"A QUIET GAME" AT LYTTELTON.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1579, 10 May 1887, Page 3

"A QUIET GAME" AT LYTTELTON.

A stuternent appeared among th'3 Wellington telegrams that a couple of visitors to kyttelton had by means of the confidence trick obtained from a resident of the port the sum of about £2OO, The victim was said to be a hotelkeeper at Lyttelton, and the manner in which the "trick " was worked is interesting as well as amusing. On Wednesday the alleged hotelkeeper was visited by a man named Clarke, who mentioned that he hs»d a friend with him, who had just arrived by the steamer, was a good mark, as he was possessed of plenty of money, The hoteU keeper unsuspectingly fell into the trap which had been spread for him, nnd agreeing to the proposal of Clarke, decided to make the acquaintance of this friend, whose Dame was said to be Colonel Dundas. The preliminaries of introducr tion over, the trio sat down to a quiet game of poker, iu which the supposed " soft" colonel was to be the dupe of the other two. To further his little scheme, which dawned upon the victim, when too late, Clarke advanced the hotelkeeper the sum of £SO, and with this, and the assurance of succeeding, he unhesitatingly "wagered" on the poker. He lost the £SO, and supplemented it with several other fifties, which also found their way to the pockets of the i( Colonel," when the proceedings were abruptly terminated by the appearance of a " limb of the la«r." The confederates — for to Clarke and | Dundas turned out to be—defied the law, I but offered to deal liberally with the man whose caßh they had succeeded in reach? ing, and the l( softy '' generously threw down a sufficient sum to purchase a case of wine. The time for the departure of ihe steamer being due, they bid the hotelkeeper a good-bye, berthed themselves on board, and sailed away jubilant at the idea that they had succeeded in victim? ising a clever man. Such are the facts as our reporter was able to glean them. He heard the name of a hotelkeeper mentioned as being the one interested. He interviewed the hotelkeeper on the subject, and was positively informed that he kuew nothing of the matter. So it Beems there was a mistake on this point, and it still remains an open question who was the victim, and what his calling is.—Press.