SWINDLING A SERVANT.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 8133, 5 October 1904, Page 2

SWINDLING A SERVANT.

STRANGE ''PORT ARTHUR" SYNDICATE. At Clerkenwell Sessions on August 6 Arthur de Reya, aged twenty-seven^ described as a clerk, was indicted for having obtained various sums of money, amounting to £124, from Miss Rosalie Cooper t a domestic servant. Miss Cooper, the prosecutrix, said she met the accused in Redcliffe Gardens, Kensington. They " walked out," and from time to time, upon various statements, he obtained £124 from her, representing all her savings and money she 'borrowed' from her friends. He introduced a Beaiaring-. looking man. as a " Captain Bates," head of a secret expedition to Morocco. The prii soner told her that he was in the Tourmaline expedition to Morocco in 1897j and his i photograph, showing him chained and in captivity, appeared in a book concerning it. Witness recognised the fftllowing document as one the prisoner showed to her, and it w»s read out amid loud laughter: — " Port Arthur Syndicate. .Health. Sport. Money for Sportsmen. Wanted, one or two gentlemen who will find a little money. Extract from the ' Daily Mail ' : ' Touring for Trouble. Sporting Cruise Tempered by Bombardment. To charter a ship, engage an old blockade runner as skipper, and then to sail with the deliberate intention of looking for adventures with the remote- possibility of perishing in the attempt is distinctly, a promising way of searching for new sensations. When the antecedents of Mr F G , who is responsible for the idtea, ace considered,^ the matter looks even more exciting. He took part jn organising the famous Tourmaline gun-running expedition to Morocco. 1 ' The captain I have en--gaged,' said Mr G- yesterday, 'ran the blockade fourteen times during the American Civil War, and his career throughout haa been most thrilling. We are bound to get into some kind of trouble between us, though sport is our present objective. The boat is a barque of some 1300 tons, specially fitted out for comfort, and carrying a French cook ; we shall take fifteen sporting passen-gers-at 150 guineas each. Once out of the baiy we may call at points on the Algerian and Moroccan coasts for a trip into t«he interior for lion shooting. If the passengers wish it there will be a trip up the Nile after crocodile, and finally 'big game shooting in Ceylon and jungle sport in India. I should not be at all surprised) if we do not Wvind up at Port Arthur, with a front seat •;ait all the bombardments. I—Apply1 — Apply to Mr G or Mr A. de Reya." A public-house porter who acted as messenger between .the prisoner and Miss Cooper said he wanted him to become his servant. It was a good situation — if he had ever .got the job. (Laughter.) Witness denied the prisoner's suggestion that he> was on the black list or had been a witness in a divorce case. Witness had knocked about a bit and been "across the water." Mr M'Connell: What water?— Across the Thames. The Prisoner: Ever been to sea? .—-No, only to Chel-sea or Batt«r-sea. (Lamghter.) The prisoner in this evidence admitted having written to Miss. Cooper as " Dearest " and " Darling," and sent her "kisses." He saw no harm in it A although he was a married man. The jury convicted the prisoner. He had been convicted in 1895 of stealing jewellery, and had then obtained money by telling •most extraordinary tales. Detective-Ser-geant Fitzgerald said that for many months the prisoner had done no work. The pro-, secutrir would not. pay off what -she owed, under three years. The prisoner ; had followed 1 up the sea for some years. He was sentenced to twelve months' hard labour.. The Judge said it was a case of the grossest cruelty for his own selfish ends, and he had traded on her credulity and affection.