A LOSER

NZ Truth, Issue 1201, 6 December 1928, Page 7

A LOSER

Escher's Dreams Of Fortune] i (From "NiZ. Truth's" " Chrlßtclro«jfc •;'■■:■■ Rep.) , . : , . i. '; ] -;, Of an Inventive .turn:. of : mind, Robert Henry Escher, a youngmanufacturer, • 4 and • * ex -'school teacher, found his prospects of afv, fluence and independence severely crampe.d through lack of capital, and took a fool'e way of replenishing the financial fountain. - TF there's one sure "way of depleting • ,the exchequer it|s on the racecourse, tout. Eacher got p. tip— ;tli6 right oil as>lt is . kn own m sporting parlance^— arid tie prospects of capital and -the easy roijd to success loomed brightly on hlßvhorlzon.; .■ .- ; ■' .'.■''■■ .' ■■; "'_'. . .'. .'* 'But, as so ;often- happens, '] the bestlaid plans fall the heaviest, r especfelly .when horses have .anything.- to 'do .with pne's destiny, and there Were twp.fa'&ter prads 'than that on jwhich; Escher had, his. plunge. . ■ ,'"•■' V' ' ••. ; Had he punted with his own .inciney It would not tiave mattered, but.Escher, being -short of .'funds,, sijribbied this name across ' anjother ' man's"' chequebook, so the law took" a,- hand'. '"* ,V ; "- i Escher ; is the manufacturer of, a: toilet preparation which 'He manufactured at the .premises' of-Henry • 'George. R. Mackay,! fancy good^- dealer, m; Colombo Street, OHristchuf eh,' piid when Bscher's gaze, rested one'afternoon, oh; Mackay's cheque^bodk,-\ Immediately he seiw the open road tb fortune. ; So he took six cheque forms.from the book, three of which t he fprgeiil.- --> '.'I thought I would be able to make sufficient at the New ; ' ZeialaxTd i ; C.iip meeting to -pay ; the. money, back, but I lost £12," Escher stated, to the -police. In; a statement which he handed tip to Magistrate Mosley, Escher stated that. he was 22 years of age and, arrived In' Ghristchurch last August with '£ 7.0. He required about £200 to thoroughFor Father's Sake ly exploit his patent which he intended' to sell, the proceeds from which .he WOUld have banked to meet the • cheques: • . \ .-; But m the meantime he received some information about a horse, so, with the money he derived from theresult of his' forgery, he staked it at'Riccartbn and lost. r Escher asked, "for the- sake of his "' father . whose years f of hard ■ and "^ I. hontst work had gained him a fine name m Wellington," that his name. be suppressed. He ' expressed^ a. w^illirigness to make restitution, and from his tone of contrition, the seven days he had spent m Paparua prison; appeared to have impressed, on him that the easiest way to ; wealth and independence was- to work' for it, and not. to get it through' the tote window or from, another ; man's banking account. ' . " ■ ' ... • '* Escher pleaded guilty to charges of stealing the cheque forms, forging a cheque for £7/12/-. m the name of G. R. Mackay, and, with intent tb defraud, obtaining £1/12/9 on a cheque signed -by Lr. Carroll. - ; On. the indictable charge, Escher 1 was committed for sentence, and Magistrate Mosley suspended decision on the two summary charges until Escher is dealt with by the higher court. - . ■■ - ; In the meantime, Escher is, looking for a,buyex ; for the patent rights of his toilet preparation. ■■