Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1856-10-30


Another broker, holding Q note which be ,ns
pected to be forgery, went to the frm pu,.
porting 10 issue it, and though itvas but n
clumsy imitation Of the genuine note, the
party, without looking at il, and by merely
referring TO the bill book, declared il to be ali
right Is il any wonder that with such a
lose way of doing business frauds would be
perpstratedt The only wonder is that they
are not much more numerous.
The manner in which Huntington's opera
tions were brought to light was no less curious
tnan the operations themselves, and proved
oln, after all, TO be rather careless and clum-
sy Tor successful practitioner Among a
parcei of notes which he gave 10 Beldsn a
Co., as collateral security, in the usual man
ner' was one OF Messrs. Phelps, Dodge a Co,
tor over % 900, which note was then on its
face over due. That fact attracted attention,
and on inquiry being made il was pronounced
forgery. And even then Huntington would
not have been brought to justice, but would
have been allowed 10 90 on ad en- fnitu..,
were It not for the frmness and determination
# Mr.. Dodge and his partner, Mr.. Stokes.
They sought out officer BOwyer, and obtained
his advice aSd assistance in the matter; and
although efforts wc.s made TO shield Hunting
ton from the consequences Of his acts they
proved futile. He was arrestsd and held to
bail In so 600. The very man o. whom he
attempted to pawn the counterfeit (Mr Bel
den) become his surety. Huntington ha1
previous TO his arrest procured 81, 900 in
gold, on his own certified check, and this sum
be lodged in Bslden's hands as security, TO
induce him to become his bail But next day
other evidences OF forgeries came in, and be
was re arrested. Beiden then procured the
cancellation of his bail, and il is said retains
the S2i 900
Another curious feature in the transactions
Is, that although the total amount Of forgeres
alraaHV aH ia
can be found to acknowledge that he has been
yictmized. Ii is the opinion Of experienced
brokers that none of the forged paper was put
upon the market, lin fact il was too cIumsily
initiated for that purpose,) but it is all in the
hands Of the banks and brokers with whom
he did business. He probably, however, did
not raise more than $500, 900 on it. We un-
derstsnd that a cashier Of one of the banks
was in the habit OF making Huntington ad-
vances out OK the drawer on this forged paper,
receiving large discount for it, and was FOR
tanate to escape loss; and that on hearing o.
huntington arrest, he went 10 the President
OF the bank, gave In his resignation, told
what he had been doing, acknowledged that
lie had made large profits thereby, and said
that he thought it his duty TO let them know
how easily they might be cheated in this way.
And now Huntington is in the Tonbs HIS
trial will make work for the lawyers, and at
tracts good deal Of public attention -
prooaoly be nice legal point whether the
logging these notes collateral security is
.antanount to uttering them. The penalty
tor eaon offence may be seven years in the
S1ate prison, and if convicted on all, he is re
quire1 to live as old as Parr to serve out bis
term In tne meantime he seems TO be quite
Indifferent to his s,tuation.
When Officer BowyeT Informed him that be
came to arrest him, he coolly walked to the
mante piece, took up q match, Ii: the cigar
which he had In bis mouth, and walksl out
with the officer in apparent unconcern "a
cell at the Toombs is richly earpeted and fur
nIshed His wife g carriage drives down daily,
and her care provides him with sumptuous
fare. He has his champagne and his Hayah-
as, and don't seem TO let the degradation Of
his position weigh upon his spirits As an in.
stance Of his extravaganza, even now, il is
said that after dining a day or two ago, he
sent up to Thompson's for fruit, and paid az
high as Eve dollars for FIVE pears.
1t Will lie asked what has become Of the
proceeds OF these extensive forgeriesl We
have given an inkling Of the eXtravsgance Of
this man, which Sufficiently indicates his char
acter In that respect, and we have no doubt
that within the last two years he has been
able to squander all the money that he has
raised by the means We have described He
owned two houses in Twenty-second street,
costing probably some SIS, 900. These were
furnished regardless Of expense. In one Of
them, he resided with his family in the
other, not a.block distant, he maintained In
grand style lady Of beauty and accomplish
ments, who was not his welded wife. He
was fond of snowy equipsges and fine horses,
and outshole all his competitors in that line.
1t was usual to see his lady driving two in
hand, and himself driving u similar team,
side by side. He kept open house for all his
friends, and gave them the use of his whole
establishment lie rarely dined at homo but
II,,o - sha II
rants, with some fashionable ladies' At the
watering places his lady outshone all others
in the splendor Of her diamonds. 1t is said
that on the very day Of his arrest she had
sent to his office, from Niagara or Saratoga, q
box containing $50, 900 worth Of jewelry. Her
brother took it In charge, and the officers
have not since been able to get at it. We re-
ceived u communication the other day stating
that he had recently bought at Tiffany Cos
piece of jewelry at the price of 81 500 for
presentation TO a lady. Mr.. Tiffany, however,
says that this and other similar statements are
exaggerated.
With such lavish expenditures as those eI-
travagant tastes and habits imply, it need not
be wondered what became of the proceeds Of
the fOrgeries.
Huntington, like many other people in New
York was determined TO live like a prince
no natter who should eventually have to foot
the bill. Even now, when the crash that was
expected has come, ana when be can reason
ably look for no other fate than that Of q fell
On, he does not lose his recklessness, his in
difference lie eats his fine dinners and drinks
his costly wines in his little cell in the Tombs,
with apparently as much gustO as when he
played the part of grand seIRleRT in Twenty
second street; aud even there, the calamity
th at has befallen the household does not seem
to press heavily upon them Ihere IS the
same sound of reyelry by night as in the
times when he was hOurishing In Wall street.
But the reaction cannot fail 10 come after the
giddy excitement Of sucS lifa. II IL sad "
contemplate the end of such brief career Of
dissipation. The wealth which his wife sup
posed perhaps to be inexhaustible, will not
save him from the degradation of a convict's
life. A young man Of good address and plea
sing manners, he might have lived life Of
usefulness, and honestly became wealthy,
as he desired; but he could not resist the
temptation Of getting rich in a hurry, and tho
end will be a miserable existence in Sing sing
prison. There is a moral In huntington
career for all classes Of our citizens