Posed as Novelist

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 986, 31 May 1930, Page 29

Posed as Novelist

N.Z. MAN’S RISE TO “ FAME Prince of Impostors Deported THAT suave and debonair Englishman Richard Gunter, who, posing as a London traffic expert, reported to the Auckland City Council on its traffic problems, was not the only impostor who has enlivened New Zealand and has won a world-wide reputation. Prince of all was Herbert Wellington William Upjohns, who posed as Stephen McKenna, the famous novelist, and as Gerald Crichton, with a reputation as an actor and playwright. lie owes his final unmasking to Mr. B. 11. Andrews, of Auckland.

When articles concerning tbe alleged brutal treatment of Upjohn by American immigrations officials appeared in the press in February, Mr American immigration officials apin Pittsburg, who was proud of his country and his citizenship, and disliked having policies and practices of the country criticised. Lie referred them to the Secretary of State, who forwarded to the Pittsburg resident lull details of the investigation of the allegations. The articles fully told of the case of “Herbert Upjohns, a brilliant young newspaper man. He was born in Shanghai in March, 1905. Upjohns arrived in Los Angeles in 1927 from Vancouver. British Columbia, where he had been working on a paper. It was his intention to spend six months travelling through the United States.” PI is revelations, and similar newspaper stories relative to the incidents concerned, all of which, according to Mr. Davies, apparently emanated from the same source, had been in circulation for more than a year. The allegations were first brought to the department’s notice through an article published in “Smith’s Weekly.” An investigation was immediately ordered, and considerable time was spent by the immigration service in Los Angeles in an effort to identify some of the persons mentioned in the newspaper article, but without success. The author, the department believed, was Herbert Wellington William Upjohns, alias Stephen McKenna, who was apprehended in the city on March 13. 1928. on a warrant from the Seattle office. Educated in Christchurch When first arrested, Upjohns claimed to he a native of England, but subsequently in the course of his hearing he changed his statement, and said he was born in Melbourne. But there is now reason to believe that Upjohn’s real place of birth was Christchurch, where he was educated at a leading church college. lie told the American authorities that he had resided in New Zealand for only two and a-half years—22 months of which period, according to his own admission, was spent in the Waikeria prison, following an attempt on his part to secure goods under false pretences. On his release from the prison he applied for and secured a passport under the name of Stephen McKenna to proceed to Canada.

When he arrived at Vancouver, he secured a visa from the American Consul there under similar circumstances. Hjs admittance by the Vancouver office under the name of MpKenna, to pass in transit through tile United States, was on December 21, 1927. but on December 5 the case had been called to the attention of the American Consul-General in London by Stephen McKenna, the author, who quoted an article appearing the previous day in a newspaper: “TO LEARN ABOUT LIFE, ONE MUST LIVE IT,” SAYS FAMOUS NOVELIST. Mr. Stephen McKenna, the famous novelist, it has been revealed, is travelling steerage in the liner .Niagara from Sydney to Vancouver. When his identity became known the captain of the Niagara offered him a first class cabin (says a British United i’ress Honolulu message). “A writer, to learn about life, must live it,” Mr. McKenna replied in declining. Mr. McKenna, who is 89 years of age, and lias travelled widely in Europe, Asia. Africa, and America, was attached to the War Traue intelligence Department from 1915 to 1919. The real McKenna found that Llie article was accompanied by a photograpn of himself. lie said he had oeen publishing fiction for fifteen years past, and he had never heard of another author bearing his name. Upjohns is a fluent customer, however, and he had disappeared before the authorities could check his story. Tales of Wealth

When he arrived at Vancouver Upjohns, alias McKenna, claimed that he had in his possession £ 40,000 in the form of a letter of credit. “But such a letter may i;>ossibly have been a forgery,” reported the authorities. There was no doubt that if Upjohns had the letter it must have been a forgery. But when he was apprehended in Los Angeles Upjohns said he had £176 in bis possession at the time of his entry at Vancouver, although that statement is doubted on the strength of his subsequent history in the United States. When he entered Vancouver “McKenna” claimed that he was destined to a friend, .Sir Arthur O’Reilly, who, it later developed, was employed as a clerk in a business house in Vancouver, and had no knowledge whatsoever that he had been knighted by j liis Majesty King George. A pretty ; piece of egoism and bluff is Upjohn’s i assertion that he is a “brilliant young ! newspaper man.” His only training was | a copyholder in the reading - - ■ room of the Christchurch “Press,” and i indignation was expressed by the proj lession throughout New Zealand when i Upjohns claimed, when charged in 1 Wellington with false pretences, that ihe was a journalist.

From Vancouver. the impostor skipped to Seattle, 'Washington, where he lived with all the style that one

would expect of n noted English author. However, he let his home country down badly by leaving the hotel without first calling on the manager and asking for his bill. He stayed at the Olympic Hotel, and a bill for £3O has been written down on the wrong side of tlie profit and loss ledger. The only asset he left was some of his luggage. He then went to Portland, Oregon, where he stayed at the Portland Hotel, which is still owed £2 10s. Arriving in Los Angeles, he telegraphed the management of the Seattle Hotel, under the name of Lowther, requesting that his baggage be forwarded to him at Los Angeles, “collect,” in care of the American Express Company. Upjohns was audacious. even if dishonest. Naturally the hotel management declined his request, and his baggage is still being held by the Olympic Hotel to satisfy the unpaid bill left in that city as a memorial of his stay. Adopted Relatives The New Zealander must have been feeling the strain of his impecuniosity when he arrived in Filmland, for he made use of the city directory immediately on arrival in an effort to connect himself with the Upjohns family. At that time Herbert S. Upjohns was assistant county superintendent of schools, and the impostor immediately got in touch with him. He claimed relationship, succeeded in borrowing £6, and accepted the hospitality of the family for two weeks.

But the superintendent was not satisfied with the bona tides of his guest, and conducted an investigation of his own during that period to establish the relationship, the investigation extending as far as London. He ultimately discovered that the relationship was purely a concoction on the part of the visiting journalist. In new fields, Upjohns was busy, and he promptly relieved Dr. W. E. Upjohns of £lO. Changing his name to that of Gerald Crichton, the unwanted tourist took a suite at the Wilsliire Boulevard Apartments in Los Angeles. He was to have paid approximately £l7 a month for the apartment, but when he wa* apprehended he owed £l3, being the balance of a bill of incurred during his stay, the sum of £ 4 having been paid on account. His baggage was slowly diminishing, as when he was seized by the officers the owners of the Boul« vard Apartments retaliated by seizins some of his property. His detention in the Los Angeles* county gaol, pending disposition of deportation proceedings, covered a period of approximately three months, and o if June 13, 1 928, the United State*, through its immigration officials, bade Upjohns, alias Crichton, alias McKenna, a cheerful farewell as he sailed on the steamship Makura from San Francisco. A complete answer to the charges of brutality at the time of his arrest was given by Inspector Walter Bliss, who was assisted by two plain-clothes detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department, and the statement by Mrs. W. P. Casey, landlady of the Wilsliire Boulevard Apartments. Conditions in the Gaol

“Regarding the conditions irj the county gaol, we are not in a position to state what the actual conditions were.” wrote Inspector Joseph J. Garrity, of the Immigration Department, to the divisional director. “We can state, however, that the gaol is not removed half a mile from the immigration office through crowded streets, but is located a distance of approximately 200 yards, and involves passage on one street only. It can readily be understood that the county gaol accommodation may not have compared favourabb’ with that just recently enjoyed by him at the Olympic Hotel in Seattle, the Portland Hotel in Portland. Oregon, and the Wilsliire Boulevard Apartments in Los Angeles at the expense of the owners of such hotels and apartments. It is the practice at the county gaol to require all prisoners admitted to take a bath, and then assign them blue denim gaol suits; also to have all inmates viewed through the ‘shadow box,” regardless of whether or not the prisoners are detained under State or Federal charges.” Referring to the charges of lengthy detention in the cases of English subjects as compared with other European nationals, the inspector states that the usual cause for delay in these cases, as was known, was due to the fact that it was impossible to secure passports from the local British Consul, who will not issue a passport without securing authority from the Home Office in London. Naturally that took time. For most of the other European countries the Consuls or ConsulsGeneral in the United States are authorised to issue passports, thereby reducing the time to effect deportation. In detaining intending deportees the department never took into consideration the nationality of the inmates, the only consideration being as to the lawfulness of an alien’s residence.

Obviously, Upjohns (or let him be called Crichton) had an axe to grind, and he has whetted it on the front door of newspapers in Australia. New Zealand, and England, and used the Press as an avenue by which he could land the axe on the neck of the United States Immigration Department. Gerald Crichton, or Stephen McKenna, or Herbert Wellington William Upjohns, can be credited with being truthful in one respect. He claimed to be a writer of fiction. He certainly