GREAVES, THE SPY.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIV, Issue 12, 6 September 1912, Page 3

GREAVES, THE SPY.

HIS X.S.W. CAREER. In a recent issue some facts wort given concerning the meteoric AustinJ lian career of the man Karl voi. ; Greaves, who was recently sentence* to 18 months’ imprisonment for eg - pionage. Since then further inform ation lias come to light, and tlio tol lowing sketch, published in the Sydney ] Sun, throws a few sidelights on the remarkable man’s character. ! j “There .alighted from the train at |] Condobolin one blazing afternoon it , S the midsummer of 1909-10, accompan • ied by a burly insurance agent, Dr J Renee Sardin, the medical adviser o' . the canvasser. A short, nuggetj 1 1 man, say sft. Sin. in height, clean'j shaven, wearing pince-nez, and j round, full-moon face, coruscating will I humour and merriment. He was soor ; ! established the first favourite at the 1 hotels. A true bon vivant. Brimmin; over with anecdote of Ibis student days | at Heidelberg, where his father wa: a university professor, tolling thrilling

stories of his life as a surgeon with the Dutch troops in Borneo, recalling

the trying and tragic happenings with an anthropological expedition around the islands and the Territory, describing every known phase of continental life, from court to courtesan. This man of the world, a brilliant conversationalist, with fascinating address and charming manner, soon won a wide circle of friends. He was the honoured guest of every leading townsman. The little dinners he gave at the “Royal” were worth winning invitations to. He spent money lavishly, and was a good fellow generally- He visited trie stations and in duo course reached Lake Cudgellico in •Lily, 1910. The beauties of the lake and its peaceful surroundings' so impressed themselves on his volatile nature that at the instigation of, his friends he resolved to establish himself in practice there, prior to building, with the financial assistance of riis revered father, the largest and • most magnificent consumptive sanatorium in the southern hemisphere. “A few weeks after ho had displayed his brass plate—he had one an extraordinary circumstance upset the equilibrium of Lake Oudgellico township. A new sauce, invented by the medico, was used to dross a dish atone of his dinners. Trie result was almost tragic. The chairman of the Land Board, the P.M., and other dignitaries of more or less importance, were poisoned, three of four coming unpleasantly close to the valley of death. Dr Sardin himself went under, and spent a subsequent six weeks under treatment at the Condobolin hospital. His discharge from the institution was trie commencement of his deceptions. His fascinating manner induced numerous business Blends to lend him sums ranging to £lO, while he was fitted out with raiment fit for a prince —on tick. He went to Orange for a convalescent’s holiday. Ho gave dinners there galore, and dishonoured cheques afterwards. Condobolin friends were again touched by tearful tales of a recurrence of bis malady, and more money went. He reached Sydney in time, and a month after was back in Condobolin acting as locum tenons for Dr Kearney. That he Iliad some medical knowledge is obvious, and, indeed, in some instances bis treatment resulted in almost miraculous cures. But the confidence game was too alluring for the medico to relinquish, and his victims bit easily. Ho begged and borrowed during that trip almost incredible sums, and from unbelieveable people. No game was too high, none too paltry. The moneyed squatter was an equal mark with the servant, girl at the hotel. And through it all he raised the biggest bluff seen in Condobolin.

“The Cudgellico police summoned him to appear twice on a charge of practising as a doctor without a certificate. He declined to answer the summons, threatened the police, and by wire informed the P.M., Mr Harcourt Halcombe, that he would not leave his patients to attend any court. He produced letters purporting to come from the Netherlands Consul in Sydney, anent his certificate, and his arrest was postponed. “Ho departed hurriedly citywards a few weeks after the Cudgellico warrant issued,' taking up his quarters at the Forbes Hotel, and it is more than likely that ho borrowed the name of Greaves from the genial proprietor, Charlie, of that ilk. At this hostel ho encountered many theatrical notabilities, and after an introduction to a charming young lady, made love and accepted a diamond ring from her. Tin s was subsequently rescued from one of his avuncular relations, but the doctor vanished, and went, as it now appears, to South Australia. “While in Orange, Sardin wired to a Condobolin friend for £lO, alleging that he was in serious trouble. The cheque was posted by return. Two days later the generous donor received a letter full of bitter reproaches from Sardin for failure to send the tenner along. Imagining that the letter had gone astray, ho promptly posted another cheque, and stopped pay merit of the first one. About a fortnight later an angry Orange publican threatened prosecution for dishonouring a cheque which, had been cashed in good faith by him for T)r Renee Sardin. The wily medico had cashed both. At Cudgeilico he was the guest of a prominent resident, and his welcome was terminated when the matter of £l7 or so had changed hands. Altogether, what with hills unpaid and money borrowed or obtained, the little Dutchman’s stay in Condobolin cost over £3OO. “The personality of the man was so attractive that suspicion would he disarmed at the outset. Ho was a linguist, speaking German, Dutch, French and English with the polish of a cultured scholar. He had evidently been an omnivorous reader, and could discourse for hours on English literature, ancient and contemporary. Ho admitted to having been a conscript soldier in Holland, and having spent two years as surgeon with the troops and in tho navy. He was a powerfully-built man, though small, with the appearance of a. soldier, and he was certainly an athelotc. Whether he was spy, adventurer, gentleman of fortune, or imposter, or some of each, ho had a gay time in New South Wales, and if he raised money easily he spent it as quickly. “Some little while ago, probably after he had left Australia, quite a number of Condobolin and district residents received the ‘Spanish prisoner’ letter, purporting to have been sent from Madrid on tho recommendation of a friend who knew flic character of the recipient well. Tho addresses on the letters betrayed the hand of Dr. Renee Sardin. Many who knew him were of opinion that lie was a prominent member of a gang of international swindlers, who was lying low in a foreign clime for a while. However, he is laid by the heels for a spell, but many of those whom he victimised will find it easy to bo half sorry 7 for the happy-go-lucky genial little Dutchman.”