A Wellington Councillor Missing.

Manawatu Herald, 24 November 1898, Page 3

A Wellington Councillor Missing.

To-day N.Z. "Times" states tha* j Councillor Joseph Myers of the Wei- i lington City is missing and it is thought he has left by the s.s. Maori. Yesterday morning a warrant was issued for the arrest of Myers on a charge of having forged the signature , of Michael Charles O'Conneli proprietor of the Club Hotel Masterton, to a promissory note for £~3 8 9> which . was discounted by a firm of Fabian Bros, ! Of Wellington. Other Charges of a similar character are said to be ; pending. . i The city teems with stones of the financial operations ot the missing man Within the last few weeks. It is said that there is from £3000 to £6000 worth of "bad paper" in Srculation in connection with the case. WThe " Times " received a letter from Joseph Myers written in pencil which K also publishes as follows :— V "Saturday, November 19th, 1898. . "The Editor • New Zealand Times,' * Sir,— l expect by the time this tW» reaches you my name will be in QViCTybody's mouth. fVWell, perhaps for the benefit of j ypiir readers a few words at this | juncture will not be amiss. !< Ten years ago, when but an innocent boy, when I would put my lOS pr £1 on a horse being naturally of fc gambling disposition, those human ■ sh.aVks, the bookmakers, got me into i tWt clutches, and from that day to thjr I have had not one minute's peace. Eight years ago my people paid off for me several hundreds of pateds. I got into similar trouble ; j ondi again they helped me out, paying j up tfc the extent of nearly £1000, beg-: gingof me then to give this kind of j thing up and go straight, which I promised to do. Once again these bookmaking scoundrels got hold of me, be- j sides which I got into the power of money-lenders, some of whom are supposed to be living a retired independent life amongst you, paying to them exorbitant rates of interest, very often as nqiueh as 100 per cent. "My people, and rightly so, will have bothing to do with me. Ido not blame them; they have already done too much, offering me every advantage if onjy I would go straight, even going so far. as to offer me a small interest in the business of J. Myers and Co. in March next ; but I have got into the handslpf rascally bookmakers, moneylendeFsand the like; to pay them I have swindled my best friends. What can t-^o? Iwe thousands upon thouskpds. " T ifel? is only one course now open,

which I shall take— by the time this reaches you I shall be where no one can harm me. " All I ask you, sir, is to use your influence to clear Willis street of these vampires, or, before very long, you may hear of other cases like my own, of young fellows in good positions, I with excellent prospects, who are being daily and gradually dragged to ruin by these scorpions. "If my sad case will do any good I have not lived in vain. " I remain, "Yours sincerely, " Joseph Myers. " If this writing is rather illegible you will fully understand the reason."