Tarbox Trapped.

Auckland Star, Volume XXVI, Issue 190, 10 August 1895, Page 4 (Supplement)

Tarbox Trapped.

Adventures of a Clever Criminal.

.5.;; - {-'£ End oi? the Cotlass Case. &;0%, (Fbom Our Special Correspondent). %§M>$S--u-»&Mr,_ London, June2l. Apart from*the fact that ib has after many days been tbe means, of delivering, up to justice one of the cleverest scoundrels who ever preyed on poor humanity, bhere is nothing -special in the Regent's Park cutlas 8 case. A vulgar row between a lob of betting men of dubious character, the affair would have attracted little attention but for the brutality of Tarbeaux and his confederate Woodward. Nob content I with dragging arid robbing tbeir guests in orthodox fashion, they thred ■ parts killed ■■ them wibh cutlasses, and '?& ppllcamatj: unltitkU^ip^i^q^oti'|ha' sceneab the time, a criminal, charge resulted. Little guessing, however, what angels they were entertaining unawares, the police admitted the accused to bail, and Tarbeaux and friend lost no time in levanting to safer climes. But fortune failed longer bo favour bhe brave. Woodward was arresbed a few months later at St. Louis, U.S.A., and is now doing a term technically known as '•even stretch,' and our South African police soon afber accidentally stumbled npon Tarbeaux, alias Tarbox, tbe latter being his real name. The man was brought back to England, and on Monday lasb got three years from Judge Hawkins. His Lordship expressed a wish thab he could have locked Tarbox up for life. Socieby, he opined, would breathe freer wibh such a scoundrel out of the way. The career of Tarbox has been an eventful one. He was born in Freeport, in tbe State of Illinois. This was 43 years ago, His father was a gipsy and bia mother An Indian Squaw, . which accounts for his straight, strong, spare figure, bis swarthy skin, and. his sbraighb, black hair and his repulsively bad face. He is uneducated and quite illiterate, bub be is as clever as a monkey at what is called, in thieves' slang, ' faking tbe broads,' bunko steering, slim gambling, the gyp game, three-card monts, and is a proficient horse-shark, and an expert in green goods. He commenced life in earnesb in Columbus (Ohio) penitentiary as a boy, and in 1873 went to Chicago with a well-known criminal character called Harry Jackson. He was one of the notorious 'Johnnie* Irving gang, and their headquarters was The Store, which waß owned by Mike McDonald, Maurice Martin, and Harry Lawrence, alias * Tbe Bunko Kine,' who received a royalty on all • business' done. Other members of thia pretty seb of ruffians were Wesbley Shimtnel, the onearmed card-sharp, Dan Scribner, and Billy Singleton, the gambler poeb. Tarbox and Harry Jackson commenced to work tha ' green goods' trick, which has many varieties, but generally means selling, or pretending to sell, large quantities of forged greenbacks to fanners out West. It was a new game bhen, and bhey did well ab ib bill a farmer called Wilcox, from Verden, Illinois, found he was being robbed of some £200, and ' kicked.' There was a row. Singleton, who was in bhis business, bhen gob oub and lefb Tarbox to be overpowered. Tarbox shot Wilcox, who, however, recovered, and tbe business waa broken up. Tarbox shipped, but eventually returned when things had blown over, with Harry Jackson. They started a new game, whicb may be called The Widow Trick. They advertised that a widow with an invalided son, whom she was anxious to take to Europe, had no use for her horses, which she was prepared to parb wibh. Jackson played bhe parb of an English groom, and Tarbox bhe consumptive son, with a churchyard cough. They worked this successfully till 1881, when, Chicago getting too hot, Tarbox took a trip to Cleveland, where he sold a beam to Dr. Xenopbon 0. Scotb for £300, the horseclothe of which realised more than the horses. He nexb went to St. Loots, where he played tbe same trick on Dr. Henry J. McKillop and Dr. J. S. Fraser, who gave good money for bad horses. Kansas City was the nexb cook-pifa io which be tried his luck. Here he tried his talents againsb one of his own kidney, Sam Rogers, known as Ephraim Smoobh and Ganada Bill, a, famous three-card mon to man, whom he robbed of £400 ab Bishop and Chester's Saloon and shipped to Hob Springs. He was followed by Rogers, who informed against him aboub the Dr. Cox swindle, and he was arrested and brought away in irons. Bail of £500 was arranged for Tarbox to jump, but, three sheriffs appearing to arrest him on other charges, be was bhoughb safer in gaol.

: Dr. Scott then appeared and gavee»id»w and Tarbox was sentenced to **w+E3fr "■* Columbus gaol. He tried on the eK££ tive fake, was successful, and was __*_*'- hospital, where be was well fed, and^liU? ated before he had served half his time. He then took Horace Greeley's aiwi and 'went West' to Las Vegas and Vi! himself down as Foster at the Montezn* Hotel, bbc viaitors to which he nob onl robbed at cards, bub induced to go to club-house owned by Colonel Crnmtn,' This was burned down shortly after anrt Tarbox made himself very conapicnous hi seizing children who had already eseaned and bearing them off in his arms in triuroDh In the spring of 1886 he wenb bo New Yotir' and t|ben bo London, when Inspector Byrn« book the law inbo his own hands and gave all tbe ' croaks ' 24 hours to get out. "U In London he associated with ail the moid notorious American swindlers, such 'as Jo* Krakoweki (alias Joe Kravl TT«»«_! Mouell (alias 'Tbe Baron'), 'SS Alonzo,' and Hawley (alias Woodward alias the Hon. Lionel Musgrave) who cama from Chicago in 1894. From London ha paid professional visits to bhe East and St. Petersburg, everywhere making him; self felt. 6 " His Career in London" has been pretty well thrashed out, and full particulars of his many audacious swindles andbrutal assaults have been published Only one, of whicb I was an eye-witnass' has been left unrecorded. It took place ab the Cafe Royal, in Regent-street,l where he and his associates. had a fancy for col- ' Jecbing. Ib was a cold winter's' evening something over two years ago.' The ' cafe downstairs' was well filled with : its patrons, who love to sib •'•'. and sip mazagrans and play . dominoes, on the little white marble tables. Tarbox and his gang were sitting in their favourite L place by the stove facing tbe Regent-street' entrance. I and those with me, who knew who my fine gentlemen were, owing to Frank White having exposed them in the 'New York.World" a.nd having pointed them oub bo us, were diseasing what Americans call their 'nerve,' when Tarbox's face grew even uglier than usual, and b« advanced bo a peaceable-looking fat man wibh a red face, and demanded bo know— * ' Who tbe h— are you staring at ?' The .-, rubicund person having informed him in. terms even stronger than I have used in describing Tarbox's talents, .Tarbox took advantage of his enemy being seated to let drive ab him. The gentleman of full . habit. jumped up, and, squaring up ab his assailant, caughb him a fair drive j in. the jaw, and Tarbox retired to consult bis friends. Matters seemed to have quieted down till a few minutes later, when one of Tarbox's friends, a thick-set, fair-haired looking bully, crept up behind bbc genbleman who waa accused of staring, and caught him a back-hander with his closed fietacross the month. Then the fun commenced. The man assailed was on his feeb in a minube, and the two closed. Smash, smash, wenb the blows on.one another's face, and they rolled over on a marble table, scattering the glasses, drinks, dominoes and coffee to righb and left; The whole cafe was on its legs, but the :. Waiters Were Too Timid to interfere, and it was no concern of any* body else except Tarbox and hia friends, who rushed in and set about belabouring the red-faced man with their fiats; and even pulling bis hair. Some ten of them were all in a lump, kicking and hitting wildly arid tumbling about. The object' of the* aesault bad meantime armed himself with a broken absinthe glass and was jobbing it into tbe face and neck of anyone he conld get a drive ab when he wrenched hia arm • free. Thia brought tho Herculean Cerberus on the scene, and be and his assistants pro* ceeded bo push bhe fighting and bleeding mass through the door. Needless to sty, I did nob follow them, But I learned thai,'M usual in this world, the man who was set i^pon wot darned owt, end Tarbox anlf <% cowardly scoundrels who surrounded kfia returned in triumph, bub with very puffy arid bleeding faces. They bad. scarcely settled down and induced ' Bismarck' to serve them wibh drinks, before a policeman ; appeared on the scene and proceeded to i demand their names and addresses, as Cerberus had been assaulted and meant to take out a summons at Vine-street. The audacity of the blackguards was amusing, The fair, thick-set man who bad taken apt Tarbox's quarrel jumped up and said ;"• ~'. 'This is not a case for police—ib it an affair between gentlemen.' The bobby took down such names and addresses as they vouchsafed, and lefb full ot apologies for disturbing the tine gentlemen, who, as soon as his back —an turned, made a bee-line through the back door into Glass; house-streeb. How the summons wai settled I never knew, but I have often wondered if that P.C. reported the case, and if the authorities remembered it or ever inquired who were the participators in it, more especially when 'The Regent Park Cutlass Case' was on, and when the detectives were endeavouring to. geb to the bottom of the mysterious death of Henri Martin, bhe poor nighb watchman, who was found shot dead in much the same plscs with the window of tbe cashier's office broken.