Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1870-02-10
A SEARCH FOR A ROGUE.
A Detectives Erperience-Com. Van-
derbslt's Checks.
From TIE New York Pest. 2lst.I

citement by the discovery of a forgery of
which they weTs the victims, and which
had been planned and executed with more
than usual skill. and determination
A check for SO 900. bearing the sigma
ture of Commodo.e Vanderbilt, had been
presented and honored some two or three
months before. and 10 suspicion had been
awakened In the minds of the cashiers. =
Subsequent inquiries proved beyond all
doubt that the check was forged, and it
appeared equally certain that all clue to the
perpetrator of the crime was hopelessly
lost The matter was at once placed in
the hands of the Detective Police, and Mr..
Elder, who at the time was at Saratoga,
was selected for the one oIs duty.
Ii may not be uninteresting to recount
the methods selected with a view to the de-
lection of the offender, and to point ont
how invariably q criminal, however skill
ful, leaves behind him some slight trail
that can be followed up successfully by a
man of penetration and perseverance. Mr..
Elder then, as sooI, as he received his sum-
mons returned to New York, and proceed
ed to the bank, YIere he had an interview
with the managers. and inspected the for
gel document. The signature was i'm
itated with FIRE dom and exactness COM
pletely accounting for the ease with which
the check had been uttered, and the gen.
eral impression was, that ii had been ex-
ecuted by some one thoroughly conversant
with the handwriting OF the Commodore
Iu a case OF this description the first sus-
pected persons are usually the clerks. But
on this occasion the greatest COZ idence
was reposed in the employees by the heads
of the establishment, and they were unable
to single out any " hom they could for a
moment suspect of oeing guilty of such Q
transaction. MIR Elder, however, for his
own satisfaction examined all individually
and the result of his examination was a
complefe conviction of their entire inno-
cenceL The next step was TO discover if
possible, the personal appearance of the
man by when tn check had been present
ed. Here again the difficulties seemed in
surmountable. lIany weeks had elapsed,
many large checks had in the meantime
been presented in the same name. and the
memories of all were seemingly blank. The
question WAS, had any check of the Com
modore's been presented by any one not
in the habit of presenting theu2 aud to
this inquiry an answer was elected. One
of the clerks recollected a man, short, stout
and elderly, whom he had never seen be-
fore or since, who had csshed n check Tor
large amount some time before. signed
to the best Of hi, belief bv the Commo-
dere. This, although undoubtedly im-
portant if true, was bu; "a very frail thread
10 relr on, when it * considered that he
who gave of il had been led up to the point
by a SERIES of cFoss-ausStioniaSs. 1t Ia by
no means rare for faan to assert his per-
sonal knowledge of an event under these
circumstances, and to be convinced of the
truth OF his statement, when In reality he
he & A.
alone. This fact was remembered, n q
there was disposition to doubt the abso-
lutte accuracy OF the clerks assertion He
was, hoxever, very positive in adhering TO
it, and added that his recollection of the
man was so vivid that he be ieved he could
produce pen-and-ink-skeich,b by which be
would be recognizable. He was as good
as his word. The sketch was made, aud
handed ever to Mr.. Elder, in whose pos
session it now remains- The original OF
this portrait had driven TO the bank in a
buggy drawn by horse of great beauty,
and en- attempt was accordingly made to
discover by whom or to whom the horse
had been sold or hired IL was almost alb
surd 10 hope for any good result from an
inquiry based upon such insufficient data,
but there appeared to be no other way in
which ths mystery could be eluciSated.
The horse and buggy were not traced. and
theQuesfion as to whether they we're hi.ed
or private property was unsolved; but the
nan was identified bya livery-stable keep
er as one Livingstone. whom he had pre-
viously known, and who had disappeared
from the vicinity. He Was o married man,
With a family, and his wife and children
had, at no distant date. been subsisting on
charity. It was plain that he was not jus.
g. Arfu har tr,r -l.nx
he was unable to support his family, and
the scent grow warmer.
The pen-snd-ink sketch was also exhibit
ed to Commodore Vanderbilt but he was
not able to identify it, although on consid
Grafton ne said that it reminded him great
ly of a man who had called upon Kim Q
long while before, with black horse fol
sale, of perfect form, and possessed of great
speed. He had not bought the animal, as
he did not at that time require it, and be
could not remember whether or no the
would-be seller had given him any address
If he did, he most assuredly had forgotten
il; had made no note of so trivial an occur
renee and had never seen or heard of hin
since. All this, if not conclusive, tended
in no small degree to confirm an impress
sicn, which had been gradually forming
in the minds of the police, that Living
stone was in some way or other interested
in the horse-trade. He enjoyed the reputa
tion of Icing an excellent judge of horse
flesh; he had driven magnificent horse
into the city, and he had attempted to sci
one sG1ally fine to Mr. Vanderbilt; it was
therefore, in no wise improbable that in
horses he would expend considerable por
ton of his Ill gotten gains
The next question was, Had any sale Of
horses taken D. lately in New York, and
if SO, by whom had they been bought? The
dealers were Intercepted, and alter some
delay, it was discovered that an elderly
gentleman, answering slightly to the de
scription of Livingstone, but giving the
name If Price, had bought several, and
ordered them to be transmitted to Buffalo
whittier he was at once proceeding. Here
at last, was a positive clue, and the detect
I've did not hesitate an instant in tax M
his departure for the same place. As sooI
as he arrived, he secured the cooperation
of the local police, and instituted the mos,
searching inquiries. The chase. was con
ducted with the utmost caution, In cas-,
any alarm should be given to the guilty
party. and enable him to make good hi
escape. But, in spite of every effort, tn,
trail became fainter, and the seekers begaI
to think that their task would have to b,
relinquished, at all events for the present
At the moment when the mystery seemed
darker than ever it was ascertained that thu
horses purchased in New York had beer
forwarded to Chicago from Buffalo. in com
pany with number of others purchased
by q Mr.. Weech, who, it appeared, hat
also become the owner of those bought b,
Mr. Price. Mr.. Weeeh, too, was a stout
elderly man. The coincidence was singu
lar, and MIR. Elder at once betook hinsel
to Chicago
Here the old course was pursued, and tn,
horsa-dealers were interviewed" in rota
ton, br.. the fugitive was probably con
tented with the purchases he had alread,
made, as no evidence was forthcoming o
his having further increasing his stud. Blu
saddles and brides and other furniture ar
wanted where horses are numerous, and tn
police endeavored to ascertain whether an
large sale of these articles had occurre
lately. Yes; an elderly gentleman, VIII
had purchased no less than four farms abou
miles from Chicago, had been buying {