TRICKS OF ROGUES ABOARD BIG LINERS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 47, 20 March 1909, Page 3

TRICKS OF ROGUES ABOARD BIG LINERS.

DOW PAKSEXUERS ARE DUPED. J'ii spite of the greatest vigilance on the part of lb,, steamship ollicials especially un board the big Atlantic "ncrs, with a view to, stamping out the gambling evil, the win or lose instinct, still exists, and many thousands of pounds arc an'miajly lost and won on Hie ocean highway. Indeed, the ingratiating, though uiiA-riipuloiis. gentleiivin who is ever anxious to "take ;v hand" continues to flourish, as. hir"'oiity e ing to bis aid. all sorts of dodges are now practised--frequently with great success—to victimise scafravellers who miciu to luivc more money than wisdom. A TRICKY SCOUNDREL

• .hiitc receiilly an olliecr on one of

the largest mail steamship lines between here and America informed the writer of a case where a young heiress was .nearly trapped "by one of these scoundrels, it appears (lie girl was returning with her maid lo relations near

~New \ork. and 011 'the boal became Acquainted with a man who had every appearance of being well-to-do. Attracted by ,his manner, the lady did not attempt lo discourage his attentions, and by the end of the voyage tho two appeared 'to be fast trieiids. Arrived ill New York, the scamp—for hu was nothing less-made violent love, and then incidentally touched upon a mutter of busiuVss lie had in hand Eventually he persuaded the girl to lend him 11 large .sum of money, .and had it not been for the timely intervention of her solicitors, who called at her hotel and. hearing 'the tale, stopped payment o.f the cheque, the couliiling lady would now have been several thousand pounds to the ibad. A SWEEPSTAKE OX HOARD.

! Again, a good luuil was made not, | long ago by two of those gentry—'who often work in pairs—on a big steamer in the South Paeilie. Almost without I exception the passengers on largo boats •arrange it sweepstake oil each day's run, which •culminates towards the end of the voyage ill an "auctiou riwcop' - ; the chief difference ill the hitter from the ordinary Sweepstake being that the allotted 'holders a,re obliged to dispose of their ■numbers again by auction. For this .purpose one of the passengers 's chosen to act as auctioneer, and the most fancied "run" ofleu fetches JCS or more.

On this uuciuiion one of the rascals conducted the proceedings, lint, on obLajiiiiifr the mill's run from the captain, imincdiailcly .placed the nuuibcr against the name of his confederate upon the. list in the saloo.u. In the meantime tbi latter had induced 'the luek'y holder to exchange niimliers for the "sport of tho thing," and in this way the scoundrels came out of Ithe 'bargain over jtlOO ti> the good. BOGUS PLEADING FOR CHARITY.

On nnolthcr occasion the passengers on a steamer .bound for Australia were ingeniously duped. One of the firstclass passengers, who had every appearance of respectability, represented hiinIself to .be tlie -secretary of a charitable, ins'litution near London, and gave out to all on board that he 'was visiting the colony for the .purpose of opening a branch' in Australia.

Whenever converts were arranged in, the evenings the bogus secretary ob'laitied the permission of tire captain tu place, his collecting-box upon the saloon table. Almost every .passenger contributed handsomely 'towards what appeared to be so worthy a cause, ami by ithc 'end of -the voyage the donations aggregated to a large amount. Not till too late was it discovered that 'the tale about tire institution was a pure invention, 'the collecting-box, wilful* seemed perfectly genuine, having been specially ulftaiiiod and labelled fur, the .occasion. Jiut once the man set. loot, in Australia he was never seen or heard of again. KLEECING EMIGRANTS.

Similarly, the ingenuity of a rogue on Hire, of the German boats was well repaid. Aljoard 'the vessel were several hundred emigrants bound for a South American port, 'who, of course, were anxiou.- to obtain work the moment they landed, 'J'lo'v con'sidercd them-, selves lucky, Chcrefoi'c, to Had on the same ship a .mail who said he was the, agent of an Employment Ilurc.au in the, Argentine, and gladly paid the fees lie. asked in return for certain, and apparently lucrative, situations. Though armed ■with full references aiidicrcdet>'tiafs--all of which were false --■ the man turned out to be an impostor, as ik> agency of which he pretended to be the representative existed at all. Thus nearly all these people were duped in heartless fashion, and their not overburdened pockets suffered accordingly.

rniSKU AND ,I'AS.SEXOER. CONFEDERATES. Only a few weeks ago the case was reported 01' nil English accountant who obtained a position as purser on hoard si .Swedish vessel sailing «or the Black; Sea. due ovc-.iing. shortly before lilt; ship arrived in port, a passenger present..! himself in the pui-cr's cabin and requested tlie butler to change a Ru--.sian lunik-note for a largo amount. This, tile purser .agreed to do, and the money was duly, handed over. On prosoulal.inn, however, tlie .steamship company learnt that tiie note -was an excioeUiugly clever forgery, hut vi\ questioning the purser were initilile tq elicit the identity of the passenger io whom change hud bcV'u given, an tie; former appeared lo have forgotten. .Several davs later, the .purser signed oil'. EveirtiraJrY a (due was obtained, and it transpired tlw.t the purser -and passenger were 'confederates and well known (<> tlie police in thlat part of I toe, world aa clever bank swindlers. —Tit .Hits.