New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1874-08-09

|
the West Iudies.
Before tw, weeks Van Eeten g. Co. had
twenty ships chartered, sent out to various
ports with stone, ballast or rosin. or some
such stuff, anal, as no payment was to be
made to owners until the ships returned
with their ireights. it was not long before
the vlcumIzed snip owners discovered they
were at the mercy of the swindlers, and in
order to be relieved Of their cOntracts-of
return voyages with all attendant expenses
they compromised with Van Eeten g. Co.
and paid them about $4,000 to cancel their
| contracts,
During all these weary years-years full
OF heart ournings and mOrtifcaticns 70 the
devoted young wife and her tamily-this
man pursued MS nefariOus practices. He
vas incarcerated in Ludlow street Jail for
eighteen months aud alter that frequented
the fashionable watering places, such as
Saratoga and Lake Mahopac, by his plausi-
bllty and great Intelligence rendering him
self pleasant companion, and gaining the
friendship OF some OF our best citizens.
About five years ago. however, commenced
series OF crimes. the contamination Of
which ended in his disgrace and flight.
He had been discovered by Captain
Thomas Sampson, of the detective force,
whose special duties lie in the detection Of
wall street FRAUDS. IN endeavorlng TO pass
raised checks on Fisk & Hatch, the bank
ers. He was arrested on this occasion, but
such was his address and craft that the
case was Lot made out against him and he
was releas I'd. Detective Sampson was alb
sent from .he ciry for two DAYS afterward,
and du1ing this time Van Eeten went to
Jay Cooke d Co. and sold them $1,000
| United States uond (genuine) and received
| their cheek for 1t, which, OF course, was
properly certified, etc. He raised the
amount OF This check I" 81, 800. and
repaired to the office OF Wells, Fargo 4
| Co. TO iavest the same in railroad bonds,
| dlsarming all suspicion by asking time TO
| examine carefully the coupons. etc, to see
| if they were ali right. The fraud. of course,
Was soon discovered, the detectives were
| apprised, Sampso went to house known
to be trequen.ed by the swindler. on Twen-
| tveightn street. and all that was found of
| Van Eeten Was his whiskers. He had taken
Pacific slope.
| A short time afterward the Bank of Cal
| ifornia, i'll San Francisco, was detrauded by
| receiving $4,000 United States bond,
which had been raised The New York
officers wera apprised, out they did not at
! hrst suspect Van Eeten, becau use they thought
he had Wells, Fargo Il Co. $ vi ,O00, and log
eaily considered $4,000 risk was 100
small for him u take. They did not know,
what they subsequently, learned-that the
| money sto en- from Wells, Fargo g. Co.
was snugiv deposited in the vaults of the
New YORK Guaranty and Indemnity Com
pany in this city. The career of Van Eeten
in California proves MIN 20 tave possessed
consummate ability as well as arctic cool
ness. His lodgings were IN sight Of police
headquarters, every officer was known TO
hun by sight, aud their roll call must have
been listened to by him with a sort OF grim
satisfaction. This man was an outlaw: nut
ne WAS Getving the world with a bravadO
which had something OF the heroic IN it.
When the note OF alarm was sounded he
bought tickets for Acapulco. The Califor-
MA officers were sent to Los Angeles in |
Lower California TO intercept the ship. In
stead of sailing, however, he went on shore |
again in >a1 francisco, tore up his tickets, |
and remained within the smell of the |
kitchen OF police headquarters. Eventually, |
however, he went to Acapulco, st. Thomas, |
ST. Vincent, Kingston, Jamaica (but never |
left the ship at this latter port knowing of |
the extradirion treaty with EnglandI, then |
10 Havana, and finally landed III New |
Orleans.
United States District Attorney Noah |
Davis sent Detective Sampson to bring hi i'm !
back to this jurisdiction. The task was a
difficult, even dangerous one. Governor
Warmoth aided the officer. Judge Durell |
warned the detective not to arrest him in
court The moment Van Eeten was released
On the charge before the latter jud ge he was
served with the warrant On the New York
counsel and his friends. No sooner was the
process deli, cred than a writ of haDeas
corpus was thrust under the officers nose.
The detective accepted service. and said he
wanted to see the town and would be back
i'll an hour IN court to answer. The pris
oner was puo into carriage behind a
pair of fast horses, and then ensued
a ride between law and justice. The
carriage was followed by another and
a man on horseback. The chase was kept
up in the devious streets of New Orleans
for an hour. At length, by a fortutous
turn, the pursuers were left behind. Four
negroes were hurriedly thrust into the car
riage, which drove on; the officer, with his
charge, plunged into cellarway. and as
the carnage turned the next corner the
man on horseback was almost alongside of
it. From this cellar the officer got upon the
roof Of the building, scrambled over several
more and was received finally by man
named Well. from which place they reached
the railroad station. Here a yard OF red
flannel On the top OF long sugar cane
stopped the train. and the officer and his
prisoner were en- route.
At Jacksonville the train was board ed by
a gang. who demauied where the kidnapped
man was. They We're a rough looking set.
with scant clothing. and we'll armed men OF
the border. The officer pointed out the
prisoner as the detective, and claimed TO be
the prisoner himself, saying he was well
treated and wanted TO proceed, piece of
strategy not denied by Van Eeten. Whisky
was surrendered as d peace Offering, the
majesty of Mississippi law was SATISFIED,
and the train sped to the North.
But htJle more remains to be told. Van
Eeteu was tried, convicted, sent to pris on
for nine years, and $4,000 tiue. pardoned by
Governor Dix, who. il was runored, exer-
ciaed his clemency On account of some
prison revelations to De made by Van
Eeten, and no sooner had the culprit been
pardoned than lie reported TO Detective
Sampson at his house.
Louis Macmillan Van Eeten, the famous
bond forger, having taken dose OF lauda
mum in Hudson county jaid, some time
between eight o'clock on Friday evening
aud six O'Clock en- Saturday morning, and
being in apparent danger of death, a Herald
reporter went to the jail to ascertain full
particulars OF the attempted suicide. The
unfortunate man was stretched naked On |
mattress in the witness room, surrounded
by crowd of prisoners and jailers, who
were busily engaged, under the direc.
rubbing and Shaping him all over the
body with view to keep him awake. A
galvanic battery was In full operation, and
the mans body was made to feel its effects |
in a way that ought to give an appear
ance OF life to corpse; but hey ODd dull. |
stolid stare, and an occasional half uttered
and almost indistinct groan, no sign OF AMI |
nation was given. The body was quite red |
and sore from the effects OF several hours |
ncessant rubbing and slapping, and the
knees we're cut from fails hich occurred in {
making attempts 20 force him 10 walk.
scrubbing brush was applied with relentless