The Warwickshire Herald. — 1890-04-03 (Birmingham, West Midlands, England)

EMIGRATION TO CANADA.  PURTHER MYSTERIOUS  Mean, Alderson and Son, civil engineers, of New York, have informed the police authorities in Canada of the myaterious disappearance of tare young Englishmen, who have, it is feared, met with • fate similar to that of Mr. Benwell. Their names are Augustus A. Rawlings and Frank Begbie, Mr. Alderson, who is an Englishman of about 50 years of age, and has been in New York about five years, says : "Mr. Rawlings came to this country about eight years ago. He was 32 years old, and paid £l,OOO to a firm in London to be sent to this country. A third of this money was sent to an agent in Toronto. He promised me before he left here that he would write every week. I received one letter from Niagara Falls, in which he said that he would give a description of the place in his next letter. Nothing has been heard from him since, and his mother died about two and • half years ago of a broken heart. Frank liegbie I knew more intimately. He was a warm personal friend of my son. His father was an officer in the Indian Service, and died in India. He intended to enter the army, but upon examination was plucked in mathematics, and was no distressed at Ins failure that lie decided to leave home. He saw an advertisement, and paid 100 guineas for the chance to learn farming in this country. He was sent to Toronto, to a person who received part of the sum paid to the English agency. Mr. Begbie expected to have a place on a fruit farni in the Niagara district, but was sent in. stead to a farm about sight miles from Lindsay. We never heard from him, but about four years ago I decided to find him if I could. I went to Toronto, got the name of the man with whom he was working, and went to the placo. It was a very poor farm, far away from civilisation, in a primeval forest—in farat,the farm had been given to the man by Government. 51vBegMe was working with a couple of ordinary labourers, and they all lived in a log hut, and had the scantiest fare. I took him with me to Lindsay, and asked him to come back with me. He said he wanted to get away, but had paid £3OO for an interest in the farm, and did not want C, i leave until he cot it back. A short time alter I returned to this city I got a letter from him, :3 which lie said that he had left the farm where he was working, having been cheated out of his money, and was working with another man. That is the last word I have had from him. The agency in Toronto makes every effort to induce young men sent from England to invest in these farina before they see theni. At both the offices in England and Canada pamphlets are issued describing the attractions of fruit farms in the Niagara district and the money to be made out of them. Young Englishmen fancy they ace coming to cultivated fauns, where fruit of all kinds h grown in profusion, and where shooting and fishing can be enjoyed in their leisure time. When they are sent to uncultivated farms far front civilisation and among thi roughest class of people they become discouraged and wander away to some other place or are murdered for their money. I am convinced that most of the skeletons found in the wilds of Canada during the last six or eight years are the remains of young men who have been forwarded to America in this way. Only a short time ego when transiting from Kingston I met a couple of young men who told me they had been treated in much the same way that young Begbie was. They were looking for work somewhere else. I think the authorities in England should investigate the workings of the agencies in that country and compel them to abew their books and give the name of every man they have sent to this country in this way, the amount of money paid by each man, and to whom they were forwarded here."