FLEECING A DIGGER.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume IX, Issue 996, 8 November 1881, Page 4

FLEECING A DIGGER.

A New Zealand digger fell into evil company in Brisbane recently, and a couple of sharpers played of the “ puz-zle-box trick ” on him to some purpose. We read in a Brisbane paper that Thomas Carmody and Alfred Mortimer were charged with having obtained the sum of £l5 from Samuel Murdock by playing and cheating at an illegal game. Murdock deposed in evidence that he was a miner from Zealand, and had landed in Brisbane on the previous Thursday. He met Mortimer and Carmody, the latter of whom stated that? he had just left Timaru, where he had sold property for £3OOO. Carmody further stated that he was standing at the corner of a street one night when a young woman came up ; she afterwards gave him her likeness. Mortimer then asked him to show the likeness, which he did. The likeness was in a box made of bone, like the one produced in Court. Witness also looked at the likeness, and Mortimer showed him how to open the box. Carmody said it was a puzzle-box, and he had won £2l from a captain that morning with it. He then went to the door and looked out; Mortimer then whispered to witness, “We will have a bet with him when he comes back witness handed the box back to Mortimer, and Carmody came back and sat on a chair; Mortimer asked witness to “go ” £2O and he would “ go ” the same, but witness said he could only “ go ” £l5, as that was all the money he had; this was agreed upon; then witness and Mortimer bet £3O they would open the box; witness laid 15 sovereigns down, and Mortimer wrote out a cheque for the same amount. Carmody handed a roll of notes to Mortimer, saying he could take out the £3O if he lost; after the money was staked witness had to open the box, and was allowed 15 seconds to do so; he did not succeed in opening the box as he had done before ; time was cried by Carmody, and Mortimer handed over all the money to Carmody. The police magistrate said he considered the case had been clearly proved and sentenced each prisoner to six months’ imprisonment. The unsuspecting Murdock got his money back, as it was recovered by the police. —Taranaki News.