100 years ago in Spokane: The supposed son of an English earl conned a Canadian constable with a tale of woe

Marcus Brind, 17, the son of an English earl, made a fool of a Canadian constable in Spokane – at least for a while.

Constable S.E. McCone of Nelson, British Columbia, was coming down on the boat on Kootenai Lake when he was advised that someone had burglarized some of the berths. Brind was the suspect. The constable tracked down Brind and arrested him in Spokane. Brind then tugged at McCone’s heartstrings by telling the constable a “tearful tale” of misfortune. He had grown up in luxury but had since hit hard times.

“The papers the boy carried showed his father held a high commission in the English army, and I didn’t like to put him in jail, especially because he cried and seemed like a homesick little chappie,” McCone said.

So he allowed Brind to spend the night in his room at the Davenport Hotel.

But when McCone woke up, Brind was gone, along with McCone’s guns, shoes and $200 in cash.

The constable raced to the police station and enlisted the help of several officers in tracking the fugitive.

They guessed, correctly, Brind would head to the train station. McCone told officer to watch for a youth “dressed in the best of fashion and carrying a swagger stick.”

At the station, they spotted Brind and overpowered him at the foot of the depot stairs.

“You bloody Yanks are too bally rough,” he complained, as police held him down.

Brind was wearing McCone’s shoes, and had his revolvers in his pockets. He had already spent half of the $200 he stole from McCone on a railroad ticket to San Francisco.

Brind spent the night in jail and was returned to authorities in Nelson.