A. swindle involving a sum several million dollars has be tartlied by Une detective police of Harbin just at the moment when Tt was coming to maturity.
there were huge quantities of beans} A cert "f Russi "i seeing that for sale and a-great depression on man, but for the fact that he had to borrow money to help him to finance the deal and his financial] required to purchase 140,000 tons of beans, stating that an "attache" of the British military authorities had been sent to Harbin for the purpose of making the purchase, but chat the whole matter must be kept secret. He said that the British Government required the beans for making gas, the process bel secret one, and there who were entirely deceived by hi Suave manner and clever talk, To work out the scheme it' was. necessary to get a British "attach and this the swindler succeeded in
young Englishman staying in one] signing a contract with 2 of the Harbin hotels, but this contract was simply to'carry out, the sale of beans abroad, the Engl.she man to register himself as a firms called "China Transport" while the Russian was to open offices in Tuo chia tien in the name of Da Fu De Shan Han. The Englishman's signature having been certified the Russian had a document with official seals and stamps with which to inveigle other persons into the net. He took care not to introduce the Engishman to any of his friends stating that the "attache" wished to b+ unknown in the whole of the trans-
He found a Russian with a capital who. willingly gave money on the supposition that he would make enormous profits and thus the Foochiatien office was opened and operations commence The Russian borrowed money to pay dues and taxes his office, and also engaged whose salaries $001 Funning. "He showed various, the counterfeits of a cheque lat the National City Bank of New York, from which he apparently drawn large sums of money.
The swindler made all his ur-rangements carefully and slowly arranging for the purchase of a large quantity of jute bags which would be sent to the Chinese dealers on the they woul He proposed should hand him over the railway receipts for the cars of beans and. sh]as soon as the goods were delivered to Dairen the Lo money would received from the British Consulai To carry this out merchant, who was not 0 easily gulled.
He made enquiries at the bark and found that the Da Fu De Com. pany had not even 100 dollars ut, their credit, and he also discovered
simply a young teacher of Eng! that, the so-alled "attache" was who had been gulled by promises of great profits. The matte: was reported to the police who promptly arrested the would—be swindisr, He declares that if his partacrs had not doubted he would have gut Jaway with a large sum of mone, ind they would have had their share of the money. All the pagers in the town are fall of the story. and it is the subject of talk every
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.