Show swindlers lers net near million atlanta long me mecca for slippery gang of crooks starts a cleanup MURDER IS PART OF GAME bankers and business men among the victims lured from many states i raid reveals bogus brokerage offices police accused A atlanta ga that a adape dupe Is born every minute and that no scheme Is so fantastic that it does not find some one hard headed business man in many cases to fall for it has been proved to the satisfaction of everybody in atlanta through revelations made during the hearing hear trig by a council committee of the activities here of a million dollar bunco gang who operated a tell it Is charged either with the or through the colossal ignorance of the police department the hearing also lias has proved that no section or locality is exempt from its crop of dupes sien men with money to contribute to the support of the gang that operated lit in atlanta have come to this city to be fleeced from reading a and nd philadelphia from maryland mississippi georgia tennessee louisiana r florida ohio indiana rind and texas indeed texas was as very good to the atlanta seekers for easy money especially was one W K R manning a dapper young youa man of dallas Pall fis tex kindly disposed to the he con men and it has been shown shoun that when i lien money Is at stake even murder Is not too high it a briw hrire to pay in order to IC keep ep it and retain liberty here Is me IP death roll of At lantas bunco gang doctor bianchard nian chard son of a former governor of louisiana who committed in memphis after losing his roff W C dukes flanker banker of 0 1111 milan in ga cn who anine to in atlanta to confer with the pang gring on oil nn an easy money proposal and mysteriously disappeared ed mills member of the gang roommate of floyd P woodward alleged lender leader who was ivas shot hot and killed by woodward bec because auRe it Is alap alleged mills was tipping tile the police off to tile the operations of the gang chartes chantes dorsey dorey taxicab driver who it Is sold knew too much about the mills killing ruth gohel gobel another witness was disposed of vi lien woodward married her left their rosy hopes hope behind here Is a partial list of the men who nho came to atlanta with roseate hopes and who left if they were able to get anway beart heartbroken broken and pockets empty W 1 r hill an aged confederate ip pl leran eron former ordinary of his coun ity ty tit at ga who lost about ivow 3 1 A nations of who in biot t sibio tit nt the cecil hotel here in a gnina that was framed by mark til lei PI N recently captured in texas I 1 brought back to atlanta and turned over to solicitor john A Ilo boykin tillery was reputed boss of the local game nt at one time W R Mono manning log from pallas dallas tex acx lost george W wiley of whitehall va lost D n R and W hf bland of drew miss who contributed to the game M ili holley of alken S C lost OW and would have lost more had bad lie sa aen been able to get checks cashed hut but i hanker friend tipped him off just in time to keep him from losing more this was a stock deal in his supposed oed winnings had run up lit in the hundred thousands f Q T madeira of reading pa ia who lot lol lo t l nt one time lime lint had a big apparent winning hut but in the end the r brolli find nd lle 9 went back to pennsylvania sadder but maybe wiser in this deal one of atlan allan tos tas best know n citizens aided the operating gang one comparatively old man came to atlanta from indiana lost his money ail and is still here his story was one of the many already told during tile the four weeks of investigation of the easy money syndicate of atlanta then alien there was an ohio banker who came to this city fell in with smooth talkers and attempted to get checks cashed tor for approximately but all the gang got him for was 2000 chicago man involved there Is the case casa of albert 11 II thompson of chica 0 o thompson is being sought on a larceny charge and it is thought that lie Is in cuba solicitor jolin john bobkin BO kin refuses to divulge for the present the details thompsons Thomp sons indictment was a surprise for his wife was known to be wealthy Ne althy the thompsons Thomp sons have a fine home in asheville more than one hundred indictments have been returned the situation was first called to the attention rit of the public when john bodkin bobkin solicitor made on an address addres 3 at a forum luncheon of chamber of com mirce members ile he charged that the situation was known to police officials and others lit in nut authority hority finally filially there was as a demand in council for an investigation and mr agreed to appear before this body A mass meeting of 1000 atlanta citizens was held and money was raised to prosecute tile the solicitors charges eugene it clack block one of the cites best lawyers was engaged to represent sir mr it has developed that the chief of police and the detective chief have cla clashed hed on one oc occasion callon when the chief of police was wiring to a florida point trying to get a confidence man the chief of detectives was wiring that the itlie loan qs ns not wanted lit in atlanta although lie was uns under indictment at that thai time it wis was also charged that it a detective for leeral years find received a weel week to allow a notorious blind ilger to operate unmolested the raids started ns as a result of the fleecing fleeming flee cing of holley of aickin i ut of 11 he tin and a companion made a i noise 0 e that all atlanta heard officers were sent to see liliu him and lie he and his companion laid a trap for abe powers tile the alleged in the game the detectives told them to go on out and meet rowers and they would follow that was ns about the last they heard of the detectives hut but they met powers by egret agreement anent rind nd seized him A passing policeman vidis hailed balled finally and powers went eat to jail their started a for the head quarters qua artera of the gang the detectives trienet day were ere piloted to the building in a downtown locality where the south said they had been robbed but search as they nil might lit the officers could not find the ro room n raid reveals brokers office the next tiny day they appealed to the solicitor ond and lie led a personal raid of the building the room wai wa 4 found at once and tic lie seized all the paraphernalia the place was fitted up with all if alj the elaborateness of a stock brokers office lit in new york there were blackboard fake telegraph instruments fake money and everything else needed it looked like there ther was all the money in the world there but investigation vesti gation revealed lint hint only the I 1 cover bills wore were good the rest was grren green paper pa arr that was vas the beginning within the next few days tile the solicitor raided three places operated by the alie gang in one case using usan axes to break in in this place were found all the instruments needed for marking curds cards cro brooking crooking crook oking ng dice fake money several hundred dollar of rent real money in the safe crap tables and before the night was out ninny many visitors who had been taken into custody had to felt they knew or go c to jall jail tile were followed by runny many pi the ganz can had seen that tho the jig was up and most of them had disappeared gradually they are being rounded up and brought back to atlanto atlanta abe powers and eight of his con freres have been sent to the penitentiary but carelessness at the prison farm farin was utilized by abe powers and he be Is jt at large again many others are under arrest amest and some have given bond among those indicted and soon to stand trial will ivill be ira fort who ho was mixed up it Is said in the madeira swindle A feature of this prosecution Is found in the fact that the solicitor himself has offered big rewards for the capture of the various con men and paid kald some of them the search continues the country over for floyd p woodward ue he Is held up as the master mind of the gang since his escape lie he has written a letter back to atlanta in which he charges that he be hod had paid out 2000 as a bribe at one time to solicitor bokan had paid large sums tit at other times a cut in of his receipts to joseph ewing a lawyer formerly connected with Boyid ns office before he become became solicitor and who abo according accord ng to woodward was the go between for boykin these charges by woodward tha aall fellow who was friendly with everybody in town went hunting bunting with calef poole gave diamond rings and phonographs to and dispensed money with a liberal hand it have ave given the police a club to lilt lift Ilo so they charge that boykin knew as much of the operations of the gang as they didor did or more one feature of the investigation has bag I 1 been n the charge e made by joe ewing lawyer that councilman at al martin and floyd P woodward ran one of the dens together martin for whiskey rind Wood woodward aard for gaming and that at this place hundreds of gallons of liquor ii iuar had been delivered by a young man now in another ril allegation legation was that aldine Ch chambers omberg who led fell the campaign in georgia for palmer when lie hb was seeking the presidential flent ial nomination had bad worked to recruit tile the gang by petting getting men out of the federal penitentiary for this purpose texas victim gets angry there is tile the case of 3 oung boung mr maoling of texas mho started out iu in ills ids before tile the committee very li bi lainily nily liNely but wilted toward the end under a rapid lire fire cross examination meaning manning hall had told his story ile he imd had asserted that chief of detectives canior poole and show shaw had permitted pi swindle operators to escape a after f ter lie he had information that should have resulted in their call ture then lie was confronted suddenly with a letter signed W it manning in an offer was made to drop oil all prosecution of the swindlers lers concerned cern ed provided that they would return his hia money ue lie vehemently denied tile that he had bad written it branding it a forgery during tills this cross examination he repeatedly peat edly contradicted lil himself lost all his sang frold froid became angry an and d offered to make it a personal matter with one of the lai lawyers for the defense lie he told the committee that he messod his train in atlanta end and that as his wife was visiting her people and there was no room for hini him there lie decided lie he might as well remain in atlanta ile he declared he had find been picked up at the alie union station by bunco steer ers who had conducted him to the ansley hotel rind and how they had become very warm friends tills this lie said was clyde smith shilah who sold salil he was a representative of the harry payne company in ili ills his story a fake telegram from harry payne whitney of new york was described according to tive tile gang had two exchanges one was no 2 in a downtown spot and the other was suppo supposed ed to be the capital city club Ati anias swell est but somehow the bunco victims were always steered to no 2 something always coming up to bar a trip to exchange no I 1 |