The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1872-08-07

Fl Suicidc. 49, 4 y
!. The world Is full of criminals. Theeareer
, Of one Of the most hardened has recently !
9 been brought to d close in England. Henry
Davidson, the son of n highly respected re-
, tired army agent, received an excellent edit
cation, and after having graduated at Kings =
Colleges in London, obtained situation ms
assistant bdok-keeper in the wel-known firm !.
! OF S. W. Silver d Co., OF Cornhill, in that =
city. After the lapse Of two years the senior =
book-keeper, George ii. Pix, died, and lfi- y
wilson became the principal book-keeper to I
the firm.
The cash receipts of the firm averaged u
Ej00 day. The books were kept by single J.
| entry. He was assistant cashier as well as =
book-keepcr. When The customers called in "
to ply their accounts, III the absence of the y
cashier Davidson received the money. In "
stead Of entering 1t In the cash book, he u
! often credited the customer in the ledger II
with the amount and put the money in his Il
pocket. His distractions averaged ESQ Il
day. and at the end of eight years he had u
stolen from the firm E120,0U0. The amount !
he had carefully invested in c0llsuls from d
time to TIME. so that in 1863, with the IN j
tcrest that had accumulated thereon, he was 4
worth $1Jo,Ur0. He decided to remain with .
the firm for twelve months without all u
stractng any amount whatever, in order >
that he might cover up his Trucks if it be- q
came necessary. u
Fortune favored him, and no Suspicion o
rested OH his honesty. In fact, as head book. U
keeper in the large firm for eight years, he =
held high influential position In the hotise. =
He lived i'll Il very quiet manner, and no o>- j
tcntltlous extravaganza was detected in his i
habits. In the spring of 1870 he resigned n
his sitlmtion aud entered into partnership Il
with 4 friend of his named Gordon, who u
had previously been al attorney in the city u
but then retired from the practice Of the law. u
They established themselves i'll Lombard v
street as general merchants, shipping goods u
Oh a gigantic scale to all parts of the world.
Their speculations in iron were enormous, u
and in one month, owing TO Il great decline p
in the value of pig iron, they lost El0ooO0.
swISDLISG TIE LONDON MERCHANTS. "
In the London money market warrants -
piss as readily as grccnbackS with us. Da- ;
wilson got blank warrants printed, and fill =
ny them up with 5000 tons OF iron, which :,
they were supposed to represent, and which ~
were, according to the warrants lying on !,
the London wlarvcs, he proceeded to Messrs. -
Barrett. Hoarc Il Co.. the bankers. OF Butcher !,
lane, and obtained 100000 on them. The -
100000 was duly paid into the bands of y
Davidson & Gordon. and was speedily !,
swallowed up in meeting their acceptances e
as they fell due. From Smith. Payne II !,
Smthey. Barclay. Bcvan, Triton ~ Co., -
f Roger Cuniilc, and the London Discount y
, Company, Davidson obtained over 81 ,00O,- ;,
900 on forged warrants Roger Cunlltle, o.
rather Shrcwdcr than some OF the London :,
bankers. having noticed IN extraordinary !,
amount of Davidson Il Gordon> accep'anccS Fl
being offered to him for discount, and large Y
+ proportion of them being evidently accom- |;
mediation hills, being based on no real trans
action, began to examine his securities. He
sent Il clerk to the various wharycS where
the iron represented on the warrants was
supposed to be lying. The clerk reported
that there was no iron lying at any of the
wharveS. In fict. the warrants were forge il
rics. The clerk then interviewed the wharf" J
myers whose names were attached to the Il
warrants, and although the signatures Were s.
not genuine they were exceedingly well imi- 81
tatch e
i sly orb QUAKER. h
Roger Cunllr. who is Quaker, being ii
creditor for over Gln0,OO0 Oh forged war T
rants, did not deem it advisable to act i'll Il
bastv manner. He called the clerk into his II
private office. and enioincd Oh him the most Il
absolute secrecy as to what lie knew OF the i
affair and made him present of 600. The :
wmrtingcIS it WAS necessary to communicate II
with. as they did not know by who'll thcin- Il
uuiries were made in reference to the iron Il
, ,uproscd to Ec lying ut their wharves. Mr.. t
Cnnlitn addressed note to Mr. Davidson. I
requesting him to call lit his otte" at O'Clock :;
in the evening Ia very unusual holir for Il I
London lankCr), 4: lie wished private III t
tCrvicw with him on matters OF the hiGhcl c
, Importance. and that it would he for his ill., t
tcrcst not TO neglect the same. On receipt of c
the note Davidson was well aware that some '
discoveries llat been made, but he put II |
, hold front ON it. Davidson Knew tltlt q
Roger Cunliilr, like all Quakcls, was 5
liknly TO look ut the matter in I
business point of view. 1t would /
p not answer Roger Cunlitlc's interests to |
prosecute Davidson and lose G1oo,00O. At 4
5 o'clock in the evening on the Sth Of May. Il
a 1871, Davidson was admitted to the private /
q office of sir. Roger CHniltfc, in LOMBARD :
:; street. He told Davidson that he sleld INN {
i responsible for all the transactions That David
{ son G. Gordon had had with his firm for he I
n regarded Mr. Gordon as Il mere tlgurc-hcad, t
h seeing that he took no active Ilrt I'D the na!l-
u agcmen. of the affairs OF the frln. lie went
:, On to tell him TINT he had robbed hun OF \
: | C1OO 0Ou. and That he could Scid hin into I
t penal srrvitu,c for lie. but that he did not |
e propose 10 do this provided he acted under
II his instructions and liqlidatcd the debt he .
owed him. The prospect of being sent into
penal Srryitudc fer lille was not very a%rcc;l- |
: bile to Davidson, and he listened alttlitlNtIy
: u Cunllc', proposals.
j. A SATISFACTORY ARRANGEMENT.
$ It was arranged that Cunlitic should adj a.!
q vance Ell 600 more, to make up the forged
# warrants that t..G ether bankers held that :
t ''unlillc should lie the reference for David
Y sons firm; that lie would give such Il refer
+ cncc as would assure unlimited credit That
o they should purchase III London, Manclcs-
: ter, Glasgow, and Birmingham 81 100000, :
and consgn the SAME to New York, Calcutta, J
l Madras, and Bombay, taking advances of
e two-thirtls of the invoice price; that the {
= ,G20O. 900 which the finn would owe Roger
. Cunlr, is soon rs he had advanced him the
4 further sum of Gl00,0O0 (Which he did adj
b vance on the ensuing day., shou d be rclail
: out Of the advances which DavidSOl'S firm I
It would obtain from the merchants taking
Y charge of the consignments Davidson d
Gordon acted on these instructions to Il GER
d tain extent, purchasing goods toan enormous
, amount, and taking advances from 'rarit lis
g London merchants to the extent of Gl30, 900.
II They paid Roger Cunltfe 100000, leaving
- him a creditor to the extent Of G1S0,0O0. In
: January of this year they suspended pay
e ment, with liability amounting to GSu0,OO0.
Il SWINDLH.
. That very dav Mr. Gordon threw himself