slightly bald head and heavy, mahogany-colored face, decidedly Dutch in its expression. In his early life he met with an accident that deprived him to a great extent of the use of one of his legs, which he used to drag after him with the foot splayed out in a very ungraceful manner. He gave entertainments in the ball-room of his opera house about every two weeks, which were attended by all who wished to curry favor with him. Here Schwab used to come out in full force. "How elegantly he dances!" "What a splendid figure!" "What grace!" were the audible comments of the ladies when this lusus nature would complete a series of elephantine gambols around the room. One of the many disgraceful acts which marked this period of his life was his seduction of a lady, the wife of a respectable citizen, an ex-county officer in Hamilton. She, blinded by his (Schwab's) wealth, overstepped the bounds of prudence and took the fatal step that rendered her forever an outcast among the virtuous of her sex. Their intimacy became the common scandal of the town; and when it finally reached the ears of her unsuspecting husband he was plunged into such grief and shame that he took to drinking deeply, and died shortly afterwards. The unfor tunate object of this Dutch brute's lust, with her three children, now occupies a wretched garret in one of the back streets of Cincinnati, and ekes out a miserable existence by her needle. Another most atrocious act of Schwab's was his procuring an abortion upon a woman of unsound mind, with whom he had been criminally intimate. In this murder he was assisted by Dr. Potter, of Hamilton. The case was brought before the attention of the authorities of Hamilton County, where the crime was committed, by two attorneys, who made the following statement, which we know to be true. Schwab made arrangements with a woman who kept a boarding house on Third street, in Cincinnati, to rent a couple of rooms. He then had his unfortunate victim conveyed there, and sent Dr. Potter to complete the work; which he did, the child only living a few minutes after its birth. The woman who was in charge of the house, stated under oath, that the child was alive when born, but bore such marks of violence that it was impossible for it to live. However, Schwab's money and influence arrested any further proceedings. CHAPTER XV SCHWAB, A BANKRUPT-TAX ON WHISKY, REDUCED-DEATH W E have described how Schwab was able at pleas ure to acquire enormous sums of money, and it may be a matter of surprise for the reader to learn, without some explanation, that he is a bankrupt at the present time. In 1868 the tax on whisky was reduced from two dollars to fifty cents per gallon, and most of the officials changed. This was the death-blow to Peter Schwab and the whisky ring, and afforded a means of retaliation to those who had been imposed upon by the former during the time he held such despotic sway. As he had blackmailed others, it now came his turn to be blackmailed. Many of the detectives and Government officers who had been employed by him in times past to do his dirty work, now turned round and threatened him-accusing him of not having fairly divided the spoil. Many suits, both civil and criminal, were brought 4 against him. He was now fairly brought to bay; not having the distillers to fall back upon to settle his claims. With the penitentiary staring him in the face, he was compelled quietly to allow himself to be bled of large amounts of his ill-gotten wealth. im During the time that Schwab was preying upon the Government and the Distillers, there were classes of men, measurably superior to him in point of brains and intelli gence, who derived no inconsiderable amount of gain from his ignorance. For example: railway men sold him one hundred and fifty thousand dollars worth of worthless railway stock. The grain gamblers of Chicago fleeced him of over one hundred thousand dollars. Then his lawyers, of whom he had not less than twenty, well knowing the unlawful means by which he had obtained his wealth, would charge him from five to ten thousand dollars every time their services were required by him. So long as he had the two-dollar whisky tax and the distillers to draw upon he did not remonstrate against this extortion; but when he was deprived of these means of revenue, he began to cry out and beg piteously for mercy. But he had fallen into the toils of the hunters, and there were no means of escape. Another drain upon Schwab's purse was occasioned by his passion for gambling, which occasioned him to lose large sums of money, being generally unsuccessful. He has been known to lose twenty thousand dollars within one week at the faro table. Schwab finding himself hard pressed for money, went to the Treasurer of Butler County and borrowed a large sum from him. This, according to the law of Ohio, was a penitentiary offense. Schwab was indicted. He employed nearly every lawyer in Hamilton. These gentlemen for their fees took mortgages on property that had been put in his wife's name for the purpose of withholding it from his honest creditors. Another time he was indicted for stuffing the ballot box. Here he required the services of more lawyers. Again he was arrested and held for trial for procuring a man to commit perjury. Several other criminal charges have been brought against him for violations of the revenue law. Most of the above charges are still pending against him. In proportion, as Schwab's money melted away, so to a corresponding extent did he fall in the social scale. His rich friends, who in the days of his prosperity would have run to obey his slightest wish with servile obsequiousness, now began to wax cold in their attachment to him. When he met any of them on the street they suddenly became so short-sighted or pre-occupied that they passed him without returning his salutation. People who would a short time before have gone down on their knees to have the honor of his company at their houses, now sent down the chilling message "Not at home," when he called. Schwab seeing with sorrow that he had lost his footing in this |