AFTER THIRTY YEARS.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 12885, 17 August 1907, Page 8

AFTER THIRTY YEARS.

Some of our readers may remember that on moro than one occasion wo havo issued warnings against the firm of Dorey Lester and Co.,' avhich was in the habit of circulating broadcast in the colonies catalogues and advertisements offering watches and jewellery at what appeared to bo marvellously cheap prices. Some confiding Hew Zealanders, who either omitted 1 to note theso warnings, or wilfully ignored them, sent their "money to the firm, and— the rest avas silence. Their Post Office orders were duly cashed, but no watches or jewellery ever came to hand, and to all their remonstrances and expostulations Dorey Lester and Co. remained as unresponsive as if the firm had! suddenly vanished from tlie eartn. That it was still in existence, However, was shown by the fact that the post continued to bring shoals of their seductive circulars, still offering their incomparable bargains. It is with great satisfaction that we. now learn that Mr Dorey who seems to have comprised the entire firm-in his own person, has at length mad© his appearance in the flesh, and has been sent by the Recorder of London to penal servitude for three years. It was shown that he had been carrying on hia "business" for thirty years, and that for twenty-seven years th© police had been receiving complaints about him. His audacity verged on the sublime, because it appears that while vho neglected tojsend out the watches for which ho received money from ...e

public, ho frequently succeeded in extracting from • the publio not only money, but avatches as well. Tne manner in which he achieved tnis remarkable feat was by advertising himself as open to repair watches, as well as to sell them, in both case., of course, it being an indispensable condition that the money was to be paid in advance. When he received watches for repair he stuck to them, and if they avere sufficiently valuable, he pawned thenr for what he could get. No fewer than 233 tickets for watches avere found in his possession when he was arrested, with numerous lotters of complaint from the indignant owners. That he escaped with impunity so long is due to the fact, first, that he confined his operations largely to an overseas trade; and, secondly, to general of people who have been victimised to com© forward to confess the fact in public, to say nothing of "throwing good money after " bad." Mr Labouchere, who has done so much to expose swindles of this' kind, suggests that tho powers of the Publio Prosecutor should be enlarged. With that, we cordially agree, but aye hope also that in turn tho public, on whom such swindlers prey, will learn a little more sense. Unfortunately, there are at present shoals of people credulous enough to fancy that there are benevolent tradesmen avbo thrive by selling goods for much less than they cost to produce; and-that there are other benevolent peoplo who possess an infallible plan of making money either on the turf or the Stock but who prefer to impart the secret to complete strangers—for a consideration—instead of using it themselves, and so becoming "rich beyond the " dreams of avarice." So long as there is such a plentiful crop of tools in existence, we fear that rogues like Mr Dorey Lester will thrive.