Litchfield enquirer., 1876-04-20
A THiEF's CAREER.
THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF sHERIni
 THE CHICAGO FoRGER.

THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF SHERIDAN,
 THE CHICAGO FoRGER. .f Corresponaence of the Courier Jeafnals.I
 Tn the criminal colrhnns Of the Friday. Chicago papers there was tire simple an- nonncement that George H. Bangs, gen. eral superintendent of Pinkerton's detec-I tive agencies, on Wednesday night, suc-ll ceeded ill captu ing WALKER EASTMAN SHERIDAN, a noted bond -forger, at Jersey City, on his ar ival at that place from Washington. It was statement which, with no further explanation in these days of huge swim dles, would cause no particular comment, save in the suspicion as to the veracity of dispatch that told of any great rogue be- ing caught.
 But the man has made criminal record of no ordinary interest, and being in rOs-' session of 1t tllroug the only person ins the country able to give it. l believe it, will prove aceepta ble to The Courier-JoupsI nal ,eaders, some of whom I know fol have suffered largely from his extensive depredations, for It Is an outline of the. career of an exceptionally fortunate and successful criminal. who,. until Wednes- day night, was undoubtedly the greatest thief and forger at liberty, either in En-. rope or Anne lea. E
 The man Sheridan, alias w. A. Stewart, alias w. A. Sanford. alias Charles Rals-l ton, nephew of the great San Francisco Merdle, was bon near Sandusky, Ohio, in 1888, and being an adventurous lad, eventually iran aWay" from home, finally arriving at St. Louis. where he (of course) fell into bad company and devious ways. He was bright, pleasant faced fellow, and as he aas ''too independent to re- turn to his friends or call upon them for assistance, but found it an easy matter to ssguFg sfe eonfideuce of those with wiioml he came in contact, before he had become eighteen years of age he was an adept at living genteelly off the contributions of the public.
 HIS FIRST CRIME, or rather the first crime for which he was tried, was horse-steallng at St. Louis in 1858. He was convicted, ,and, while await ing sentence, broke jail and came to Chi cago. Behga dashing, rosy-cheeked fel- low of elegant address, after he had been here little tune he was taken on by Joe Moran, a noted confidence and hotel thief the couple doing neat and thrifty busi- ness. Sheridan proved so apt about everything he did, and exhibited such apt ness and delicate judgment in everything he undertook, that they continued in partnership nearly 3 years, working the hotels of Chicago and neighboring cities. but in the early part of 1861 Were arrested in the act of robbing the guests rooms. of the ante fire Adams House. in Chicago They were both convicted and given three years ill the State penitentiary, then situat- ed at Alton. The two men returned to Chicago together. Moran dying of some disease brought on by prison fife, while Sheridan resumed the same class of opera tions with the then notorious men of the same ilk, Emmett LyttIe, Matt Duffy and John Supple. But Sheridan being a young man of good mind, somewhat culti- vated tastes, and large ambition. notwith- standing his nefarious calling. soon tired of the low associations necessary to this standard of villainy, broke with his old sion, recoming the brains and leader of gang of ''bank-sneaks'" consisting of the notorious Joe Butts, Tom Farrell, allas "Pretty Tom," and others, and for some time the gang did the heavy work, the elegant refined Sheridan acting as "stall."
 The ordinary reader is not supposed to be familiar with criminals and their mode of procedure, and will explain what ''stall' Is in connection with the
 NEAT WORK OF THE BANK SNEAK GANG, through which for the last twenty years banks have lost fully as much as through burglary
 Bank sneak-thieves generally operate in gangs of from three to to five. and, as rule, are gentlemen of elegant leisure, make large hauls, and have plenty of time to devote to becoming acquainted with the workings of bank, familiar with the faces and habits of officers, and also of many of the heavy depositors; and when ready for work have quite as much know ledge of the interior arrangements of the bank as'many of it's employees; and though there are numberless ways of getting at the same thing, the following cases will serve as
 ILLUSTRATIONS.
 of them all:
 A gentleman who has business stamped in every line of his face and article of his clothing steps into the bank at noon, and, approaching the cashier, or teller, either presents forged letter of introduction, or in some other way secures respectful attention. He then produces a figure block. or tablet, upon which are various memoranda and figures, and, while asking questions rapidly and interrupting the answers as abruptly, conveys to the teller, who has already become somewhat dist racted, the Information that, as trustee for something or somebody, he has, say $20, 900 in 5-20s to invest in different se- curlties, and desires 5000 in gold, s, 900 in 7-40s, S5, 900 in IO-2Os, and 5000 in greenbacks. This affords the cashier, or teller, series of delicate if not diffiult calculations, and all this time the "trus. tee''-who Is none other than the ''stall"- Is annoying him with questions, sugges- tions, interruptions, anu probably other changes in the character of investment de- sired, so that 1t absolutely requires the tell CTS entire attention to follow his own call culations and the customers whims. This Is exactly what has been striven for by the ''stall" Before the latter begins play ing the trustee, or other game. 8 pal or pals, called "pipes," are on the watch for the approach of any of the bank officers or employees, and ready to sound the slightest alarm, and sometimes other stalls" are stationed wherever necessary, while at a given signal the ''sneak," usu- ally nimble little fellow, slips behind the partition and into the vault, and makes haul, which is usually a large one, as the interior arrangements of the bank areby this time nea ly, if not quite as we'll known to the gang as to the. em- ployes. After the .ssneak" is well away with the booty the stalls draw of So gra- dually as not to excite suspicion and the trustee after thankfully receiving his calculations, leaves, agreeing to return with the bonds before the close of bank ing hours, and effect the exchange. The whole jobis done in ten or fifteen min utes and the loss may not be discovered for days.
 ANOTHER GAME en of the bank-sneak gang, but one which requires far greater personal braveiy, though far less skill and tact, is to be- come cognizant of parties making heavy deposits at late hour, when everything