A MAN OF MANY PARTS

NZ Truth, Issue 1190, 20 September 1928, Page 3

A MAN OF MANY PARTS

But Wildermoth Did Not Get Rich Very Quickly (From "N.Z. Truth's" New Plymouth Representative.) George William Nelson Wildermoth was a man of many parts. For instance, he managed lucratioe , commercial concerns, he was a Borough Councillor and a union secretary and m between times, he was a Journalist. Yes, George was a man of many parts until the police sorted him out as an incredible impostor. Now he is the guest of the country, though not for the ■ first time.

/"^EORGE started his -wanderings from VJ Invercargill and eventually found his way ,to New Plymouth where he arrived on September 7. George wanted money so he appointed himself branch manager for a wellknown Waimate concern. He then made a call on Henry Stanley Wagstaffe, manager of the. Farmers Cooperative Organization Society of New Zealand, Ltd. "How do you do?" said George. "Just got m from Te Kuitl. Cramer's my name. Manager of the Waimate branch of the Co-op. »"l'm a bit hard up. Could you oblige me with a quid. I'm waiting a reply to my wire for more cash." "Certainly, certainly, only too pleased," was the reply, or something like it. And two 10/- notes changed hands. But the joke of the whole thing was that George had not arrived from Te Kuitl that day at all. In fact, he had told an innocent little flb, for he had been m New Plymouth several days. If only Henry Stanley Wagstaff c had known that now. Curiously enough, it was but the previous day that this playful joker from Invercargill had inquired for Bob Fulton, Labor secretary. Bob must have been out Keep-' ________________ ing a. fatherly eye on a union, because presently gentle John Jemison received a call. . "Good-day to you," said the. visitor. "I'm Thomas O'Byrne, of Invercargill." "What! Not the Thomas O'Bryne, the Labor borough councillor and union secretary?" "No less a person than himself. Up here on 'a holiday. Could you" lend me a quid till my wire comes?" Now John Jemison was once a borough councillor himself, so he advanced £1 and invited Mr. and Mrs. O'Bryne to tea that night. ' Then Wilde,rmoth met Bob Fulton and Bob believed that the illustrious Thomas 'O'Bryne he had seen at the conference was not the impecunious Thomas O'Bryne John Jemison had obliged With* a loan. Delving still further back into history, it is recorded that a -'reporter" from thfc "Evening, Post" visited Hastings, on August 10 and presented himself to Edward Gillespie Armstrong who, to oblige a fellow "journalist," .passed over £1. '■'■ Pursuing his friendly way m New Plymouth the other day, the Invercargillite made overtures to Detective Meiklejohn ..and Sergeant McGregor. They went out of their way to be kind to George— in fact/they, provided him with free board and lodging for some days prior to an introduction to S. G. Smith and E. W. D. Robertson,, bpth justices of the peace.

Obliging Fellow

Again influence was used and th« amiable visitor from the south was obliged with three months' residence as the guest of the Government. ' "We have had quite a number of callers at the station," said Detective Melklejohn when . suggesting that Wildermoth had had financial transactions with other people m New Plymouth besides the two whose gifts were mentioned. What the detective said may have been true, for rumor had it that one day a "reporter" from the "Auckland Sun" had inquired for a confrere whom he knew m New Plymouth. The confrere was away at the time, but an obliging, kind-hearted deputy reduced the traveller's impecunity by 6/-, Tall and of medium build, his dark hair tinged with grey and his face clean; shaven, Wildermoth stood before the J.P.s and admitted receipt of two loans m New Plymouth and one m Hastings. , "Apparently, he is a man who makes a practice of obtaining small sums wherever he goes," said the detective. Drink had had a good deal to do with it. He came from Invercargill where, he ' had said, he had once occupied a good position. Consequently, he had a good kno w - ledge of the people there. He now roamed about the North Island. The detective' handed up to the bench a list of , George's previous engagements including three years' probation m 1924, six months gaol at Wellington m 1926 for false pretences and six months for similar charges m Hastings this year. "He was only discharged .from the Wi Tako prison on July 31 and apparently wended his way. back to Hastings," said the detective. "It seems his previous lessons have had no effect." . , . There was almost a quiver m Wildermoth's voice when ho told the justices that he had lost a good job m Wellington after someone had apparently Informed' his employer that he had been m gaol. 'He lost heart, took it hard and he started drinking. He had never had a chance sinoe. ; "It seems, to be a policy with you," suggested J.P. Robertson. Then Wildermoth, the versatile, having received concurrent sentences of three months each on the three charges, was taken away to Wanganui to face an allegation, that on August 29 m that city he had obtained 8/6 from Mary Smith after telling her he was the Invercargill representative of the Queensland Insurance Company. Two 10/- notes thas were found on him were ordered to be returned to Wagstaffe. . ;