THE LATEST FRAUD.

Dunstan Times, Issue 1239, 27 November 1885, Page 3

THE LATEST FRAUD.

Two rm-n mere • rou.hf np at the City Pnl'C-i Court this morning (says the l)in«l»n * Evening Star’ of the 1 t inst.)nn a char e of conspiring to lefian I a Chinese at T8 keener not of 1/40 The trick by which •* Jihn” alleges be was cheated oat of hs money i* on a nar wi hj those “ confidence'* swindles by which many an honest travel* ler has been victimised. He was a passenger by the «,* Te A nan, which Sailed from Port Chalmers for Ancktanl on t he 13 b inst.. and about an hour or so before the vessel made her denartarehe was strolling about the wharf, f i ling a bit lonely, ha was rsthsr pleased when a foUowspMwogur

I hailed him and enteral into conversation, {This '‘fellow passenger” waa oonspirvto I No. I Tn* ooaspirator proposed soma reft freshment at one of Ike handiest hotels, and 1 John was quite agreeable. White they were I' disensaing th'ir liquor,'a "Wall dressed man came into tha compartment occupied by them, and also called for soma liquor. This was ooaspirator No. 2 As .he. appeared very cold, Conspirator No I in a friendly manner asked what wa* the matter with him. In reply h6 confessed to having had a jolly time the night previous, and that he was '‘sufif-ring a recovery ” Uod-r the circumstances it w>s net very snrprising that hs was in a communicative mood. He bad just come from Fiji, his deceased uncle in New Zealand having left him a fortune, and t hough the fan which he hid had the night before had cost him LIOO he could welt nfford it On being asked how be had lost bis money, he said ; “Oh t the latest New Zealand game.’’ Conspirator No. 1 n-'torally wanted to know what it was, and conspirator No. 2 very good naturally proceeded tn,explain it. The fact of the matter is that the game then explained and sub. sequen ly played was simply tha oidinary coin towing, which everybody is aqaainted with. To pnt a gloss on it, how *ver, and make it the m >ro interesting, two rows of matches w«re intro laced and nee I as c -anter*. After the yarae, with all its n meo ssary intneaci s, had been explained, con sp rator No 2 aek"d to b« exensod for a moment, and re ired. Daring his absence ooaspirator No. 1 suggested to John that it wool I not be a ba<l idea to have a game with the stranger, and relieve hi n of nme of his surplus cash. It would be good fan to win <IOO or so, ami hand it over to some charity. John, after some hesitation, auroed, and on the return of the m<lli n tire the name waa played. The stakes were fixe lat l -s'i, and J >hn tosse I the coin while conspirator No. 2 calted on hi-o Conspirator No, I was at John's elbow all the tim ■, anl placed his hand over the coin w-ien it landed on the tib e, so that he was o ignisant whether it turned up *• heads” or •‘tails.” This, hoW'-ver, was not of ranch onnaeqn -noa. seeing tha- ha was Jo Horn -te. If he had lie n the other mm’s mate he cnnld have signalled to him every tine what to say. We need not dwell further on the details of the game. Whan it Wat. over J( bn waa relieve I of all his cash, and a cheque hesi ies, an I be male his departnre with ihe steamer. S’anee to say, when -hesaileil John’s ra ite was not on boar I. He hat come down to the ve-'-el, hut hi’ > no up town again to get a buttle of medi cine.

The manner in which the conspirators were ca itured r-fleers a great ileal of ore If on the P line Deoartinnt. Bv the time the *t am r had readied Lvtrel’on, John had relu'-cantly com • to the conelug.on hit tl-had been foiled, and had not r ocived fair play. He therefore communicated W'th .he noli-e. and returned to Onnelin. To Dei. etnr Hen lerinn and M’l«»iio oin was ad 'ted the task o' fin ting out amt arr s n i he prisoners, and -if r gome hum. ing n oiu t.e cheque given by heuiformant wig ir cod. Th- man who had pai iit into his nci'iinnt wag m erviewed. witn th - r salt tba r iho names of the cnnspirato g were fund How to anes' them wig ilia i ext difficulty, hut fteteclke Henderson in his peregrinations round he hoartlin, noilses oid hole s of he (Jity came across oie of th-in. \ft rhe had heen I ickeit up noive sooch wag made f r thegecon I mao, ut he was no discovered ho easi y. Ac« no npan ed by J .ho (on the opunsite side of the s'reet how v r) the leteo ives tr.iverso I the minciod streets of the town, in 1 e hone i hit sooner o r liter the Ohinam n would pom the cnlpiit out. While th-y were miking to some inlivi lnal in hie hi reet they missed ihe (Juinaraan, and, looking a'nug the street, ttiey saw an imnfitse crow I. Th-y were not long running up to it, and in iho midst of the people they fou d John lying in the md lie of the s 1 reet. He was in a most excited state, hii’ h - soon rev rale I the fact that he had Collared one of his late fri nda, out ha I heen shaken off The eteocives went off in he dir c im aken by their ird, and a woman th y met gave them the information th t a man had passed her at flying sp-e i. Bit mir chief dete tivo has ily firmed the conclusion r.nat this woman was not to be believed, and. on a search being made of her house, the runaway was fonn I hiding under her bed. t'he man turned out to be oer busositd'