Part 36 (1/2)
exclaimed the broker, ”my creditors do not expect even fifteen cents on the dollar, and were I to give them fifty, what benefit would I derive from my failure?” And he paid ten cents only on the dollar.
'Near that honest broker--who has become wealthy in consequence of that transaction, and at the same time a man of importance, being now a director of a trust company, and other concerns--see that young man, wearing side-whiskers, after the English fas.h.i.+on. His light hair and blue eyes denote his German origin. He is an exchange broker, and made two hundred thousand dollars last year in this quick way: Pretending to have realized large profits in stock gambling, he succeeded in inspiring such confidence in the president of one of our most respectable banks, where he kept his account, that his checks were indiscriminately certified by that officer. One check for two hundred thousand dollars was in that way certified, and the money had just been paid out to a compeer, when the directors of the bank discovered that the adventurer had but a small deposit in their hands. He failed the next day, and the president, who had rashly caused a heavy loss to the bank, blew out his own brains.
'The guest who is making his bow to the lady of the house, was formerly secretary of one of our railroad companies. The stock had gone up one hundred per cent. above par, on the strength of the manager's report, exhibiting the prosperous condition of the company's affairs, when an over-issue of stock, to the amount of two millions of dollars, was detected. To satisfy the public clamor, the secretary and another officer of the company were discharged. But all inquiry respecting this stupendous fraud was indefinitely postponed. The discharged employes of the company now live in high style, and give parties, which their former employers, the directors of the railroad concern, do not fail to attend.
Next to him, that dandy, who is talking with a gentleman whose beard, though he is a judge of the Supreme Court, might grace the chin of a musketeer, is a wealthy banker's son. He is fresh from the State's prison; and, strange indeed, the magistrate he is speaking to, is the very one who sentenced him--perhaps, because of the pressure of public opinion, which must, after all, be taken into consideration. Our dandy, when his father retired, became sole manager of a banking house, and attempted to double, in a few weeks, the wealth his father had toiled thirty years to acc.u.mulate.
Discarding legitimate speculation, he gambled at the Stock Exchange, which soon swallowed up the money and other deposits confided to his keeping. Then he became almost crazy. To keep up his credit with our banks and procure resources--and led astray by the hope of realizing profits large enough to make up his losses--he became a forger. He imitated the signatures of his correspondents, his own friends, in fact, of everybody in town; and, one morning, the people were startled in reading in the newspapers that forged notes, amounting to several millions of dollars, were flooding the street. The young man was sentenced to prison for a term of five years--one for each forged million! as remarked the wag who is now talking with him.'
'How is it he is out of prison?'
'That is precisely a point of American law which deserves a pa.s.sing notice. Most of the State governors are vested with the pardoning power. When the exercise of such a prerogative devolves upon State legislatures, corrupting influences are less to be apprehended. A single individual may be coaxed to pardon by his political friends, or even bribed. But money, and political connections, are of little avail when one has to deal with one hundred legislators. In New York State, the legislature has no control over the pardoning power, which is vested exclusively in the governor. The family and friends of that youth represented his crime, stupendous as it was, as the first he had ever committed. Its enormity was represented as a proof of temporary insanity--the great argument, now-a-days, of our lawyers--and he was set free by the governor, after remaining a few months in prison. He shows himself again among the wealthy cla.s.ses, and is as kindly received by them as he would have been had he never forged notes to the amount of several millions of dollars--so deeply-rooted in the American people is the feeling of tolerance, and especially when those who are the objects of it are millionaires, or in a fair way to become so.'
At this moment, we noticed some excitement among a few young ladies standing near a songstress who had just been rapturously applauded. A gentleman of commanding appearance, but deadly pale, was speaking to her, in a tone loud enough to be heard by those standing by. 'You are certainly much indebted to Madame Killer,' said the gentleman, 'but I wonder how you can sing in a house where you brought to death an innocent being!' And, bowing low to Madame Killer, he disappeared among the bewildered a.s.sembly.
”'Ah!' said Asmodeus, with a sarcastic smile, 'the wronged husband tells his false wife some bitter truths.'”
[Ill.u.s.tration: Scene at the ”Wickedest Woman's”]
HOW SHE CONDUCTS HER BUSINESS.
The wickedest woman lives in a magnificent house, in a fas.h.i.+onable street. A part of her fortune was made as a female physician. She made money rapidly. The police were frequently called on to arrest her for child murder, but she always managed to escape conviction and punishment. After several years of profitable practice, she opened a home for unfortunate women. She advertised her business extensively, and soon became well known. Women who wished to conceal the results of their shame, sought her out, and found a tender and thoughtful friend during their period of trial. Such conduct, on her part, brought her a constant run of custom, and paid well.
Her present business is conducted upon the same system. Her rooms are elegant, and perfectly secluded. Her patients have every comfort, every care, bestowed upon them. The doctress is gentle and considerate in everything, and her patients soon learn to love her as a friend. She charges heavily for all this, and her fees are usually paid, in full, in advance. Sometimes the party engaging the rooms gives no name, sometimes an a.s.sumed name is given. The wickedest woman asks no questions.
Honest wives, in the comfort of their own homes, surrounded by love and respect, shrink from that hour of trial and anguish, which is at once a woman's cross and crown. How sad, then, is the trial of the erring creature in this splendid mansion. Terror, anguish, despair, remorse, and shame, struggle at her heart, and deprive her of courage, prudence, and almost of reason. At such times, few can resist the appeal of the wickedest woman, to confide in everything to her. The poor sufferer reveals her whole history, her name, and that of the father of her child. The wickedest woman, while soothing her, listens attentively, and carefully records the whole story, with all the names. If the child is born alive, it is faithfully attended to, and every precaution is taken by the doctress to have it reared in health. The mother knows nothing of its fate, and, with recovered health, goes back to her position in society, carrying with her the a.s.surance of the wickedest woman that her secret is safe.
The wickedest woman never loses sight of either patient. As those who seek her a.s.sistance are apt to be persons of means, she has a motive in doing so. It may be one or ten years after her services were rendered, but, at what she considers the proper time, she renews her acquaintance with them. She will startle them by a call, or a note, recalling to them the events they would gladly forget, and soliciting a loan for a short time. The appeal is generally made to the man, and is sustained by such strong proofs that he dares not refuse to comply with the demand. Of course he knows that the wickedest woman will never return his money, but he is forced to send whatever sum she pleases. The child, which has been carefully reared, is a living witness against him, and the wickedest woman threatens to produce it if her demands are refused. Every year the demand is renewed. Men have been driven to bankruptcy, to ruin, and to death, by these heartless extortions.
Still, the wickedest woman continues her course. She boasts that society in New York cannot do without her, and the facts seem to justify this boast.
CHAPTER LII.
BABY FARMING.
A recent number of a city journal, contained the following account of the system of bringing up and adopting out illegitimate children in New York. We present it in place of any description of our own.
FEMALE MEDICAL ESTABLISHMENTS.
[Footnote: The writer of this article is a woman.]
Having read in the English and Scottish journals of the day a great deal of curious and startling matter in reference to the practice of 'baby-farming,' as it is called, and having constantly acc.u.mulating proof submitted to our eyes and understandings of the existence of similar practices in our midst, here, in this great Christian city of New York--having also read with mingled shame and wonder, and with suspended judgment (as to the vital question whether, as the world goes and must go, they were criminally injurious or socially beneficial) concerning the numerous private establishments where wounded love and brazen immorality alike find refuge and concealment, and where the true orphans of life, those innocents who know not and who can never know, their fathers or their mothers, find a temporary home, prior to their entrance upon life and their struggle with the world--a married lady friend of mine and myself determined recently to personally inquire into these subjects and to investigate their condition and practical workings, so far as possible, and to make public our investigations for the benefit of the world at large and of all whom it may concern.
Having arrived at this determination, the next morning we glanced over the advertising columns of the papers, and having read and reread the subjoined advertis.e.m.e.nt--
'Important to females. Dr. and Mrs.----(20 years' practice) guarantee certain relief to married ladies. Patients from a distance provided with board, nursing, etc. Private advice letter free. Office,----. New York'--