National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-09-26
SING ULAR ATTEMPT At FRA I'D.

BALTIMORE MERCHANTS THE VICTIMS.
An attempted fraud has just been brought to
light by which Well-knOwn Baltimore houses
were nearly victimized and in fact only escaped
by the merest accident. 1t seems tina: few
months since Nessrs. Trest < Herman, Of Sa-
Vannah, were greatly astOnished on receiving an
invoice of fifty packages Of bacon from the house
Of p. T. George * Co., of this city. Triest *
Herman had never authorized the shipment, and
Immediately upon the arrival of the Baltimore
steamship with the meats which was stimuli
taneous with the invoice, they forthwith communi-
Gated with Nessrs. George Il Co., assuring them
of mistake in the matter, as they had not ordered
any such invoice Of meats. The Baltimore house,
not doubling the statement of Messrs. Triest &
Herman, dispatched orders 10 have the eonsign-
ment closed out in Savannah, which was done,
and nothing more thought Of the matter until
Saturday last when several letters and kilograms
were received in Savannah by two respectable
firms, which led to an investigation Of the matter,
and it was discovered that some person in
Savannah had been communicating with Balti-
more houses, ordering large shipments Of meats of
various kinds and qualities to Savannah. Mr..
Sturtevant, Of the firm Of Bell Sturtevant Co.,
who had lust returned to Savannah, opened a dis
patch which had Just been received from Messrs.
Cassard Bros, and for which the firm paid 8. 30
charges notifying them that their letter of the
lDlu Hhu DCCu ItCelNGQs anu budL they udQ no
bacon sides, but would ship, per steamship Sara
gossa, ten hogsheads bacon shoulders at IL cents,
and fifteen boxes Cumberland at 49, cents. The
matter looked rather singular to Nh. SturteVant,
which led him to make some inquiries Of the
book keeper. Failing TO elicit any knowledge
from those in the establishment, and the letter.
book showing nothing that would bear upon the
case, he went to the establishment of Messrs.
HOleombe, Hull Co., to submit the matter to
-
have been q mistake in the address, Messrs. HOl-
eOmbe Hull & Co. informed Messrs, Bell, StRrte-
want & Co. that they had no transactions with
Cassard Bros, but produced letter, of which the
following is a copy, and upon comparison Of the
two, and a careful examination by several ex.
perts, both letters were decided to have been
written by the same hand. Messrs. HOlcombe
Hull Co.'S letter, purpOrting to order an invoice
| Of meats, reads as follows:
SAVANNAH, September It, 1874.
''WeSSTe. p. 4. George d Co., Baltimore, Nj.
DEAR SIRs: You will please ship US, per Sar-
twenty C2O) boxes DIS sides; also fifteen Q5) hhds
/ bacon shoulders. If you have any good leaf lard
on hand you may ship ten ClO) terces of the same
| Make the prices as low as possible, and Qblige
yours truly, "HoLCoNB & HULL,
''per Q. T. Hames."
1t appears that Messrs. p. T. George * Co., OF
| Baltimore, having the Misunderstanding relative
| TO the shipment made to Messrs. Triest & Her
man in mind sent the letter back to Messrs. HOl-
| combe, Hull a Co, to know if it WIS genuine,
with the result that Messrs. Holcombe, Hull &
| Go. and Nessrs. Bell, IStUrtevant & 20. imme-
diately telegraphed to Messrs. Cassard Bros. and
| George * Co., informing them Of the fraud at
| tempted to be perpetrated upon them, and by
this means, in all probability, saved the respec.
tive firms many hundred dollars as the meats
would have been shipped forthwith, and on a
! glutted MARKET would upon their arrival have to
| be disposed Of at their risk.
| The meats ordered from Messrs. Cassard & Co.
| were already on the Savannah steamship wharf
when the affair exploded. and would have gone
| by the steamer but they reached the wharf too
late and were awaiting the departure Of the next
steamer. The only loss sustained by the firm
was the expense Of drayage to and from the
steamship, some sl5. Subsequently the perpetra.
tor of the frauds was discovered in the person OF
youth employed as q clerk in Savannah
house. On being charged with the crime he made
full confession and as no one had been seriously
injured by the fraudulent transaction, at the in
stance of relatives, and on his promise that he
would mend his ways, no charge Of criminality
was made against him.-BGH. Sun of yestGTddg.