Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1876-01-12
GONE FROM OUR GAZE.
A Walking RaMrod,
Who Succeeds In Taking In
Numerous Individuals for
Small Amounts Of Money.
and then Skips Ont.

and then Skips Ont.
\ little more than year ago, a
mana blonde--with Il beautiful
mnstache, lovely Burnside whiskerS.
large, light grey eyes. as straight, and as
fan as ramrod. five feet eleven inch
g high. made his appearance in tins
.city. lie was well calculated to en-
lis, the sympathies of strangers, (hav-
ing polished manner aud address,
10 whom he usually told a pitifnl tale
of The suilerings he had endured. and
his cadaverous appearance, method
zeal system OF doing business, precis-
ion of dress, all marked him as u
very peculiar man. He was tclc-
graph operator of more than ordinary
ability, wrote splendid round back
hand with hisleft hand, was an accu-
rate report" operator, stenographcr.
IA good pianist. an average bar
keeper, and. i'm fact, u good man for
the place, put him where YOU will.
lie also. by his apparent near ap-
proach 10 the portals of the grca.
hereafter. and peculiar sort of APP
pearancc. was much of Il lady's man.
land, we believe. made some unim-
portant conquests among susceptible
and imaginative girls.
Albert G.. Watson. for such he gave
his name. found Mr.. Whcclock, man
agcr of the Western Union Telegraph
office in this city. in pretty close quar-
tdeni's message to receive. Watson
was Just the man. and stated that he
was a li.htniDg-jcrkcr that could take
a report and not miss letter. and
willingly took hold and rendered
such assistance as was required. His
manuscript was absolutely faultless,
aud appearing to be i'll, Mr.. Wheelock
gave him whatever he could to do
from time To time. The work was SO
well and perfectly performed that
Wheelock on several occasions left the
office in Watson's charge. After
Watson found he had gained Vince
locks confidence, and hoping TO Gov
CT up his dcfalcation by appealing to
the managers good nature, he would
send dispatch long distance,
'pocket the money. and destroy the
copy of the dispatch. In the meantime
he had been borrowing money from
almost everybody who could be in.
), duce,1 to loan il TO him. frcauentl,
! borrowing from one man to pay an.
other. The bills for the kilograms he
, had sent to remote parts. began com
ing in one after another to the head.
quarters of the Telegraph Co. and o
/, course Whcclock was compelled u
| make good the shortage.
Watson afterwards Obtained EN-
ploymcnt as bar-keeper for Mr.. Ad
!, Ter. on the corner OF Green and Sa
mantl,a street. He was employed il
this establishment when the dcfalca
!, ton was discovered. and lie was Wis
tied by the manager and reproache,
!. for his taithlessness. w. immediate
!, " fell over and appeared to he almos
ready to expire. but between brcatl,
managed to inform Wheelock. tina
he would soon be better or be dead
that he had money coming to hin
and ina day or two he would max
the matter all right. The situatio
and the apparent condition Of til
man was such as to induce Mr.. Vince
lock To defer severely handling tn
c1ilprit, or turning him over to th
officers of the law, as Inc had contcm
plated doing.
In the meantime Watson comlnenc
ed the systematic robbery of his EN-
ployer and the customers of the house
and when he found that he had Dor
roWed about all he could. and tina
trouble was likely to follow yer
: soon, without bidding his male or ft
male friends good by. gave Mr.. AID
Ter to understand that lie had a rela
tive living in Lansing, Alamake
county. aud that he would pay him
/. visit. He drew few dollars that wa
{ coming to him. and was last heard o
Mt MarshalltowH, some four week
ago. While at the depot here, he Dor
rowed n common silver watch fron
one of the colored porters at til
Depot Hotel. and now the poor color
ed porter. too. lameuts the fact tina
l,e ever put confidence in the pcram
bulating ramrod.
, The manager OF the Telegraph otIic
here, finding that he was out abou
$50, commenced inqniring into th
antecedents Of his late friend. and re
! ccived the following letters in repl,
e The substance OF which is herewith
: given:
: First, a letter signed "W," in Wa,
sons well known hand.toJ. Us. vii
:. son. of Chicago. Supt. w. L. Tel. Go
!. dated June ID. 1871. from Jolic
States Prison. covering IA rcmittanc
I of 500, To pay fora message to Casey
Vile. Mass. the money for whic1
, Watson had cabbaged.
Second. a letter dated July I'd. fros
same place. covering n remittance 0
{ S2I ~, 1T which ri. % was for Il mes
5 sage, the pay for which he appropri
G ale.l.
Third, letter dated August ID
from Joliet, enclosing $45.G.
: Fourth. a letter from J"liet Prisol
a enclosing xls.14. S2.2J of which wa
for messages on which he had not ae
counted for the funds.
MI of the above letters. except ii4
. first. are signed by Elmer Washburi
Warden of the Pcnitcntiary. but wri,
: Ten in Watson's well known ronn
back hand.
The above letters are accumpanic,
will a letter from J. }. S. Wilson.Sup
Of the Western onion Telegram
Company Al Chicago, ~ follows:
I II think his correct name il A. {
= Wells. lie was convicted and sent {
!. the Illinois pcnitcntiary for Robin
an Express Company some yea,
iasn. but WAS pardoned out in 1877
Q He wa, detailed as operator in tn
/, l,enitcntiary office for some time hs
fore he MAS pardoDed. cnclos
several letters written by him. whic
: You can compare with his ..ropy.
p Wells was very good pianist. sa,
him here last fall and told him then
from what had heard of him. Ii
would soon hrin. up again in III
peuitentiary. }. j. 5. WILSON.
: Supt."
! When superintendent Wilson sa,