CONFIDENCE TRICK

Greymouth Evening Star, 16 May 1925, Page 2

CONFIDENCE TRICK

j- C»i& TIMbEK VICTIjIISKP r—./i . .-Steaming - ; ?nit ofy- Grey mouth on Thursday morning, the express bound for Christchurch carried with' it a man badly wanted by the polios. Unfortunately, they did hot know they wanted h|m Until it Whs tdd ld.tb. ) ■For .tlm quiet,, unassuming guest has resided-at -bile of Qreymouth’s leading hotels;;.lie was d “mystery man,” enjoying breakfast in bed, and •apparently. tdilihg not, neither did’ he spin. His real occupa-tion-spinning tales —has only now be'eh discovered. He is apparently one of the class known as “confidence men,” and is stated to have pursued this occupation in other parts of New Zealand, chiefly in the North Island, with a certain - amount of success. During his stay at Greymouth lie made himself pleasdht tO fluitO a dumber of people, and it i§ not known yet how many of-'them wefe “stung.” One day this-Week,-he strolled into one of his friends’ shops,- bought a small quantity Of goods; and tendered a cheque ,draWii; it is, understood, oh a bank at Awamutu for nearly £2O. incidentally, he stated that he did not intend to leave Greyinouth until Tuesday next. The holiday jin connection with the funeral of the date Mr. Massey delayed presentation of the cheque ,at the local bank —the “con. man” hhd judged his coup nicely—and . meanwhile he made , a clean get-aw’ay. Perhaps . realising that he had aroused- suspicion at the hotel, he played; . safe .there, . aftd settled- ■ his account, probably With the money' gained from the trusting tradeip: The latter, on learning that the cheque was’ not worth the paper it was-Written on, communicated with the police. But the bird' had' flown. He may yet be caught in the net spread fof him.' '■'