AN INGENIOUS SWINDLE.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 820, 31 March 1910, Page 4

AN INGENIOUS SWINDLE.

Tbe story of one of the cleverest devices ever employed to make money easily and at the expense o! others has been told by a London correspondent. Some time ago a gentleman of excellent manner and address called upon a prominent West End firm of jewellers and asked to be shown some unique article appropriate as a betrothal gift to the lady he was to marry. He was not particulai about the expense : what he insisted on was something right out of the ordinary. The head of the firm, scenting a good customer, produced a black pearl of exceptional beauty and rarity, and altei some bargaining the jewel changed hands for ,£2,000. The purchaser tendered a cheque but said he would not dream of asking the firm to accept it until it had been cashed, and went away promising to call for the pearl on the lollowing day. This he did, and the bank having at once honoured the cheque, he departed apparently well satisfied with his deal. He refused to give an address: he was, he said, only passing through Loudon. A few months later he again entered the shop, and was at once recognised, and, at his re quest, waited upon by the head of the firm. He thereupon said that the lady for whom he had bought the black pearl had since become his wife, and he was now most anxious to obtain a match for it so that the two might be set in a pair of earrings. The jeweller was keenly interested but he had to confess the extreme unlikelihood of a quest for a second pearl of tbe same dimensions and quality being successful. • The stranger, who, by the way spoke English excellently but with a slight French accent, and was apparently- a French-American was much chagrined at this announcement ; but after some discussion the jeweller consented to place an advertisement, together with a photograph of the jewel, in a trade journal, staling that up to ,£3,500 would be paid for its mate. A few weeks afterwards when the trade was still keenly on the alert for a pearl of the unusual description wanted, a second noted West End firm of jewellers had a call from a gentleman who spoke French fluently. He said that he had for sale a large black pearl of great beauty. The firm was at once interested, and comparing the jewel with the one advertised for by its friendly rivals, found that the two were an extraordinary match. The price asked was ,£3,500 but a purchase was effected for ,£3,000. Certain that the pearl would be accepted by the advertisers at ,£3,500, the buying firm at once entered into negotiations with them, believing that the only difficulty would be the equitable cutting up of the margin of ,£SOO. There was of course only one pearl in the two transactions, and the two jewellers are now anxious to hear something about the ingenious Freuch-American.