue and
he managed to get John Kelly, former
secretary for factory manager J. w
DeCou, to negotiate couple Of checks
for him. The amount of the checks
totalled thirty-ive dollars and the men
out at the plant had forgotten all
about it. 1t is declared that Mueller
worked in Chicago and made his game
stick for lot more money, his victims
being wealthy members of the Hamil
ION Club in that city.
Local automobile manufacturers had
a rich time when they found that the
two or three checks passed here had
grown to a mammoth swindle'' by
The time it reached the Chicago news
paper Offices.
Foot-Tickling Burglar Missing.
The last big story for Sunday wa,
the story of the burglar who worked
Kenosha and went through SECOND
story windows to tickle the feet Of
society" women until they were Sc
iICh1Co LhAO VAAOS JuSt NATURALLY tuInSI
their jewels over to the burglars t.
keep them tickling. This story reached
the papers through the medium of tn,
Stock Yards News Bureau ''Get pic
lures and interviews of all the women
who had their feet tickled,'' was tn,
telegram which came through late Sun
day afternoon. Gloom deep and terri
BILE reigned over the ranks of the ''yel
low papers when no Kenosha woman
was found who was willing to hav,
her feet or face photographed to maxi
the story and it fell fiat.
Kenosha s failure to come to tn
front with the goods made the Monda,
morning papers poor reading matter
If all the stories had been substanti