New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-09-27

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"rhe men took Us back TO Chicago.
7 held out for three or four days dur
ING which we were prisoners IN hotel
Than felt so sorry for Miss Williams
49, s,--ende-ed. 7 paid $4,000, and
tbe1 after We had been released. gave
+bo mon the rest of the $4,000 they
demanded" ,D,.- W.,
West later learned that Miss vii
Jams" vas in reality Mrs. buda goa,
man. one OF the so-called olacA!nal,
syndicate. George Irwin. VINO IS sara
20 have impersOnated United cL aJes
Commissioner Foote IN the e!o'OVV
.ravesty. and John T. French ana James
Christian. alleged 20 have been the I-He
Federal officers, are under arrest.
Circumstantial a. i seems IN Chicago'
Waste tori did not entirely line with
facts developed in New York ne reg
,eter Al IN. Hotel Ansouis showed that
y was on May Is, rather than on May
IN or II. that "Mr and Mrs. r. H..
West" had stopped there. Iney re-
NAMED only one day.
"There is mistake somewhere, ] Am
srre said Frank ". Hartman, lessee
and manager of the hotel. "lf fake
arrest or a real one mad been made
my house detectives would have known
az H. Resides, Mr.. West had been here
20 often with his wife that he would
scarcely have tried 10 register with an
other woman. He has been a close
friend Of mine for years.
$4,000 Thought Too Large.
Harry ". Meinz, the Gregg repre-
sentative IN New York. said he had
heard West speak Of a Buda Goldman,
remarking she was Clever girl
"Nr. West g not a man OF large
means" he added. rlf he gave up SIS
900 20 blackmailers | am sure he would
have had 20 borrow it,
West. according 20 Mr.. Meinz. lost
his wife about year ago, and has =
daughter thirteen years old.
The Department Of Justice invest
gators are now on the trail OF d man
who. they say. vas really the orlgina
tor of the Mann act swindle.
This man for many years was rul
ny figure in the red light district
Of a Western city. A reform wave swept
the district clean, and the deposed vice
king opened a road house. From the
now ENTERPRISE he vas driven By the
police. Not long afterEard Federal in
vestigstors assigned 20 Mann act cases
hogan TO report that other detectives
seemed 70 be working along the same
lines.
There really isn't blsckmall syn
dictate. any more than there ls an or.
gsnized Black Hand n this country
said man Who has played an I'M
portant part in rounding up the Mann
.ct swindlers. Nor IL u true That the
blackmailers usually operate with won
~ a decoys.
oereons-orlv three or four OF them
u.omen-are engaged in The game. 2
handful in each Of the bigger cities.
Members OF the various groups are &C
orainted with one another. and thst
about all there is 20 the syndicate bust
ness.
Nine Out Of IS Caught.
"Of the twenty-five We are after
nine are now in custody, including ono
woman. They have collected At least
$500 600 IN the last couple OF years. and
I should number their victims AZ forty
or fftv. In A few cases they have used
women 70 decoy men or vice versa, but
u il their custom 20 keep an eye open
TOR married men touring N. country
with women other than their wives
And there are plenty such 70 keep them
busy. All they have 20 do IS 20 checs
up ON the big spenders IN the 'hasn
hotels
among the blackmailers there are
q few Of the tango boys, but mostly
they are former lemon pool men ana
wireless wire tappers cheap CROOKS
THEY'RE not used 10 having money IN
largc amounts. and they spend what
thev make like drunken sailors. lmme
diately after they've turned trick
they'll invest i'm a high priced sutomo-
bile and 20 racing around the lobster
ra1aces until they're broke. Then they u
seU the automobile and live on the pro
ceeds while they look for another VIC
tim.
New Methods Brought Out.
As the blackmail investigation pro
ceeds new methods resorted 20 By the
blackmailers are constantly coming 20
Fght For instance, tao young women
engaged rooms not 30 long ago az an
Atlantic City hotel They were quiet
In dress and manner and IN the course
of a week had established themselves
nth even the most suspicious OF me
sun psrlor dowsgcrs. Two business
men resting" made the acquaintance
81 the sisters. for as such they regis
tered and were accepted, and they
found them not nearly so quiet a. they
.ppeored. They we're ready for lar.