AN OLD VIOLIN SWINDLE.

Timaru Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 4697, 19 November 1889, Page 3

AN OLD VIOLIN SWINDLE.

An olil violin swindle which ufed to bo common enoueh in Hnj»land, and is (till frequent nbroad, lia§ been successfully tried in Madrid. '1 lie fraud it to clover, and il so Rrenlly depend* for succcis upon Ilie eupiditj of tlio person nwindltd, that tlio perpetrators would niino^t. nerrn to deserve, tho " swnß." The mrlhod is this. Two ;oung men. apparently travelling musician*, cu into n rnfo (Iliii Lima tho Cafn rJoßovin), bavo •nmethiim to rnt and drink, and suddenly discover thnt they hnvo no money to pny for it. They S" "P to tlio propririor »nd olTi'r to drpo«il their violin for on hour or »t> nhile tlioy return hems to fetch tin' cmli. An Ilia nmoiint of the bill rnrrly cirordu i» sliilling, the landlard tmiilly ngrect to the deposit of the violin. A quarter of an hour nftcrwardi a riolily drruod ftrangft enlen, plaoei on tlio, counter s bank noto to the heavy amount of n hoi (lo of uhumpußno, and ii suddenly etruclc with the violio, which ho »eo§ at tho other end of tlin counter, 110 declares be {a an amittor of flddlea. and uka pormiation to examine the inßtrumcnt. Wli en tlio landlord hnndt it to him he starts with surprise, sod declnros it to bo a tfuntilne Btrndivarius. lie olTurs logivo JL'lOOor £150 for tlio instrument, but the landlord tolls him that it i'e rial his to sell, nnd otpiains tho circumn'ance* under which it came lainporari'j inl-j his potsestiou. Tho atratigor says it does not #{j»rijf» fop tho moment, but fltst if tho landlord oun secure the inttruoicnC lii will nlvo bin the £100 or £130 wlisn the jl'ldlo is brought to him at sucL-and-such an hotel. Ultlf unbouraftcrivßrdj tb« youug nun

I return, pay their bill, and take their violin. Tho landlord quite unconsequentially observes i that his wile is fond of mu»io, and offers to buy the instrument for a sovereign. The voung me-i refuse, but ofter aomo hugging they agree to pait with it fori'st>. Tlio liiniilord forthwith takes the valuable inatrumont to tho hotel, where, strango to rclfile, ho finds the opulent violin fancier not known, nnd himself the possessor, nt Iho prico of £fO, of a fiddlo worth about half as many shillings.