THE SEARCHLIGHT TURNED ON SHADY ALIENS.

Waikato Argus, Volume IV, Issue 268, 31 March 1898, Page 4

THE SEARCHLIGHT TURNED ON SHADY ALIENS.

Ox the left-hand sido of a dark and odoriferous court not a hundred miles from a busy thoroughfaro in the East End of London stand, or totter.*, a certain dingy, crumbling, moist looking house. Although I had never boon inside (writes a representative) I had heard something of this place, and when additional information came to band my curiosity was such that I determined to obtain some particulars regarding the lifo led by those residing within its portals. By great good luck I succeeded in tracing an individual who had spent some time in the as a lodger. This man, on my promising not to reveal his identity, consented to rolato some of his experiences of tbo goingson in what in reality is a thieves' hotel. " Tho hotel," my informant beg.n, ,( is conducted entirely in tho interests of foreign rogue?, many of whom come thero direct from the Continent. Any foreigner can have a bed for ninepencc a night, and if a lodger wants a few wrinkles as to how to etart swindling operations over h3ro ho can get them for the asking. There were fifteen lodgers in the place when I was there, and overy one of them was an impostor of some sort. Tho lodgers being all goal-birds—or, at all event*, people who fled their country for their country's good, and beciuso tho police were after them—every stranger who goes into the place is greeted with this question : ' Why are you hero V ' A bit of bankruptcy in Germany,' I heard one man reply. ' And you—why are you here ?' ' I am called Fritz,' answered the person addressed. ' To-morrow, well—' and he shrugged his shoulders as if to say that any other alius would soun-J as sweit. ' My fault is tho fault of my parents. They gave mo too great a knowledge of writing.' This was a dclicato way of describing his misfortune, for the man was, and is, an oxpert forger." " Well, what sort of roguery do these scamps practise r"— 1 ' Every kind of crime you can imagine. Many of them confine themselves exclusively to imposing upon recently arrived aliens, escorting them whenever opportunity arises to the hotel and fleecing them of all their belongings. I had many a talk with a man who swindles his own countrymen .vholesale when they come here for tho purpose of sattling down. His method is to watch the railway stations and the foreign clubs and. scrape up acquaintanceship whenever ho can. Then when he lights upon anyone who wants to buy a business, be plays the role of agent and asks to be allowed to carry the business through. He assures his prey that he has special opportunities for acquiring businesses at low prices, and in many cases he induces tbo victim to part with a substantial slice of the money which ho irtonded to lay out on tho purchase. When a likely person has asked to see the owner of the premises he is desirous of buying, I have known this man to employ a fellow-lodger to impersonate tho landlord and got the purchase money that way. These raseals surmount all obstacles. " I got to know most of ray fellow-lodgers fairly intimately during my brief sojourn at this abodo of bliss. I remember there were two beardless boys—l believe they are there now—who used to spend half-an hour every day in tho common sitting room practising the gentle art of garrotting. Seeing them at their antics for the first time I inquired what they were doing, and was told that they were making themselves familiar with a ' special kind of knock.' This 'knock,' I gathered, was invented expressly for the delectation of old men and drunken men. The two youths were in the habit of sauntering forth every evening to put this ' knock ' into execution, Selecting their victim carefully, they give him the 'knock,' which usually renders him insensible, after which they rifle his pockets. One of tho lads brought home twenty five pounds one night." " Aron't Ih y afraid of anyone informing tho police'r"— " There is never any fcurof that. No man dure split on another, for tho excellent reason that they are all furred with tho same brush. " The hotel is a rare haven of refuge for the alien ra ? cal, and I don't know what he would do if it closed its doors. Once on its threshold he may be sure of being ' put on his lejjs,' so to speak. For example, if he has reason to fear that tho foreign police htve been in communication with New Scotland Yard regarding him, he will be recommended to a house close by which is set apart for malofaetors who wish to hide themselves until the activity of the police in connection with their affairs has subsided. The charges for apartments there are rather high." " Now, tell me how foreign thieves get to know of the existence of this strango hotel."—" It is an extraordinary thing, but tbo public are alsolutely ignorant of the fact that there are several individuals whoare doingaiinetredeasthicves' agents. These men keep tho hotel full. Their headquarters— the business is best described as a floating agency for wrongdoers—are situated in an important city on the Continent, and they have branches in most ot tho big towns. When a swindler is scampciing away from the law he often fears to go to a foreign land on account of his ignoranco of the language, so what ho does is to call at one of the local branches. If ho has any money he will be out of tho country with alacrity—in disguise if need bo—and directed to another agent who will help him to keep out of the way of the police. If he has no money, but is known as an expert thief, he will still be helped ; some, indeed, are rigged out in new clothes. To trust a thief may seem a rather remarkable feat of confidence, but iu reality the agency

risks nothing l , for tho borrower is kept under observation by tbc manager of tbo branch to win m ho is sent until he settles what be owes."