Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-04-03
ECHOES OF WORK OF
GRAY-HA|REO RASCAL
Checks Come Back to Indorsers
for Man Who Used Woman and
Child as Aides.

A slck old confidence man, who a few
weeks ago wrote Wilmington on his MAJ
and then wrote his name to several worth
less checks at the expense of number ol
sta,d business men, now even wiser,
though forlorn, did not content himself
with dragging woman into his criminal
schemes. but carried along with him a wee
bit of girl less than six years old TO formu.
late, an appeal to his victims.
The detectives who have been securing
every place within reach for some trace oi
this itInerant crook are now confronted
with the task Of solving the mystery sur
rounding the identity of the woman and
child
The man himself has been identified
so the victims say. by means of pictures
which all his victims declare to be at least
striking likeness of him. But there is
nothing as yet TO show who the woman
and child were. The woman was young
and good looking and it is thought may
have been an accomplice, but the detec-
tives are convinced that she was merely
a dupe of the man.
Dealers along King street particularly
have occasion TO remember the visit of
this shaking-down artist He was whitley
and luxuriantly matched all over his head
and old enough To be thinking of some
thing much more serious than driving at
other peoples earnings. The fellow is
said 10 he known from coast TO coast and
his mug is familiar TO every Bertillon ey-
pert in the country, so it is said It was
through these men that he was finally
identified as a man known by a dozen
different names His home is wherever
he NAV happen to be in pursuit of easy
money.
Hc would take the woman and child in
10 food store, fill a basket with groceries
ard introduce the woman as his niece
1-brn he would say he was boarding with
her and that the only way he could get
even with her was through buying her
meats and groceries. Then after leaving
be would return alone, draw the pro-
prsetor's ear way down close and confide
to him that he had unwittingly overspent
and would he please cash his personal
check II he would not please to do that
then the slick one would pull out q nifty
check book containing blanks which had
trecn passed through a check protecto-
graph and thus show what fine book it
~ss. And also thus show how careful
4 man he was in his dealings with his bank.
Almost every man fell for this old sinner
and hrs check book and when the crook
said Just write your name on the back
OF that blank and then somebody else
will ash II for me- almost everybody
danceu and indorsed. All that was
nrnxsary after that for the solution of the
voorhees, living problem was for the man
10 write out the amount and sign the check
hrmclf As rule he made IT s25. One
unsn was let down for SIS. Another for
$40.
TlAFs victims were too busy today With
th6ir Saturday rush TO discuss the matter
with An Every Evening man, but they said
tlsr fellow Was evidently an old hand at
tho business. Nobody seems 10 have even
sAnuxh of fraud But they have since
dou a pile of thinking as these blanks
hvc came back charged To their accounts
At the bank Every man will have 10
pay up, for his own John Han cock IS on
the back.