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Show A Fairy Tale "That Paid.': Indicted for using the mails to defraud, a gentleman has been convicted con-victed at Sioux City for pretending that, he had secured evidence that an immense estate, left by the great Englr-h explorer, Sir Francis Fran-cis Drake, had never been properly proper-ly distributed and that the rightful right-ful heirs had never been found in more than 400 years. Not only was the gentleman able to invent this financial fiction, out he was able to convince a number num-ber of Americans by the name of Drake, and some related to Drakes of various families, that he was looking into the records in the English En-glish courts and that millions oi dollars would be recured from vhe British government for distribution to thoite wlto helped defray his expenses. Sums said to range from $1 to $5,000 were given to him by those who believed his yarn and expected expect-ed to share the fortune when it was "rightfully!" distributed. Despite Des-pite the fact that the British government gov-ernment denied there was any merit to his pretensions and that the American ambassador to Lon don warned people not to be duped something like $700,000 w!as poured pour-ed Into the lap of the gentleman who dished out the etory to those-who those-who were anxious to believe it. The story is strange enough, but worse follows. When the man was arrfceted and Indicted the pedple from whom he had taken the money mo-ney got together, hired lawyers and financed his defense. The idea in publishing this editorial edi-torial is not to lough at the contributions con-tributions made by the citizens who lent money, or to stress their gullibility. gulli-bility. Like them, all of us, at times, risk nibbles at one thing or another. However, the next time a citizen tells you a story about huge fortunec that he can uncover and distribute if you will pay part of the expense fund, go back to the box where you put this story and read it over. It will save you money. |