A man not in custody then asked a sharp to lend him some money, saying he would get him good security; upon which the latter offered to lend him the sum of 50l. at five per cent. interest. On the stranger being represented to this person as a friend, he offered to lend him as large a sum of money as he could produce himself, to show that he was a respectable and substantial person. The sharp then told the baker to go home and get 100l. and he would lend him that sum. He did so, one of the sharps accompanying him nearly all the way to his house. The dupe returned with a 10l. note. They told him it was not enough, and wished him to leave it in their hands and to bring 100l. He went out leaving the 10l. on the table as security for his coming back with more money.
He returned with 100l. in bank notes and gold and counted it out on the table. The sharp pretended then to be willing to lend 100l. at five per cent., but added that he must have a stamped receipt. The dupe left his money on the table covered with his handkerchief, and went out to get a stamp, and on his return found the sharps and his money had disappeared.
A few days after, the victim happening to be in London, saw one of them in the street, and gave him into custody.
A few weeks ago three skittle-sharps, well-dressed men, were brought before the Southwark police court, charged with robbing a country waiter of 40l. in Bank of England notes. It appeared from the evidence, that the prosecutor met a man in High Street, Southwark, on an afternoon, who offered to show him the way to the Borough Road. They entered a public-house on the way, when the other prisoners came in. One of them pulled out a number of notes, and said he had just come into possession of a fortune. It was suggested, in the course of conversation, they should go to another house to throw a weight, and the prosecutor was to go and see they had fair play.
They accordingly went to another house, but instead of throwing the weight, skittles were introduced, and they played several games. The prosecutor lost a sovereign, which was all the money he had with him. One of the sharps bet 20l. that the waiter could not produce 60l. within three hours. He accepted the bet and went with two of them to Blackheath, and returned to the public house with the money, amounting to 40l. in bank notes and 20l. in gold. They went to the skittle-ground, when one of them snatched the notes out of his hand, and they all decamped.
They were apprehended that night by Mr. Jones, detective at Tower Street station.
The statistics of this class of crime will be given when we come to treat of swindlers.
Swindlers.
Swindling is carried on very extensively in the metropolis in different classes of society, from the young man who strolls into a coffeehouse in Shoreditch or Bishopsgate, and decamps without paying his night’s lodging, to the fashionable rogue who attends the brilliant assemblies in the West-end. It occurs in private life and in the commercial world in different departments of business. Large quantities of goods are sent from the provinces to parties in London, who give orders and are entirely unknown to those who send them, and fictitious references are given, or references to confederates in town connected with them.
We select a few illustrations of various modes of swindling which prevail over the metropolis.