The evening world. Newspaper, September 6, 1922, Page 16

16 THE EVENING WORLD, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1922. ‘Easy Mark’ Who Became Con Men's - MostDreaded Foe! Fleeced by Five, J. F. Norfleet, Texas Ed af Farmer, Goes on Trail, Captures Three, | Tf As Mere Incident in Search Rounds Up Thirty-Five Others,and Will Not Quit Quest Until He ‘‘Gets’’ His Missing Two ) The avenging hand of Norfleet reached four of the five “con men”—the four shown at the right. No. 1, Joseph Furey, died in the penitentiary. No. 2, Reno Hamlin, jumped his bond and escaped trial. iH No. 3, W. B. Spencer, escaped by a ruse. No. 4, C. qi Gerber, is in prison. | offered me one, but I refused, im- —Chartes Gerber and E. *, Ward— too, Then it began to dawn on me Spencer got away," said Norfleet, 78- + rf ot ‘ id forming him I was a member of his Who posed as officers of the cotton what a boob I had been. ng the incident. “I haven't lala | To save himself, Spencer cried, “Stop thief!” and the fraternity and glad to be of service ©XChange, came to my hotel and de- — “I went home and told ‘Ma' Nor- eyes on him since, but I'll get him : = manded the money back because, they fleet what had happened to me. I yet—and Hamlin, too." | crowd set upon Norfleet. Spencer got away, but Norfleet to a brother. said, I was not a duly elected member told her, too, that I was going ty ‘The pursuit of Furey lasted nearly, . . “But yours was an extraordinary of the exchange. I for refusing, turn detective and find the fellows a year ‘Cuba, ” 1 chang. w r refusin and a year and took Norfleet to Cuba, ‘ swears he “will get him yet.’ service,’ he insisted. ‘If you won't but Furey, when I asked his advice, who skinned me, if it took the bal- Mexico, England, France and Ger- take money thir way let me put you ‘!d me to use diplomacy, so I pro- ance of my life. And she was 900d many and into elghteen States of thw aa Genel nt pre ceeded to hand out my best line of sport enough to pat me on the back United States. | ia Peay ah te earns ; © chatter in an attempt 10 hang onto Gnd tell me to go ahead.” ‘ig. suaried ab me ile © sand | Pitahied ty soteaion;’? he declares: then suggestd that I play his tips the money und yet avoid any sem- And “Ma Norfleet has been run- jon the day they took him to the By J. B. Day. fen nist ac Fi fs on the cotton market and I sat down blance of trouble ning the Texas farm ever since and penitentiary,” Norfleet declared. “but Copyright, 1922 (New York Hvening World) 9, me eet inramers Out ve with him while he decipherea several ‘Ward and Gerber seemed to suc- Struggling with the interest and I laughed at him, I figured I had it ‘by Press Pubitshing Company. cee abe ltea! waa done me and Si Eth teres, Hieber nine the cum to my argument. | But they tn- ments on | that 3 qkawe; coming: that I could afford to laagh. ; ed the lea conld do was depo e c Nortle apse: rite of a e money FRANK NORFLEET, [Y (amily. I Me oe prety aued Wick meanwhile, had excused himself and $54,000 te prove me bide. 1 dated at there and everywhore—fnangea 1%,¢pit@ of all the money he caused Texan, small of sta- °° f*%: 204 T don’t want to force my dropped, temporarily, out of the pie- the offer, I had to go home to get the by the State of Texas—in quest of ™e tO lose, and all the s luck by boasting of my accomplish- t ” my wife and famlly ture, blue eyed and DHE ture money and they d 1 that 1 the men who “skinned”? him : 2 mild mannered, has ™¢Mt# a8 a detective.” “YT found: out Inter that. “Stetson” eave the $64,000 In thelr hands w He went first to the Dallas Police _,% the pursuit, Norfleet used alr- 'g Norfleet's life was the ordinary, was, in reali oe Furey, one of the [ made the trip. When I was about Department They showed tim pee font Ot boats, automobiles. three notches in the most notorious confidence men in the to depart Spencer put in an appear- roxues' gallery photos galore, He JH@ trapped Furey twice only to see more or less humdrum existence of y him sll ft y butt of his six-gun. country, and that neer was one ance sald he wanted to go to picked out the men who had fleeced 2M Slip out of his clutches, once b i But that doesn't *Mousande of fathers in Texas and all of his chief Heutenants, as was Ham- place to get samples of the soil for jim and then set out on his hunt, l2Ping, hand-cuffed, from a window thi th has killed th men, °Ver the United States until one day lin, the pseudo mule buyer, testing, and I took him along. than a me Jater he located Of % Speeding train and again by hack ang a ante re see. tn 1919, when he left his farm at Hale “Well, I went with Stetson to the facts were he had been ‘detailed ‘and Ward in San Bernardino, bribing two Deputy Sheriffs who had It simply signifies three confidence Qn. mis abd want tp Daliense cotton board of trade, 1 also found by Furey to stick with me and see (a1, Gerber went to the penitentiary him in custody, men—bunco steerers—landed behind ~°"'T° 2 alias for out later that it wasn't a board of that I brought back that trade at all, but an office the gar “When [ got bi had fixed up in that guise to put over they gave me the O00 and Edivided tpen,+ Norfleet. ‘I fought a battle with six thelr Stuff. On Ste WO et ee ecru he Lad put up . Furey spent close to $17,000 trying of his confederates on the way, when $800 that day. Chote etch ine money towin it, t© Keep out of Norflect's way, but they tried to liberate him, and By “The following day I met Spencer vu waa riding high and lofty idling Norfleet got him and he was sentenced grace of God 1 came out on top.” Busines mes Thom pean (nee wired. bod, hard fall. My cupidity had t@ serve twenty years in the Texas Two weeks ago Norfleet arrived in /_ he couldn't cone te D: is . ane that been aroused, and when Furey sug- P° nitentiary. He died tt pos sy ronmule of his quest for years ago. To date he has bagged 1" Dallas a suave stranger, nosing “Phoney” money seized by the Denver authorities in the he, Rea hy eal costed that I 5,000 more to add “hd authorities at Los Angel chee Panalin: Spencer. He had been in three of the particular gang he set ® % mulo buyer, struck up an ac- deanuo raid sori aL ma had and with it Be also Was wanted for swindling, the Colo cular 1 . there w out to break up and has been instru- @Waintance with him. He introducea SPCCt™ Pp Jail bare, and thereby, as writing folke ‘"@ (ual purpose of selling a carload Sadi aay Piha’ a tal of mules and dickering for the pur- Norfleet has mission in life, rt “hase of Another farm, 1s the rounding up of a band of five “I wanted to get rid.of my farm," <*con" men who fleeced him to the 5@ explained, ‘and I had my eye on tune of $45,000 in Dallas, Tex,, three ®"other place, nearer Dalla 0,000 for ten years and Ward committed “When I got him the last time 1 suicide while awalting transfer to the took him back to Texas, myself,” sald k with the $20,000 to tter of fact, to what I do metropolis less than two n't any Thompson. He was 2.0 ip enomh to last me halt a Went to the trouble of having his body days when a prosperous looking manufactured a plausible means jon jife times’ I took bait and all, €Xhumed to make sure jt was that of stranger scraped an acquaintance mental in the jailing of several dozen h!meelf as Reno Hamlin, and said he of steering me to the ere eee annie ua my fatin kot tine the Putey and not another body palmed with him. Norfleet “pegged” him as others of their ilk. had come down from Minneapolis to that other place, which would be Wallet and he had looked over its con- Purey, or Stetson Me 20d Honey, but Murey’s ‘coup’ wont OM as that of the notorious ‘‘con’’ of the genus ‘con and played the get mules for the Duluth s ‘i ior good tents he became suddenly confiden- getting me into Pure sforthe \ooy { he ‘lost’ the entire ka- man fame until his suspicions had been Tae BB OSER: Saye AF ONE, peas: Bhar ot tay witeiane Nepales 2.6 tial. He explained that was in clean-up. boaile. He eto my room, erying Norfleet got Hamlin, also, but he confirmed. He then communicated Denver, Col. tourirt centre of thé : hi Dee learned that Norfleet was schools for my son and daughter. Mallda tovpligth gr cha netound They. started aie swith the, ¢s00 Henin ne are Fe Oe aE waa: ve) 1 on $20,000 bond, pend- with the District Attorney, Philip £ ‘ also Intent } e . re 08 ‘oO me. SHES SO Mit A SENOS Dates ‘ ney took m 3 bie wee Pa “ 2 ped 1e on The a Mise a i + Rockies rasistea .¢ authorities ta fannaalts on selling his farm, he in- The world sure looked rosy to n peters ia weaiiat tained among Winning and then they took me fast. suicide, pleading with me té shoot him Ins tr nd jumped the bon a mhe vance and that official almos' corralling thirty-five of the most no- Med the unsuspecting farmer that ; didn't know whar these fellows : ; E TA, When next E saw Furey isked me and acting, generally, like a heart. Self-cofstituted detective railed hugged him, for he had been Iaboring torious sure-thing men in the country @ had a friend coming from :finne- were cooking up for me ee a his code alphabet bY to take ne money and lay his tarsi: Groeten aaa tha seat pinde of acting, SDs neu to Montreal eG See ou DEREe yee to yunday eepedes | 3 . _ which he ams from pecause he wante o keep under 7 oyer witnessed, I'll confe captured him in a crowd while he © leve diers who had been =the biggest singlo clean-up of con- ee ine ay days—one W. B. Two daya later I went to a ble arters of bis company in cover. He said I could play my own : ‘A few days later he disappeared, Watching a human spider climb tho preying on summer visitors to Denver fidence men in the history of the na- Re pes wan a representative of hotel with Spencer to see if Thomp- instructing iim how to wong with his, if I wanted to. And, When I, ike a murderer returning to face of a building, but he set up the and nearby tourist resorts. He war he Green Land & Irrigation Company min the | aa " », I wanted to, Who wouldn't ; ese he “stop, thief cry that has availed so in need of a man of Norfleet’ tion with one exception. The excep- PANY gon had arrived, I sat down in the ‘ of course, I wanted te 1 cone of his crime, went to the P cat's accom. and who was tn quest of good Ti Bley nena “L won $68,000 and they paid it 10 cotton exchange, I found it deserted, many resourceful crooks in emer- plishments he breaking up, a score of of good Texas jon4) » Spencer went to the desk. $ on exchange, n t aaa e tha tatarscee Maysray “hit 108: aber walle: Gpenger voatrived to “WHER We Were leaving he gave me in cold cash—I counted It, Mut T went to look for Spencer to confide and it worked. Norfleet ied on the **bunco steerer.** years ago, of the Infamous Maybray '” When he came back he contr Hpsneer af4i00 Bilan w:reward end, thatmight two oF Bures's contedecater ms crouuiew 1 him Gad Te wes Rone, crowd set upon me and who introduced him to others. He gang of swindlers, which operated out T'll {introduce you," he sald, and pags behind my chair, and when I located the headquarters or “tip-off of Omaha and Council Bluffs, Ia., and ‘U8, although Norfleet did not s started to get up, after he told me was reputed to have realised approxi- Péct !t at the time, was the ground- , joint’* of the gang and was taken sev- : Thompson had not arrived, I felt mately $10,000,000 in five years work lald for a Succession of events eral times to a fake stock exchange something behind me in the char. in a downtown building, where the VA NVA WN ONG RN ERIN ONION ONO OS BONO TN ONIN TON DONG NERO ON LON DONT ON DONG NOON SS swindlers took their, victims for th through various swindling games, Which left Norfeet $45,000 poorer and avr nea tack and found a nice, a NTN EER NNN te ns = > — Customary ‘elaning’ whee te Norfleet's quest for the men who Changed the entire trend of his life isu fat wallet, There was a lot of money “punked” him has taken him almost Spencer showed uj, and was intro fo the ends of the earth and has been duced, but he said he had anot Proactive of situations the ordinary deal on and could not consider Nor- «3 5 gtetaon,’ 1 found Stetson man would hesitate to face. But Nor- fleet's 2,050-acre place until the orig- a, a at the, hotel and fleet's 1s no ordinary mission and {nal deal either was consummated or Trae rvea}are we » to his room Norfieet can scarcely be classed es fell through Spencer and I went ca peal nee “ordinary.” ‘The great commonwealth “I milled around Delas with Ham 0 nn af Fates mal auanacsdl ty of Texas has taken cognizance of his lin and Spencer for several dave,’ the mischief w nes work with an appropriation of $11,- sald Norfleet, “They ty ie 000 to defray hls travelling and other ally and had ae pis ie had: lost anything he slammed the expenses; has armed him with a com- regular fellows : door in my face, mumbling something mission as @ deputy sheriff, and each “Spencer came to me, finally, and Governor who has succeeded to the sald he was ir-> to executive chair since he started on iand, because his man hunt has provided him with fallen through. requisition papers for the men he 1s hin employer, Garrett Thomeaon, gr ™* on the run hunting. Minneapolis, and had been tr 4 "1 41d lone « wallet,’ he exclaimed He does not pose as a Bherlock to look over my ; n@ get ; il ‘but I didn’t know it until after you Holmes or « Craig Kennedy; nor does gamples for analys 4 3 ij time was ripe he spoke the word and the round-up started. In it, and some papers, Including the It netted thirty-five prisoners and card of a fraternal order made out to nore glory for Norfleet, but-— I'm not through the diminutive Texan, “I'm not going home for {unl I get Hamlin end Spencer. They're around somewhere. i er Vl catch up with them The Denver + ye exclaimed nev or la : knock and when I asked him if he was one of nd extraor dinary in crime annals, Instead of being taken divect to jail as they % prisoners were Jinto the basement of the First Universalist Chureh, in the heart of the city's most fashionable reatdence ct, where they were held until the iast man sought had been picked up. "If we had taken the t pick-up to jail, word of our activities would the most spectacular TD TILTON WA about damned, ngsey newspaper men natal “T started back down the hall, with consider my the other deal haq Spencer trailing, but had not reached He sald te had x, -q thé elevator when Stetson came after arrested, the ZS BS, ZS But while he came to the door, I'm sorry I acted certainly ave pdt out, from one he, like that hero of romance, Ed- was ge’ ig ~ady to leave for j the way. 1 did nub-tita: hereon! im goin at eather ie ic ar Plans mond Dantes, the Count of Monte Centre he received a wire, ostens: bly portant business and the newspapers AG tarnan sae _S e- Cristo, stand up before his audience from Thompson, saying thai 1> have been pestering the life out of | She, | I of {ake money, and rolls of to index, one by one, on raised fingers gon had ‘een called to El I en me. 1 might have known to look at ies A # 4 ia n goods” padded out with real the enemies he has brought to justine, business and would come to ¢ N ip i ‘ ( \ (2K ‘ilu you that you were not a newspape man, but I didn’t stop to think’ Hie picture has never appeared in @ to personally inapect my place ewspaper or magazine— "Low and {t won't until I've acoom- continued ney were seized in the raid on the k exchange, while the per- sonal ge of the men taken Inte He took Spencer and me back to 5 irty: five confi i *s ai er police and held in church basement. custody contained numerous eyvie “I had visions of getting hie room umé efter {had returned the 20me Of the thirty-five confidence men rounded up, with Norfleet’s aid, by Denver p asnces ot eieailinaai ite gener . 0) - ‘ RIF INI ALANIS fake s a happy boob, Nx