The Washington times., 1920-02-22
rheumatic Man. Was Fat or Thin
At viii While Fleeing Thousands
Some OF Washington's Most
Astute Business Men Among
His Victims.
CONTINUED from First Page.J

traction for him. His delight is to
extract money from the keenost OF
business men. There IL no zest, no
opportunity 10 put his uncanny pow
ers at fraud into operation merely by
woodworking the ignorant or those
unframed in business. The more sa-
gacious his victim the more pleasure
I'm the job of fleeing him.
who is this man?
The court OF the District convicted
and sentenced him under the name Of
william J. Reid. but he has thirty
three other aliases under which he
has carried on his get-rich-quick
schemes.
The Courts attention called to the
fact that the charge - forgery
against the prisoner carried only
ten-year penalty in each case. the
sentence was changed to ten. years
for each OF the three counts against
the man.
william }. Reid was the name the
forger was convicted under in WASH
ington. He had just finished six
years In the California state prison
under the name Of S, p. Croft. He
gave his age as fifty-hve years.
The prisoners counsel. Hannis Tay,
lor jr. asked the court to take into
consideration the six years in prison
when he fixed the penalty.
MY only regret IL that ! cannot
give this man life.". declared the
court. "A man Of his type should
never again be free to ply his trade
Of fraud In this country.
Il want the prisoner carefully
guarded. He has broken out Of jails
In the past and 1 would not be sur
prised If he does not escape here.
judging by his past performances"
the court added.
Prisoner Appears Unconcerned.
The man. himself, just looked at
the court. his dark brown eyes never
wavering. He appeared to be the
least concerned man in the crowded
courtroom except he possibly was
planning his escape from the Atlanta
Federal prison. to which he goes this
week. ....
In physical appearance. he il as
changeable as his name. Appearing
In one place. he may be robust
Westerner, wearing a large sombrero
and Western attire. but he loses his
corpulency in another place and be-
comes tail, thin man. attired in a
Prince Albert coat and wearing q
narrow brimmed Panama or soft felt
hat.
Jail sentences have served only as
temporary deterrent. They have
been only vacation period in which
he could whet his appetite for gain
by Legitimate methods and concoct
| schemes for plying his trade on his
day OF his release.
Take his Jobs" in Washington.
for example.
Washington was virgin territory
when Reid-that was his name in so
| far as this incident Is concerned
turned up here in 1912. He had just
done time" In another city. He was
eager to get back in the game and
this city offered the opportunity
Sought to Purekase Home.
On hot July afternoon in ~l9l2-
It. was Saturday, July IL. to be exact
several employees of-the New York
Real Estate Brokers lolled about
their offices at 1928 + street north
west A tall, very stout man strolled
into the front office. He wore a large
hat, typical of typical 'Westerners
md other typical Westerners' attire.
MY name is c. r. Morse. of tho
state of Washington" he told Mr..
Ryan. who greeted him.
II am looking for a home. de-
tached house. to cost about $4,000"
he conteinued. "T contemplate max
ing my home here. and ! want to &C.
luire a nice home in the sububs.'
Mr.. Ryan began TO regret that his
firm dealt only in business property.
In those days $4,000 sale repre-.
,entcd a large commission and an i'm
3ortant real estate transaction. The
keen. brown eye of the stranger
fascinated the real estate man. There
vas that element in that gaze which
;eemod to say, II mean business"
Refers Him Friendly Firm.
Reluctantly. Mr.. Ryan admitted
that his company dealt only in bust
ness properties, but referred the in
oujrer to Boss e. Phelps. telling him
that his firm often did business with
that agency.
To make sure that the friendly
agency would get chance at the
sale, Mr.. Ryan forthwith called Boss
( Phelps over the telephone and made
an appointment for "Mr. Morse
II was such an afternoon as ap-
pcals to baseball fans, which means
that most of the staff Of Boss
Phelps were at the ball game.
Mr.. Buell., now in the real estate
business at Herndon, Va, but at that
.inc "A salesman for Boss & Phelps,
was in the office with Mr.. Boss. The
telephone message reused them to the
extent that Mr.. Boss sent his sales
man hurrying from the office for an
automobile.
Ride To Inspect Properties.
The reception that was awaitinS
MIR. Morse" when he reached the Of
fec Of Boss & Phelps was as warm as
tho weather. Business was duh in
real estate lines in those days, any
way, and Boss scented an opportunity
to put over n sale while tho other
member of the firm was taking an
afternoon Off.
IT was n pleasure, Mr.. Boss told
Mr. Morse, ito show hi mover the