FRAUDS COMMITTED BY BOGUS TELEGRAMS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 64, 10 April 1909, Page 3

FRAUDS COMMITTED BY BOGUS TELEGRAMS.

HOW BOOKMAKERS IIAVK BEEN FLEECED. .Several recent instates < ); f bogus or forged telegrams have revealed the fact that, besides being a great boon, the telegraph (.in also be- Jimile to serve some evil purposes when used by unscrupulous people. Only a week or two ago (says a. Homo paper) aii extraordinary ease of this nature was exposed in l one of tlie London polive courts. The accused, who was charged with swindling''bookies," would write out a long, meaningless telegram addressed to himself at a news-agent's shop. Directly afterwards be would hand in live betting telegrums to difierent bookmakers, in which he offered to back 11 horse named Poker £2 to will. ALWAYS HACKED TIIIO WIXXERS. Immediately the telegrams were hand- | ell iu the accused telephoned to a bookmaker, who told him -the result of the race. The sender of the live betting telegrams then hurried again to the post ollice and asked for those telegrams back, saying that he had forgotten to put ill two words. The obliging postal clerk handed them back to him, and on eaclii one,lie added before the name of the horse mentioned, "Athlete o l '-" Thus, in their amended form, the telegrams contained, a bet 011 Athlete or, ii that horse was not running, 011 Poker. It was suggested that the long and meaningless telegram hail been handed in for the purpose of delaying the transmission of the betting telegrams until after the result of the race was known.

Block sheep have been discovered even in tho ranks of the telegraphists themselves, as the following case will show. A clerk in the Central Telegraph Ollice, London, a lew years ago, was, with three confederates, caught ill the aot of altering telegrams. On tho day of a big race lie contrived to. be the operator of the private wire of a- well-known llriu. This firm hod very full racing reports, wliicb aided the cleric in liis nefarious work. It was customary, as soon as the lrorsws in a race started, for this firm to receive a message from the grandstand indicating the names of the starters. Instead; of at once forwarding this item, the clerk kept it back until the result 1 message arrived at liis circuit, and then 1 transposed the names by placing the 1 winner first on the list of starters. Having prearranged with his confederates (who were waiting at their different betting clubs to see the starters' names come on. the tape) in "what order he would send the starters, they, of course, immediately put all their money 011 what tlrey knew was the winner. The frequency of success in their betting transactions, however, aroused the sus. piicions' of the bookies. They communicated with the postal authorities the telegrams were comparod, and the whole swindle exposed. ' TELEGRAPHY AIDS THIEVES.

Another dishonest operator committed .extensive frauds by sending a telegram to a bookmaking linn, intended to pass through bis hands, just before tIV race commenced. This he held lwiek until the result of the race war* known. If the horse he bucked lost, he calmly rubbed' out its name and substituted the name of the winner. Of course, the message being timed before the race started, there was nothing to show that anything was wrong. But n too frequent repetition brought exposure and disgrace. Tire convenience of the telegraph wire has bei'n misused in other cases besides in connection with horse-racing. A curious case, not without its amusing side, was revealed- a few months ago of a well-known City man of careless habits. He frequently used to forget the keys o: his office, including the safe, and had a practice of spending a d.iy on tire river with some of his bosom f- ' iids without ■the knowledge of his v,: . Thereby hangs a tale. On the day in question the City merchant went 011 a holiday jaunt, and a rogue who knew his habits ventured to M'lid ft telegram to the man's ivife: "Please send my keys. Love. Freddy." In due course the keys arrived, and the rogue l'ansa'cked the whole office at lli'leisure. When the City gent arrived home his wife tinned him about his carelessness in not taking his keys with bin]. and the merchant thought be was the; victim of a practical joke. Anyhow, he kept his counsel, and when he arrived at his oflioe next morning after a sleeplessl night bis worst fears were realised, lie confessed to his wife bis duplicity, but the thief was never discovered. THE TRICK THAT VAILED. A similar fraud was detected only by an error on the part of a would-be tllie!. He sent a wire to a woman purporting to come from her husband, asking her to give a man (mentioning his name) one of his suits, as lie was bard up. The woman, however, had 110 husband, and communicated with the police, with the result that when the mail presented himself for the garments lie was asked inside the house and questioned. When the woman stated that she was single he at ouee saw tire game was up. andi a policeman who was concealed 'in the houiv.' arrested the man. HIS OLD SCHOOLFELLOW.

Another ingenious vus<? of a gentleman who used till! telegraph to secure ii free holiday is ii-c-or.U-d. It appears that the head of the family, who was a commercial traveller, was frequently away from lioine for a week at. a time. An unscrupulous! iH'iualnlaiU'i' of his, knowing that lie would' be away for sonic days, sent a wire to the traveller's \ylfi-, as h it came from her husband, tu the effect that he hM ,i"ot met «u old schoolfellow anil was sending him home to lie entertained by his wife audi family for a few days. The wire was duly received, and the good: housewife and her daughters set to work to get the lroune in ordvy to receive their guest, lie awived, and had a good time. Three or four days later he lof.t the house, but whim the husband arrived home he mystified the family by declaring his ignorance about the telegram. Details were given, and then the family, discovered that they had been "had."