A SWINDLER AND HIS

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1514, 23 March 1887, Page 3

A SWINDLER AND HIS

A very eingulac ohargo of obtaining a largo sum- of money by fa'se pretences has been before the {Supreme Court Melbourne. The prisoner who has reseived a sentence of rive >earß, wan Charles ' Auguatus Smythe formerly of Christohurcb, a noted Wesleysn local preacher, highly respected by the ministers and members of that persuasion, yet n echem- : ng rogue and a heartless scoundrel, who has dccc ved a r^p'otnble young lady, and added bigamy to hio other orlmeß. Tiie t bo was remarkable as showing how paeily a hypocrltloal rogue many bamboozle a simple and trusting man. The prosecutor was Thomas RatalHck, a North of England farmer, not long come to the oolocy. Smythe robbed him altogether of £3700, bnt the actual to til which he was acouaed before the Court of obtaining by his false pretences was £1200, In three different amounts of £500, £350, and £350 Besides these, he obtained on three different occasions £200, £1800 and £500 from Retalliok, though they wiu-o not inoluded m the counta whioh went before the jury. Retalliok was ammof a highly religious frame nf mind, at least ho aaid he was. When he landed m Melbourne ho put up at the Victoria Ooffae Palaoo In Collins street. Thera one evening he oaw some gentlemen playing cards; the devout Charles Augustus Smythe was m the room, and wbb asked to join the game, bat refused. This attracted Retalllek towarda him. Retallick jumped to the conclusion that Smythe was a godly man, and took, opportunity there and then of getting into conversation with him. He was delighted with Smythe's talk about religion, and thought he had discovered a pearl of great price. The end of it waa that he oonfided to Smythe hia whole story. Smythe advised him how to invest hia £5000, getting him to place It m a Bank on call deposit. Retallick went to hear Smythe proaoh and was much aff ofod. He often aaw people brought to tsars, and was affected co himself at Smythe'a fervenoy. They wunt to liv.) t )gethflr. and Smythe ehowed him much courtesy, Smythe kept a wood and coal yard m Brunswick, a suburb. Bis first attempt to lighten Retaliick's purse waa to ssk for a loan of £500, which ha eaid he required to p;iy as a truatee to tho Railway Department for freight on wood. This he got. Then he got £300 to pay as a deposit on property he intended to bay, but which he never bought. The other sums he got on various pretences, the large sum of £1800 In one haul bei; g to buy a fruitot's shop m the city. According to hia story, which he made Retaliick believe, he had money locked up m mortgages m Sydney, and promised m some way also to invest the money he borrowed from Retallick In similar mortgagee. Eventually Retalliok unwiilingly came to the conclusion that Smythe was a wolf m sheep's olothing, and took criminal proceedings against him The case created must interest, aa Smythe waa well known. RetalUok'a simplicity m Court was highly amußtng. The Judge, oounsel, and jury, apeatatira roared wih laughter. The jury found Smythe guilty of cheating Re allick out of £1200, and Judge Moleswortb declared his conviction that he bad robbed his victim of an additional £2500. The judge sentenced Smythe to five >ear« imprisonment. He said, from «11 tbat had appeared m c Jdence, Smyth© still had tho whole £3700, aud if he made re&titution to tho m-n he had wronged he might expect a reduction of the sentence. Smythe's career m Ohriitchurch waa one of villainy and bypoorisy Ho waa ihere iv 1882. Hi) there met a Mr Orafg, who had £170J, and who was anxious to find a partner to start m the drapery bus ness. Ha found Charles Augustus Smythe, who dcoWcd he had money invested m mortgages m Dnnedln. On this pretence he found favor m the eyes of a Dunodin firm. He excused h.imeif from bringing proof about the mortgage on the ground that he would thus disolcae the financial position of certain persons engaged m trnda, which his conscience forbade. The Dunedin firm advanced him £1250 on his own bill, with which he joined dalg The latter soon dieccverrd Smythe was a hypoorite, bat he drew corta'n custom, yet ttill the business did net prosper. After a fire, whioh was bo mysterious that the Inaurance Companies refused to pay the money, Smjthe aid Craig came to an end, and Craig cema out with £1000 of hia original little fortune. £myi he then shifted to Sydney. He was a married man, with a wife and a grown up f<mily. TheßO he left m Sydney, and came on to Melbourne, where some time ago, at a naging ohs», he met a MUb Dainly, who had £300. He married her under the nam<) of Williams, and took her to Adelaide for the honeymoon. Than he took her back to Melbourne. Shortly after they returned he made hia appearance at the Preliminary Court m the Retalliok case, but hia young wife knew nothing of it, as she did not know htm by the name of Smythe, and ha accounted for hia absence by saying he had to go to Sydney on financial business. It was not till he came bi fore the Supreme Ooutt that she knew of the charge against him. The police intend prosecuting him on a charge of bigamy, to which it ia understood he Intends to plead guilty. Mies Dainly is ia a delicate condition, and is heartbroken at the way In which Eho has been deceived. If any. money ia recovered from Smythe, Reblliok hns promised that Mis 3 Dainly's £300 Bhall first come out of it.