Litchfield enquirer., 1876-04-20


 close to the front window above the bank, any manner of signals desired was soun- ded It was Sheridan's generalship, and even bravery, if one has the right to ap ply that term to person of this cllarac- ter utterly devoid of fear. that caused the retirement of this snug amount of capi- tai from circulation in your city; and these instances showing his wonderful genius for schemes requiring skill, pa tlence, and personal courage could be multiplied almost beyond number, but those given will serve to illustrate his ability, and also the almost exceptional instance of criminal, beginning. among low associates. and by the tact, skill, fru- gality and good business habits which would have made him millionaire in re- spectacle life gradually climbing higher and higher in his grade of crime, with his companions as stepping-stones. until he arrives at the very pinnacle of his profess sion. and has accquired everything that ordinary men ask for-respect, admira- tion, hosts of friends and great wealth, in 1874 certainly being.
 WORTH A QUARTER OF MILLION.
 and during the latter years of his crimes, maintaining respectable social and busi- ness relations. All of this eminently fit ted him for becoming, as he was, the real author of the
 BANK OF ENGLAND FoRGERIEs,
 though the very ability and skill which first made the scheme possible, eventually led to the work being done by other par ties. and 1t is safe to say that if Sheridan hoh Io6 fhn ont of S@l~ throughout it would have beqn a success.
 The original gang who subscribed to the Bank of England job were Sheridan, George Wilkes, Andrew J Roberts and Frank Gleason, while Mcdonnell and Bidwell, now serving life sentences, were to work the English branch of the opera tion. Sheridan discovered that the two last named men were lacking in discre- tion, as afterward proved true, and with drew from the scheme altogether, and inn mediately, with Roberts, Gleason, Spence Pettis and Gottleib Engels. organized Q gang for series of the
 MOST GIGANTIC FoRGERIEs EVER KNOWN in America, and finally issued bonds to the extent of $5.0O0, GOO on the following institutions and corporations New York Central, Northwestern railroad. New Jersey Central, Union Pacific, Erie Water Loan bonds, California and Oregon rail- road, Western Union, and others. The floating of these forged bonds ruined scores of Wall street brokers, as we'll as private investo s.. Their execution was almost absolutely faultless, and an in- stance is givee where these forged bonds of the Buffalo and Erie were taken to the president for examination, having been offered suspiciously low, when he not only pronounced them genuine, but pur- chased $30, ,O00 for an investment.
 There must have been at least half the amount issued disposed of. Sheridan, as Charles Ralston, nephew of the San Francisco Midas and Merdie. became a prominent.
 MEMBER OF THE PRODUCE EXCHANGE of New York city, and at No. 60 Broad way carried on business as agent of the Belgian Stone Company dealing large ly in all manner of fancy marbles. On the discovery of the forgeries, Sheridan quietly gathered his assets together and sped on the wings of the wind to Belgium, that fashionable retreat for Americans with too much brains. It is not known just how large an amount of the bonds Sheridan disposed of, but it must have eqraled all that disposed of the other large operators. "Steve" Raymond sold $6O,- GOO worth, and Charles Williamson. alias Perrin. S110,O00, and the small fry va rious sums but it is estimated that the American public were mulcted at least two millions more than our English cous- ins in rEeir Bank of England affliction.
 Raymond immediately followed Sheri- dan, but was brought back by William A. Pinkerton of the Chicago agency, who found him in London, and who also dis covered Sheridan in Brussels living like a prince, who entertained Pinkerton handsomely, told him to be sure and see him again-which invitation he can now easily accept-and who told him as he was leaving for America that he had settled down for life, and was going to enjoy his ''hard-earned competency" in pe.ce for the rest of his days With the capture of Sheridan in New York, Allan Pinkerton has added another laurel toh1s enviabie reputation, having at last gathered in ev- cry one of the original forgers and there is not Q shadow of doubt as to their even- tual punishment for terms which will break them down and grind them out.
 lendeavored to ascertain how Sheridan
 
 to be one of the mysteries which this Ne mesis, Pinkerton, desires to keep to him. self and 1 can only conjecture, from what have learned of him, that from the careful, conservative man that he once was he has becme gambler, and has lost all his vast ill-gotten wealth, and returned to America for another tilt at fortune; that he was lured here by some fascinating wo- man who. had become the agent of Pink ertoR; or that the desire to see his wife and child, who are now at his brother -in- laws hotel, at Hudson, Michigan, became too strong to be resisted. in any event, the handsome, blue-eyed, pleasant-faced, manly-looking Sheridan Is so surely "dead to rights" that he will beyond question pass from an infamous life to an infamous grave upon the hills ill the little cemetery just above Sing Sing.
 TRUFFLE GATHERING It would seem that the black trufie, naelanospore. with which we have chiefly to do was almost the method of searching for truffles in compact ground ': they were mostly con- tented with the terfez, or false trnfhe of Mauritania, which Is easily obtained from sandy ground, or the Summer truff1e, which often appear on the surface. The employment of the pig in searching for trnffes probably originated in Italy in the fifteenth century, and his services are now highly valued in this connection. But it Is a kind of pig quite different from the obese animal which is the pride of breed CTS. Meagre and brisk, he trots along be- fore Lis master. On reaching the place of search, he smells over the ground, and at length stops at the point ~here a truffle has attracted him by it's aroma. A curious scene then ensues. The begins vigorous ly to dig his snout into the ground, throw ing up the earth and stones. sometimes kneeling on his shor t fore legs so as to ob- tain better purchase. When he has reached the trufHe, however, the gatherer steps in, and with an iron prong diseng- ages it from the soil. He generally man. ages to save it from the hungry jaws of his agile auxiliary; but sometimes the pig will seize it and run off, the gatherer pursuing. ftnr n,neh fyruntiDO and resistance how.