A.B. WORTHINGTON'S ARREST.

Otago Witness, Issue 2631, 17 September 1902, Page 45

A. B. WORTHINGTON'S ARREST.

BOGUS WILLS AND LETTERS. PLAUSIBLE DOCUMENTS.

Of the fact that Arthur B. Worthington is one of the cleverest living confidence men — indeed, the king of all the tribe — ample documentary evidence is furnished (says the Melbourne Age) by himself. After his arre«t in Sydney on Tuesday by Detective Sergeant M'Manamny, a search amongst tne papers in hi 3 vestry offices at the Unitarian Church brought to light a load of bogus correspondence, which show? that the operations arranged for the entanglement of the women who were attraoted by his plausibility and specious moral platitudes were formed in the mind of a keen and clever man, and carried out with a carefulness and close attention to detail truly Machiavellian in completeness of crafty conception. Once brought under his baleful influence, his unfortunate victims had no chance. They were simply overwhelmed with torrents of fervid words, eloquent protestations of regard and moral interest, and reams of document*, in which the probity and lofty character of A B. Worthington shone vividly from every lino Under the dominating v ill power of 6uch a man — cool, cultivated, and re'entless — the "weaker ■vessels" were plastic as clay in the hands of the potter, and yielded up their treasures, often with a feeling of exaltation that they were doing " the Master's bidding." Though Worthington for the mo3t part relied upon women for his support, not a. few weak-minded men, overpowered by his plausibility, contributed to his insatiable needs in tne way of cash. It was not until '"The Master," injudiciously in his own interests, removed his sphere of influence to Sydney that Madame do la Jouveny. the first to awaken from the spell, took in hand the laudable task of freeing herßelf and others from Worthington's entanglements — a difficult work, and apparently accomplished successfully, but at the cost of a considerable amount of unpleasantness. As was mentioned in the Age of yesterday, Madame de la Jouveny became acquainted with Worthington By attending , liis lectures early in July, 1900. She went i to a class for the '" Student b of Truth." ' Worthington. ascertaining her position, frankly admitted that his own circumstances were poor, but said that he had large sums of money coming to him under a legacy. Aery soon he applied for and obtained a loin of £20 " to pay his rent." Later on he introduced the subject of building, and got further assistance on the strength of his statement tliat he had purchased property in Flinders street and St. Kilda to the extent of £30,000. Of that amount he said he had paid off £16,000, and the Bank of Victoria had paid the remainder and taken over the deeds of the property a* security, nnd also closed upon his regular remittance* of £100 per month sent to him under his Auni Christina's will. However, a draft for ±-15,000 was coming out, and on its arrival lie would pay back all his borrowings. Worthington never relied upon mere word of mouth to give ! weight to his assertions ; everything was backed uo by convincing documentary evideuce. Sere his legal training and knowledge of real estate operating, learned in America. stood him in e-xeellent stpxd. Plans and deeds of the properties were produced, and the lady was taken to see the sites, and was shown over the house at St. Kilda Bluff whioh was to be a sanatorium for mental healing. His aunt's will — nea.tly typewritten. — under which he inherited the «urn of 3.156,685d01, was produced in certi fied oopv, accompanied by a detailed list of the propprties comprising the e«tate, all reatly typewritten also. The wonderful shrewdness of the man is. particularly manifested in tins lkt. for street* and locations are given in half a dozen American cities, in England, and in France ; and, as far as can be ascertained, the name's and numbers given are all correct. HIS AUNTS WILL. This remarkable document, which to one unacquainted with its compiler would bear the impress of truth on its face, opens- — Copt of the Will of Christina Russell. In tho name of God, amen: — " I, Christina Russell, of the city and county and State of New York, widow, being of sound mind and memory, knowing the uncertainty of mortal h'fe, arid the certainty of death, do hereby make, publish, and declare," etc., etc. The fictitious old lady, after appointing certain fictitious gentlemen with high mounding names — the Hon. Darius Gerald Crosby, Judge William Bently Hamilton, and Henry Dalton — her executors, sots out to distribute 1 er mythical property, and on© cannot help j being deeply impressed by the sweet/ness, kindness of heart, and eelf-abnegation which ccmbine to form the character of the dear old lady, so ably portrayed by the clever and imaginative artist who created her. A good novel might be written around this lovable old figure, and, judging by his initial success in this direction, Arthur B Worthin,gto<n would be the man to write it. It almost draws tears bo read : — 1 T d<*lte ttut fill tDt $felig*tioflj reiultu^

from my illness be paid immediately after lny decease, including my funeral expenses, which I desne to bs of the humblest character consistent with my position in life, decently, but without any extravagance whatever. The ancestral home, in which this regretable death ooeuired, with all its valuable belongings, is left to Arthur Bentley W., to do as he ple-ases with, snd libraTy (of fiction), " the accumulation of many generations of the Worthingtcn family," are reserved for the use of Arthur's dear children. Other bequests — which one can imagine being dictated by a weeping old lady to the honest family lawyer almost overcome with emotion • — are to %l My old nurse, Rachel Livingston," to " Mrs Henrietta Russell, my dear niece." and " Mr Henry Arlington Rwsell, my dear nephew: Charlotte Gertrude Re-nf-ley, my dear nit-ce; Charles Glencoe Bentley, Gladstone Wilbur Bentley, and Roy Fulton Bentley, my dear grandchildren." "My faithful coachman." "my faithful, honest, and good butler, Henderson D. Crookman," " my dearly beloved cook, Mary Ann Couter," and '' my devoted companion, Miss Aga.tha Crocker Vandulip,"' each and all have their hearts made glatl by this good lady's benevolence. The Astor library, hospitals', orpha.n asylums, and the Home for Aged Gemtlemcn, all benefit under the terms of this comprehensive wi'.l. The culminating point of pathos is reaohed when "my dear, dear, dearest loved nophow, Arthur Bentley Worthington, eon of my brother, Arthur Worfchingron, banker, 1 is provided for. He — lucky dog ! — comes in for a lump of money and property that make him a millionaire easy — when he get 3 it; but, unfortunately, owing to "-^bato and other formaJities, he is unable •- get hold of _ his d«ar aunt's millions, which v,as the reason why he had to turn temporarily — only temporarily, of course— to Jladame d« la Jouveny and his other dupes. THE LAWYERS' LETTERS. The letterj from Oro=by, Worthington, and Dunn. "Attorneys and Councillors at Law, No. 92 Broadway, New York City," are marvellous ox am pies of legal fiction. Y\orthington claimed to be a nartner, and consequently is addressed in a familiar manner—" beaatly familiar. One notable example which is worth giving as it stands reads thus : — No. 92 Broadway, New York City, 15th July. In the matter of the estate of Christina Russell, deceased. My Dear Buck,— At la-* Mrs Russell is dead —16 years of siufeung eaaed. I write this by hand, so that the typists ,n the office cannot know what I say to you. I enclose copy of will and list of properties. So at last you are once more rich. But you must remember that the will has to be probated, not only here in New but also in Boston, Chicago St Louis, Bridgeport, Bar Haibour, London (England), and Paris (France), also probably in Montreal (Canada). We have to advertise notice of probate 16 weeks, that is four months preceding the Surrogate's Court, which will make it December, after which a copy of it will have to be sent to each city and county where any of the property is located, and certificates of admission to probate filed in those courts. This will throw us into August or September, 1901, before you can come into possession. I only mention this so you will not arrange to use any bulk of moneys befote you are ready. Meantime I send you a hundred, which you can get at once, and will keep doing this until you can handle the income, which, according- to the list, ought to be very large. You will see by the will that the legacies to be paid by us will more than exhaust what we have in hand, so if we send Joyce the three thousand to buy that temple in Christchurch, New Zealand, and eight thousand for the St. Louis property, you must get along for a time on as little as you can. Don't lend any money, Buck. You are such a damned fool with money ; you give it to anybody that asks you l The Life Ins. Co. have nearly two hundred thousand to invest now, and each month adds to the amount. It will have to be put into real estate. How many children have you row? I suppose there is no use asking you to give up your religious fad any more, so I will be still, although you know my opinion. Your aunt was as wilful as ever about the horses and the stock on the Peekehill farm, so they are all eating themselves into rottenness, no one getting any good of them. You surely don't want to maintain an old brute hospital, do you? and the pack of o'.d and poor relations v.bo nvpke beheve take care of there 9 Crosby has written you a formal letter about the shares belonging to the psrtate, which he thinks ought to be sold. I think that is trustees' affair. Do you think there is any nrospect of your runuing over 9 You see if you had any of your old ambition left you could go to the Senate now ea^v, hands down , but there, I know what you will ?ay, so I stop. Send us any special direction you may have in mind, and rerol'flct we are the tame old firm again, whether you like it or not. until you forbid us to use your name. — Sincerely and affectionately, Daeicjs Dunn. In other letters, in which the " prophet " is variously referred to as " dear boy " and "dear Buck," the difficulty of getting probate settlement, owing to thf> numerous places in which application has to lie made, is liarped upon, nnd 111 order to justify further delay the difficulty arrived at by the firm in deciphering the name of th« lady under his (Worthington's) own will 13 to have the guardianship of his ''dearly beloved son." The legal caution of the lawyer averts itself in the query, "Are you sure she L> all right? " and the warning, '" If you died she wou'.d almost have unlimited power under such a will." In letter after letter, written upon the formal printed paper of the firm of legal luminaries, the probate difficulties are blamed for the delay in remitting the money. At lost Worthington, writing from Sydney, announced that the long-promi'ed draft for £15,000 h-id arrivod. and he had seen it at the bank, but — and what a feeling of depression this announcement must have caused the generous lender of £1096 in hard ca«h who was hoping against hope for its return — rather than pay the exorbitant legacy duty which the grasp, ing Governments of New South Wales and Victoria bad endeavoured to extort fiom him he had sent the draft back to New York. On one occasion " The MasteT " managed to raise a loan of £200 from his friend by saying that if it was not paid the Nilr* would rise and overwhelm som<» ancient mystical business which existed on its banks, and upon which the occult teachings he was inrulcatinqr into the minds of the '' Students of Truth " were found. Worthington told the practical detective. Macmanamny, that the Rosu-rucians would appear at his trial and exonerate him entirely. Amongst other interesting things in | Ins office were a gold pendant with pymboliral figures, to be worn by Isis on her initiation as the reincarnation of that my- I thical deity, and other peculiar gew-gaws similarly inscribed. Amongst the literature impounded were copies of bulky pamphlets which were issued broadoast throughout Amarina, giving "The True (Uid Complete

1 History of that Notorious Scoundrel, Art\ur B. Worthington," etc. Bundles of blank writing paper, headed Crosby, Worthington, and Dunn, exactly similar to that on which the bogus lawyers' letters were typewritten, were also found. On one or two of them a typewritten letter had been started. -It is clear as day that these papers were printed either in Melbourne or Sydney. Detective Macmanainny hopes to discover to-day the press upon which they were prei pared.