AN EXTRAORDINARY SWINDLE.

Otago Witness, 14 December 1893, Page 37

AN EXTRAORDINARY SWINDLE.

The following account of an extraordinary swindle appears in the Auckland Star :— " Last year an Auckland citizen was attracted by an advertisement invjting any person having capital to ioin in a pearl- fishing adventure. He met the advertiser, who is well known in the colonies and ocrasionally visits Auckland, where he has friends, and entered into an agreement to provide all the money necessary for the purchase of stores and to fit out a vessel to pioceed to New Guinea and make a sure fortune out of an untouchrdpeailing ground. The adventurers proceeded to Sydney, where the man with the money bought a schooner, engaged a crew, and provided all requisites. Two members of the crew were introduced by the promoter to his trusting friend as desirable hands. These two had, it seems, been residing with their introducer in Sydney previous to his coming to Auckland and laying the bait, but he took care to keep this fact dark, and to all appearances they were strangers. They all lived on board the schooner at the owner's expense for Borne months, pretexts for delays of one kind and another being continually forthcoming. At length the owner succeeded in persuading his companions to start on the voyage. Before this, however, the latter had induced the capital provider to bring on board a sum of £600 with the laudable intention of securing by purchase a profitable island, pearl-shell reef and all, near New Guinea. On the representation that there were two or three sets of diving apparatus obtainable on the islands near New Guinea, this exemplary pearling expedition took none with them. Month after month was wasted at various places en route. The victim did not understand a tittle of the art of navigation, yet he had suspicions, at one or two of the islands yisited, that the vessel was placed in proximity

to dangerous rocks and reefs. At the New Hebrides the position of the schooner was shifted several times, resulting in her being eventually driven < n the rocks, which happened whilst the adventurers were ashore and the vessel shorthanded. Advantage was taken of .the confusion of the wreck to change the possession of the £600, of which the former owner has since seen only a few sovereigns in the hands of the French police at Noumea. He was able to identify them, because he had taken the precaution to mark every one of the 600 and retain some sovereigns similxrly marked in his own possession. A man-of-war, on board which a fruitless investigation toolc place, conveyed the forlorn ones to Noumea, where information was given to the French authorities by the capitalist, who had now perhaps become a wiser though a sadder man. Search was made, and a few of the marked coins were found on the person of an individual who had been there, but not the £t>QQ. Several similar coins had also been passed within the precincts of the Hotel de l'Europe and were produced by the landlord. As the accused were British subjects no prosecution eventuated, and. the difficulties of following the matter up scared the victim from proceeding with it in Australia."

During the week ending December 10, 11 vessels of all classes arrived at the Dunedin wharves, with a gross total of 6214 tons register ; while the departures were 15 vessels, representing 8768 tons register. The ship Zealandia has taken on board 74S bales of wool and skins.

The barque Star of the East has now on board 34 bales wool, 125 bales sheepskins, S4 bales rabbitskins, 1 bale hair, 40 casks tallow, 1 cask pelts, and 276 bags antimony. The s s. Napier landed 155 cases of cheese at the export pier on Monday morning for the Aorangi. The s.s. Duke of Westminster commenced to discharge her cargo at the George street pier on Monday. The Union Steam Ship Company have received advice that the s.s. Maori arrived at Townsville on Saturday, 9th inst., and was expected to leave that port on Monday for Auckland, where she is due on Monday next. Thence she proceeds to Wellington and southern ports. Messrs Huddavt, Parker, and Co 's new steamer Tasmania, now in the colony, is built on similar lines to the Miowera and Warrimoo, and is very like those vessels. Her dimensions are as follow .-—Length 285 ft, breadth 38ft Sin, depth 20ffc 9in.

The ship Forfarshire arrived off the heads on Tuesday forenoon, and anchored, waiting orders. The s.s. Duke of Westminster has put out about 500 tons of cargo into the railway trucks at the George street pier. A large square-rigged vessel was reported 15 miles E. N. E. of Cape Saunders on Tuesday forenoon, standing north. The New Zealand Shipping Company's splendid steamship Aorangi from London, via Teneriffe, Capetown, Hobart, and the north, arrived at Port Chalmers on Tuesday afternoon and was berthed at the George street pier. Captain Tofts, of the barquentine River Hunter, has shown us the details of a very valuable marine invention, patented by Mr Grey, and called "Patent Storm Netting." It is intended for the use of *hips in heavy weather, and should prove of the utmost value, not only in the preservation of human life, but as regards the safety of vessels using it. The netting is made of coir rope of ljin mesh, with ljia yarn, and is interlaced with }'m coir. Iron stanchions liin in diameter are fitted into sockets at shoit distances alongthe ship's rail, and all of these stanchions are strongly stayed inside ; and, when placed in position, a steel wire rope liin in diameter is run through them. To this the netting is securely laced, the effect being that in bad weather, heavy seas striking the hull of the vessel are broken and prevented from coming on board in large volumes and doing damage, while the men on deck are shielded from the danger of .being washed overboard. Captain I'ofts and other shipmasters who have seen the netting consider it a very valuable invention.