New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1842-05-16

CRIME ASD SUICIpE.-It j. seldom W nre
called upon to record such melancholy case ct
crime and IL wretched consequences a. one which
has recently transpred in the ncirhboring COUNTY
Of Windham. We have refrained fum any public
notice Of the matter until now. because ~ were
desirou. Of ar.t ascertaining accurately tie facts
INSTEAD Of giving currency 10 iyiar MINOR. winch
might OF might not be true.
Ga Saturday nigh, the 3l.i ult an old gentle
man named Elias Mason. long resident Of the
town Of Wo5dsock. and one Of il. most respected
and Influential citizens. suddenly deceased under
circumstances which left DO doubt ON the mind of
bis attending ply sicans that be- had taken poison
But wishing TO spare the feeling 81 Mr. Ma-"s
family and friends. the yhysicau- reifalned from
communicating their convictions 10 the cause oi
Mr.. Ms sudden death. |, WI, supposed by the
family and others to have been = case of ap0pleNy'
and ii reported abroad. On tuesday h'
was buried and in the funeral discourse, Mr. VI
character was hed up model of excellence
worthy Of imitation by al. y, o man and Christ
ian he had. through long and busy lite, maintain
ed an unsullied reputation tor integrity and Truth.
and hi, death was mourned a, pubic los. lis
business had been OF kind tina; rendered It neces-
,arv 10 have good deal To do with The banks; ana
II was common remark of the directors OF the
Thompson Bank that no man who did business
there had a. many and ~ good cndoI,er- As Mr..
Mason.
But hardly lad the multitude which followed
his remain, to the grave dispersed. before one
who had Joined in the procc->ion-a Mr.. Carirn-
tcr-reccivcd a cttcr from an officer OF the lhomp-
son Bank informing him that note of which be-
wa. an cndorsor and Mr.. Mason the drawer. Wa,
protested for non payment. This wa-ihc second IT.
stance in which. within few weeks. he had re-
ccivcd such a notice. he hrst one awakened
his suspicious That Mr.. NJ had been committing
forgery-for he could not remember ever having
endorsed such a note for Mr.. VI. Yet thinking II
pos ,iblc he might be mistaken, he resolved 10 ny
naihing about the matter; but when the second
notice of protest came, there was no longer room
to doubt He rode to the Bank Immediately and
satisfied himself by actual inspection, that M
name had been forged To the protested paper
This discovery led the Bank Officer. TO general
examination of the notes Of the deceased and,
the result. it was found that he rad IN the Bank
about $4,000 OF forged paper. Subsequent exam
nations in the Brookl,u Bank show about $1,000
more of the same kind OF paper-Iu >outhbrldse
BaEk $4,000, Chpaichot Bank about 300, How
many other Banks have been dclrlnied IL the
same way j. not Vet known.
Ii is not the Banks. however, that haze suffered
mainly or most severely. Mr.. VI was owing not
less than 500 900 in Wood stock-mosily borrowed
money-and large proportion of it borrowed
from people of small means, from widows and
guardians and persons of that description. whose
confidence in the integrity of Mr.. " Joined to the
general belief Of his wealth, led them to regard
money placed IN his hands as secure a. If 1t were
deposited in the Saving, Bank. 1t j. now doubt
fu whether his estate will pay ten cents on the
dollar Of the claims against H.
For What l,uGfI at NJ Mr.. NJ mad carried
these forseries cannot be accurately known, but
there is reason for believing that il was commenced
in 1874 year of unusual embarrassment in bu-
siness-and it /, now said, though We are not III
formed upon what grounds, that he has carried
poison about him for years. evidently resolved II
he should ever be detected. to die the death of a
suicide, rather than survive the revelation OF his
guilt.
1t is with reluctance that We give publicity to
these facts through our columns but a they are
already circulated widely and with exageeratons
and additions in many instances. which do not
belong 10 them, we have not felt AT liberty to re-
main silent. Norwich Comm Cour., May II.