AMAZING CROOK.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 150, 25 February 1916, Page 3 (Supplement)

AMAZING CROOK.

APPREHENDED IX SYDNEY. H)SED as doctor axd PARSOX. H OXCE .MARRIED IX GAOL. "Sydney Sunday Times." of the greatest and most darswindlers in the world, and a to boot, Charles Ernest left Sydnej by the steamer of Sparta, for South Africa, in charge of Sub-inspector Hill, of Johannesburg Detective Branch. his arrival at Johannesburg, will be called upon to ancharges of defrauding two of about £3OOO. was born in Maryland. in 1867, and is therefore 48 Bars of age. He has been a rolling Hone since he was 12 yeais old, and ■ts shown himself to be a remarkH)ly clever swindler. Most of his Hctims have been banking instituHons and women. He has robbed in Be United States, Canada, South Hfrica, Australia, and England. He Ks married six times, and after tak. ■g all the money and jewellery his Hives possessed he deserted them. Hhe women lie married fire alive. Hiree of them being Australians, but Hiey are not now in Australia I POSED AS DOCTOR ■ The famous crook has on and off Br a number of years beeu passing B a medical man. It is said of him Bat shortly after he arrived in LonHon from Australia he became apprenticed to an apothecary. He Massed all the examinations in chemfctry asked of him. and received the Bertificate of the Apothecaries' SoBiety of London. While following Bis calling he, of course, gained a Bood knowledge of the ills of peoBle, and whenever asked for advice Begarding different complaints he B~as always ready to tender it, and Bt the same time, if necessary, prescribe and supply medicine. There Is no doubt about his being well Beamed in the medical profession, fce had no diplomas, but all the same tie never had the slightest compunclon about havng a copper plate placed in front of his residence for the time being, announcing himself as a "ully qualified medico. Strange to say, Chadwick, in spite )f the fact that lie had no authority :o practice as a doctor, has never retrained from meeting and mixing tvith medical men, and it may as:ound many people to know that on several occasions he has sat in consultation with doctors on the most serious cases, and there have been times when his judgment has been iaccepted by the fully qualified men with him. Where he obtained his knowledge of the profession he will never reveal. BIG COXFIDEXCE MAX. The notorious swindler, while practising as a doctor, has never been known to rob any of his patients. On the other hand, he has always treated them splerdidly, and in a great number of instances persons who sought his advice and treatment, and who were in financial 'straits, were not charged for services or for those of anyone connected with him. Like all his kind, he manoeuvred to gain confidence, and while there are others of his class ■who do it on a small scale, Chadwick worker for big things. His generosity tco, and his good treatment of many of his patients, caused them to sing his praises, and this means of advertising lifted him in the estimation of leading business and professional men in whatever city or town he lived. When he felt they trusted him, he would start his trickery, and by means of forged drafts, bonds, or credit notes swindle them out of large sums of money. In addition to being well versed in medicine and surgery, Chadwick has always been a close student of theology, and wherever he has lived he made it a practice to attend church regularly. At the same time he made many acquaintances who placed every trust in him. He has committed swindle after swindle, and has made thousands of pounds. His cleverness in gulling the public has been equalised only by his astuteness in evading prosecution, for with all his swindling and bigamous alliances he has hardly served 10 years in gaoi. OXCE A SPECIAL COXSTABLE. Chadwick left Australia when about 12 years old and went to London. Little is known by the Xew South Wales detectives of his antecedents. He returned to Australia in the early part of 188!), and went to live in Bullanaming-street, Redfern. He was in bad health, and he told his landlady that he was recuperating prior to returning to Lon. don to his parents. He claimed that his father was the head of a leading bank in England. He made himself popular with those whom he came in contact with at Redfern, and being an excellent musician, he used to entertain them a goo.l deal., Du: : >ig the maritime strike in 1 S:• 0 he was sworn in as a special cons able. an 1 did duty at Circular Quay. At the conclusion of the troub'e when he handed in his warrant card to .Mr. Fosbery, the Inspe tor-Gen-eral of Poiice at that time, the iatter highly complimented him for the services he had rendered. A short time after this lie swindled his landlady by means of a letter purao'nag to come from the Chancel!) - of the Exchequer. London, stating U'ur. he had inherited the Chadwiel; Estates in Surrey, England, worth a Million pounds. He obtained abm' .Clou from her, and was arrested by inspector M'Lean, the present Ivad of the leading city police divis'on. who was at that time a plain-clothes con stable at Redfern. The ens. 2 was. however, dismissed, but subsequently he was apprehended at Ya.\s. on a similar charge, and was sentenced to IS months imprisonment. MEDICIXE AXD MARRIAGE. Alter being released from gaol, Chadwick commenced to practice as a doctor in Riley-strcct, Surry Hills, but Mr. .M'Lean got on his track again, and he disappeared for a while. The next heard of him was that he married a Sydney girl of means. He robbed her of £3OOO, deserted her, and went to Brisbane, where he contracted anoiher m-i:-ringe with a 17-year-old girl. He took her to England and America, I finally d'->rrted her. i• ii:La< 1 ♦ • 11• 11ia he attempted to ; „j> p , ;,k out of CI 0,000. Tie T ,, r - . i , • • j- iff on a Loudon bank, and lo'l-: * 'ti the Philadelphia in- I tvn. but i "fore advices were reLondon, he attempted to

draw on it. The draft was found to be a forgery. He was arrested, but the case against him failed. He, however, worked a few minor swindles in the city and then fled to Canada, where he knocked about the lumber camps for a while. He made a good deal oi' money in dealing in timber and gambling, aiu' the next heard of him was that he earned up at Toronto. BECAME A PREACHER. At this time, the pulpit at the Presbyterian Church at Toronto was about to become vacant, owing to the illness of the minister. Chadwick heard of the impending vacancy, and made off to Toronto. He sjiowed the trustees of the church credentials, and v,as appointed to occupy the pulpit during tiie absence of the regular minister. He preached some excellent sermons, so the police records show, and when his engagement had expired, the members of the congregation made him a suitable presentation. He married the daughter of a wealthy member of the church, who was chairman of his presentation committee, and took her to Chicago. He fleeced her of all her money, and left her. He next robbed a landlady in the same city of £4OO, and then decided to go west. San Francisco will never forget Chadwick, for it was here that lie worked a number of clever swindles. His .apartments in the Langham Hotel were the finest in the building. A woman he picked up with in St. Louis was travelling with him as his wife. He registered at the hotel as Sir Harry Westwooe Cooper. He left San Francisco and went to Mountain View, California. Here he left the woman he had with him, and returned to San Francisco. He next made up with a waitress in the Pacific Coast city, and eloped with her to Portland, Oregon. He failed to keep a promise of marriage he made to the girl, and deserted her. His next move was to attempt to swindle two San Francisco banks, but the drafts he lodged with them were found to be worthless, and he failed. Subsequently, in 1897 he was arrested for having counterfeit dies and seals in his possession, and papers lodged in the banks helped the detectives to formulate charges of forgery against him. He was sentenced to three years' imprisonment.

PLAN'S TO MURDER WARDER

While in the San Quentin prison, he planned with another prisoner to murder the warder in charge of him, and effect his escape. He was regarded /is a clever and dangerous criminal, and the prison authorities took every care to have him carefully watched. The plot to kill the warder leaked out, and Chadwick was ordered solitary confinement. He was discharged from prison in 1901, and went to Crockett, California. Here he made the acquaintance of a medical man, who was desirous of a pattner. Chadwick soon proved him. self resourceful enough to bring about the transaction. He lad letters written purporting to come from the High Court, Londor. stating that he had been left by a relative £31,000. The signatures were forged and the seal faked. On the letter he obtained money and bought an interest in the practice. While his partner was on his way to Europe he sold the practice, and went to Vallejo, where he swindled the Donahue-Kelly Bank, and a Captain Colville, who endorsed his draft, which was afterwards found to be bogus, Colville was the loser of £2OO, while the bank was tricked out cf £4 00 through the swindler altering the figures in his pass-book, ant 1 , drawing the full amount before he slipped away from Vallejo. He next forged the name of a British Consul in San Francisco and obtained £2 000 from a bank. He followed this By inducing a young girl to elope with him to Ogden, but v. as apprehended. The girl was returned to her home. He was charged with the forgery of telegrams, and sentenced to ten years' imprisonment. This was in 1001. In 1903 he was granted a new trial, and was acquitted in the following year. He appealed successfully against another sentence of six years' for perjury.

MARRIED IX GAOL. While in the St. Quentin prison in 1 902 Chadwick became friendly with a religious worker who vr-ited the gaol. He proposed marriage to her, and after some consideration she, on his promising to reform when he was discharged, consented to be married. He induced her to get the authorities to permit the ceremony to be performed within the prison walls. The gaol chaplain married them, and the woman then used her influence to get him allowed out on parole. Ho was outside the St. Quentin prison gate a very short time when he deserted his fourth wife.

Two years later he Turned up in San Francisco again, and started practice at Oakland under the name of Dr. Milton Abraham. He married a nurse connected with a private hospital, stole about £6OO from her, and got away. He went to Halifax, Canada, and started practice as a physician and surgeon under the name of Dr. Richard J. Monahan. He subsequently tricked the Royal Bank of Canada out of £",00. but was compelled to pay back the money so as to avoid prosecution.

TRIP TO LONDON. In 1912 Chadwick decided to go to London. He carried excellent letters of introduction, and on his arrfal there was introduced into society. At the Hotel Carlton one night, while at dinner, he was recognised bv an American, who knew something of his exploits. He left the room hurriedly, and next day sailed from England by the steamer Edinburgh Castle for South Africa, taking the name of Dr. Norman Ebenezer M'Cay, vho at this ti'.ne. was before the public eye in England a great deal owing to his success in handling several cases of consumntion. Chadwick became a favourite on the vessel, and made friends with n baronet, who introduced him to several leading people in Capetown. Johannesburg, and Durban. Shortly after his arrival in South Africa Chadwick swindled the Durban branch of the Hank of Africa out of £IOOO by means of forged drafts on the Government Savings Bank of Sydney. He then sailed for Sydney under the name of SurgeonMajor Svvinton Home, r.th Dragoon Guards, and travelled with two women, for whom he found employment when the vessel reached Melbourne. He came on to Sydney, and after staying at the Hotel Australia for a few weeks and at an hotel at Strath, field, be went to Hurraga. where be commenced to practice medicine under the name of Dr. James Boyd, fie

was interrogated by Inspector Anderson, of Bathurst, regarding his diplomas and certificates, and these being regarded as unsatisfactory, he ■was induced to come to Sydney. ARRESTED IX SYDXEY AG AIX. Information had reached Sydney of the doings of Chadwick in South Africa, and the possibility of his being in Australia. Superintendents Roche and Childs instructed Detective (now Inspector) Walker and Detectives Bradley and Malone to make the necessary inquiries. They brought about the identification of the criminal, who was arrested and extradited to South Africa. After being found guilty at the Durban Quarter Sessions for forgery, Chadwick made an eloquent appeal to the judge to deal leniently with him. and he promised faithfully to reform and lead a good life. The judge took a certain amount of compassion on him, and sent him to gaol for 18 months. After he was discharged he started a maternity home at Belgravia, near .Johannesburg, and introduced a drug which brought about, so he claimed, painless childbirth. He named it iwilight Sleep, and for some months did a remarkable business, and coined money. He married a Queensland girl who was a nurse at his hospita;, and alter defrauding two banks of £3OOO, ho sailed with his latest wife for Sydney. lie arrived by thj steamer Tonic last April. He was known on board as Captain Sullivan. He rented a furnished house at Coogee, an 1 stayed there till last August.

ARRESTED AT COOGEE. At the end of August the Inspec-tor-General of Police (Mr. Mitchell) learned that the ousiness transactions of a certain man at Coogee were not altogether satisfactory, and he instructed Inspector Walker, the head of the Detective Branch, to have inquiries made. Detectives Gallagher and LSarc'.ay were entrusted with the investigation. With photographs in their possession they went to a Coogee hotel on the night of August 21, and saw cnadwick having dinner with his wife. They approached him and alter a brief conversation he was brought to the city and was taken to the Central Police Station. Here the charge on which he has been extradited was entered against him, and he was locked up. He had many aliases, but those known to the police are: Dr. Andrew John Gibson, Dr. Norman Ebenezer M'Cay, Harry Westwood Cooper, Dr. Milton Abraham. Dr. Richard J. Monahan, Surgeon-Major Swinton-Home, Dr. James Boyd, and Captain Sullivan.