Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes Co., O. [Ohio]) 1870-1895, 1873-04-03
The ENGLISH FoReERIEs
Details ofthe Frauds Committed on the
Bank of England.

From the London papers of the
Sd and 4th inst. We gather the fol-
lowing details of the great forgeries
on the Bank of England:
xIt was discovered on Saturday that
bills to an enormous amount had
been forged upon all the principal
houses in the city of London, and
that these bills had been discounted
at the West Branch of the Bank of
England, in Burlington Gardens,
which does an entirely different kind
of business from the parent estab-
lishment in the city. 1t is intended
for the convenience of gentlemen
and ladies, and West End trades
men, who might find it inconven-
lent to Journey to the city in order
to transact their occasional business
1t is not, therefore, ordinarily con-
cerned with large bill transactions
ofcity commerce, and in consequence
is less bound by strict regulations
in dealing with any business of that
nature which might accidentally be
be brought to it The conspirators
must have been aware of this, and
they laid their plans for approach
ing the Bank of England by this
weaker portion of its defence.
Warren, an American, who man
aged the plot, was in no hurry, and
took care to gain a good footing be-
fore he ventured on mis- ultimate
enterprise. He behaved for some
time just like an ordinary customer
of good resources. He drew upon
his balance and renewed it, but
kept it always at good figure.
After while he deposited some
bills. They were good and genuine
bills. Still he was careful not to
be hasty, and he continued his
transactions with the bank until he
had acquired the reputation T of q
person engaged in Legitimate com
merce and thoroughly trustworthy.
At length the moment come for
the presentation of the forged bills.
They were discounted without hes
itation and the authors of the fraud
had, to all appearance, succeeded
in safely pocketing about one hun
dred thousand pounds. All these
arrangements were masterpieces Of
ingenuity and patience, but the bills
themselves must have required the
greatest amount of labor. In the
first place, many Of the large firms
upou whom the bills purp0rted to
be drawn are in the habit Of using
a peculiar kind of paper, with GER
tain water-marks and printed mat
ter. All this would have to be i'm
itated, and as the bills were drawn
on more than one firm there must
have been several such limitations. d
There remained the drawing of bills
and the af1ixing of signatures, and
each bill must have required Sc
ries of feats in successful forging.
Some bills were backed by several
acceptors, so that there might easi-
ly be as many as half a dozen sig
natures on single bill.
Yet the bills were so perfect that
not one of them was questioned ON
the ground Of the acceptance not
appearing genuine; but the men
who had exerted the skill, fore
sight. and perseverance sufficient to
insure unhesitating acceptance of
the forged bills, could not escape
one trivial blunder, which revealed
the whole plot. They presented
two bills in which the date of accept
ance had been omitted. Inquiry
was of course made of the firm
whose acceptance was thus undated.
1t was discovered that the bill was
not genuine, and the whole series
were then found to be forgeries.
How much further the plot would
have been carried, it is impossible to
say. Advertisements were. published
to caution bankers, brokers, and all
other persons against dealing in a
number of U. S. five twenty, Ten
forty, and Funded Loan Bonds,
amounting in the aggregate to over
1921, 900, they, it is alleged, having
been acquired out of the profits Of
forgery. a'i 4eas ~ ~
The loss of the bank of England
is stated at fS0,OO0. The Roths.
childs are mentioned as one of the
firms on which the foged drafts were