Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-09-18
40 MEN, 70 WOMEN .
|NbLACKMA|L BAN6
Chicago Syndicate's Secrets
Told in Alleged Confessions
of Two Prisoners.
DISPUTE OVER sPOILs
LEADS TO REVELATIONS
Police Are Told That Operations of
Gang in the Last Year Alone
Melted 100000.

CHICAGO, September 18.-
Confession has been made by two
members of the alleged syndicate
of blackmailers, eight of whom
are under arrest here, that opera
tons of the swindlers netted them
ST 100000 during the last year,
federal officials announced today.
The confessions, it was said.
disclosed that the alleged band
numbers sixty persons, a third of
them women. A dispute over the
division of~spoils, it was said, led
to the confessions. Arrest of a
score or more members of the
syndicate are expected within
week.
The men who confessed are Dick.
Barrett and Edward J. Thompson. ac-
cording to Hinton G. Clabaugh, head of
the Chicago bureau of the federal De-
partment of Justice. Both are at
the government, however, when the
eight members of the alleged syndicate.
arrested in the raid on a fashionable
apartment hotel Saturday night. are
brought to trial, Mr.. Clabaugh said.
Persons Under Arrest.
Those under arrest and the bail they
will be required to give. are: Edward
Donahue, alias DOC Donahue." $4,000;
III
Brown. $4,000; Henry Russell. alias H.
]. Russell. s25.00o; Mrs. Edward Dona-
hue. $4,000: James Christian. alias
James Roberts. $1,000: George Bland.
alias Joseph Pearl. $1,000; Mrs. Frances
Allen. alias Mrs. Chapman, 5000.
Elaborate opium smoking layoute.
expensive silks and satin gowns and
found in one Of the elegantly fur
nished apartments in which the arrests
were made. Fifty suits of clothes hung
! in the closet of Henry Russell. A mass
of alleged incriminating evidence
letters, kilograms and other papers
were found. officials said.
Operations of the band are declared
to have extended from coast to coast.
Men and women alike were victims.
Persons of wealth were the objects in
every case.
Five wealthy and socially prominent
members of Chicagos society are de-
$4,000. Their names are withheld. Per-
sons also are declared to have been
feeced in New York, Baltimore and
Philadelphia.
Only three victims of the syndicate
have declared themselves ready to face
the publicity and testify in the case.
Mr.. Clabaugh said. One of these is Mrs
Regina Clipper of Philadelphia.
The prisoners are charged with con-
spiracy.
Operations Reached Beyond U. 8.
Operations of the syndicate which
now appears to have been of interna-
tional proportions were not confined to
the blackmail of wealthy men and
women. according to information de-
veloped today Among the effects in
the office of Doc" Edward Donahue,
one of the men caught in the Saturday
night raid, was stationery of the
United Turf Exchange" with Head
quarters in New York and offices all
over the world" There were also ci-
pher codes for deciphering messages re-
ceived by wire. telling what horses to
bet on. how much to bet, what races
and positions to play.
Fake newspaper clippings detailing
the wonderful clean-ups made by a
young eastern plunger in poolrooms
apparently had been used to lure vic
Tins. One letter found in Donahue's
apartment house. was from the Horse
mans Association" of 1863 Marke.
street. Louisville, KY. signed by ]. c.
Saulsberry, secretary. and addressed to
A. T. Karger. The secretary said he
was sorry to hear of Mr. Karger's no.
toriety lately. and hoped he wouldn't
have another occurrence like that
again" 1t seemed that Mr.. Karger's"
Connection with bookmaking activities
at the races.
According to Department of Justice
officials here today, the United Turf
Exchange" must have been an exclusive
affair. The rules stated that members
using the clubrooms in the evening
must appear in full dress. Evidently
the "Horseman's Association was
known in Louisville as a grain bro
kerage house.
How Wagers Were Placed.
Code books showed how wagers on
horses could be placed, and there was
apparently no limit If the bettor
wanted to place $4,000 on a horse he
would order fifty boxes of red. white
or blue matches, the color depending
on the position to bet on the horses
viz, red, straight; blue. place; white,
show.
Condition of track was described as
follows: Dry. oats: muddy, corn: me
dium rye. If all these elaborate sys-
tens were. not enough to beguile the
victim the fake newspaper clipping was
flashed The headlines of this article
stated that a young eastern plunger
cleaned up $4,000 from Seattle. Wash,
Identity of man not known
to local gambling fraternity. The
story then went on that all efforts to
get information from him had been
fruitless. He had never lost a bet.
Here it was, according to the Depart
ment of Justice officials here today,
that Donahue broke into the game. He
would claim to be the mysterious
stranger from the east.
Got SAC, 900 From One Man.
According to the federal authorities
today here are some of the things done
hv the syndicate: Theysieeced multi
m millionaire of New York out of $4,000
hv threatening him with arrest for al
Legged violation Of the Mann act, two OF
The members of the syndicate imper.
sonating secret service agents for that
purpose.
They frightened a wealthy Philadel-
phia woman who had been too friendly
with a stranger in a cafe into giving