Confidence Man

When the life of a police reporter in St. Louis grew too irksome for William Carroll Woodward he engaged in more interesting pursuits. Before he was 37 years old he had been arrested 37 times, but had been in prison only twice. Gaining skill, he went to London, opened a gaudy gaming place in Kensington, and as "The Honorable Lionel Musgrave, United States Senator," collected $800,000 from British sportsmen before he found it wise to depart. In Ceylon his fame spread when he swindled an Indian jewel merchant out of a basket of gems worth $250,000. In 1913, before Philadelphia police closed "The National Old Age Pension Bureau," he had made $50,000 more. As old age came upon Mr. Woodward he looked back upon a varied and profitable career, estimated that he had made $4,000,000 in operations on four continents, sat down to write his memoirs. Proudly he has called himself "the dean of U. S. confidence men."

In 1929 Detective Fiction (weekly) published "The Confessions of a Master

Crook" by James R. Crowell, "pulp" fictionist, in which were recounted the exploits of Mr. Woodward, the sometime Senator Musgrave, also known as "Big Bill Hawley" and "The Old Boy Himself." Last week the Old Boy, 71, sued Mr. Crowell. He asked the New Jersey Supreme Court to award him $15,000. He claimed he had made an agreement whereby he was to receive one-third of the price paid for his memoirs; Mr. Crowell was to get two-thirds for rewriting them and arranging their publication. Said he: "I asked for an accounting, and I did not get even a pleasant smile." Mr. Crowell denied all the charges, insisted Mr. Woodward had agreed to ask for no compensation.

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