FIELD FOR BIGAMISTS.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXIII, 24 March 1926, Page 3

FIELD FOR BIGAMISTS.

TRUSTING WOMEN DUPED. [ MATRIMONIAL AGENCIES. ! Scotland Yard and other police forces have lony been aware that certain matrimonial agencies have provided a rich field for professional bigamists | and adventurers, as well as for crim- . inals of ever more dangerous character, j blit they have been powerless to deal effectively with tho scandal, says a 1 London paper. Trusting, sentimental women who seek romance to brighten lonely, loveless lives do not real iso the visits they j run in putting their faith in some plau- i sible stranger who introduces himself j through a matrimonial agency. i Sonic ol ; the most callous criminals in England have long used this means | of getting into touch with women , dupes.' / At least one sensational murder in recent years was the outcome of a matrimonial agency, ‘.‘courtship.” This ease provided an amazing example of female credulity.' A Bradford widow, Mrs Elizabeth, Reaney, was found with her head battered in the back bedroom of her i house. She was a woman of 60, who for years had lived a lonely, empty life, and had secretly yearned for lovo and companionship, and, to her friends or relatives, she had replied to a matrimonial advertisement. Her letter brought a reply from a man who signed himself “A. Goodson.” For two and a-half years the mysterious “Mr Goodson” wooed the elderly widow, but he took good care never to be seen by anybody but Mrs Reaney, whom he swore to secrecy on a fantas- | tic pretence. | MYTHICAL FORTUNE. j His story was that an aunt had left ( him ail income of about £2OOO a year, but had made an express condition that before receiving the money lie was to bo secretly married for three months. Mrs Reaney never questioned this wholly incredible story. “Mr Goodson” posed as a stockbroker, whose firm had branches all over tho country, and he wrote to the romantic widow from accommodation addresses in Leeds and elsewhere. All the time he was planning to rob the woman of her life savings. He persuaded her to sell her house and draw the money from the bank in Trea- ! sury notes, and when his plans had I matured he paid his last furtive visit , to the widow’s little vi'la, killed her I .with a. coal hammer, and stole away with all the money he could lay lus hands on.

“Mr Goodson” the police soon unmasked as William Horsley Warded, a Bradford man of 47, who had been 'secretly courting women by means in a veriety of assumed identities. Ho was convicted of the murder and hanged. BLACKMAIL IN DISGUISE Crimes such as these are fortunately rare, but it is common for women who beck husbands through matrimonial agencies to bo heartlessly deceived, and even ruined. It is impossible for the proprietors of such agencies to satisfy themselves about the credentials of their customers, and the door is wido open for any unscrupulous scoundrel to use the opportunities they afford for fraud and victimisation. In most cases not the,,least attempt is made to guard against imposters. Some agencies in England are run by men of known undesirable character, who are not above ' a tllinly-disguiscd form of blackmail. Their clients often readily part with monev rather than risk tile ridicule that would be brought upon them if it became known that they luvd h«icl to advertisc themselves in tho matrimonial market. It is this fear of exposure that makes the task of the police difficult. Victims of the matrimonial agency sharks are reluctant to prosecute.

THE CASUAL ADVENTURER. In addition to any number of casual adventurers who keep outside the criminal law, there are at .’east half-a-dozen professional Don Juans who make a business of replying to matrimonial "advertisements.

Many of them advertise themselves in matrimonial papers, and put, forward all manner of false pretence to attract victims. All are keen students of feminine psychology. They hold out the prospect of lovo and affection to women who dread that love has passed them by. .More often than not they play upon the cupidity of their victims, offering dazzling prospects of a luxurious home, servants, and the security of an assured position and. a substantial income

Scotland Yard has had any number of complaints in recent years of women having parted with hundreds or even thousands of pounds, only to find that they have been cruelly deceived. But if bigamy has not been committed, or the victim declines to give evidence, the police are powerless to move. In the present state of the law the authorities can do nothing. Scotland Yard is keeping a close watch on a number of men, who are suspected of being engaged in the same traffic in women’s hearts and fortunes.