The New York herald., 1877-08-27
SPRAGUE, GESSNER & co.
Jack Cannon's Connection With
$27 900 and $64, 900 Jobs.
THoMPsON's INFORMATION,
The Stone, from Which the Check
Was Printed, Found.
WHERE IS SPRAGUE p

Tho HERALD presents TO its readers this morning the
rue inwardness The recent great iorseries and the
thin veil of mystery with which detectives
10 throw around their work is removed from OF
tho most successfully mismanagcd IN the prolific
annals of detective mismanagemenG From the
story 1t will be how, even IN great cause. the
petty jeaousies OF thwart the very ends on which
their ambtlons set, and involve in incxtricablo
confusion things as plain pike staIs Tho
tive woven Of n dozen different strands, reach
lrg in as many directions, covers the whole
case which now, Tor the first time, Is
spread belorc The public as an eniirety
in the symmetry OF perfect truth Four or Eve gen
tlcmcn town who confident OF having kept their
own we'll dciy detection will doubt
this narrative with much interest, contains
facts which they believed exclusive property.
rho theatrical tricks OF mystery and allusion are
dispensed WITH and the tale Is told in plain matter
Sf.fact way. Mr.. "Jack" Cannon who was discharged
Saturday morning by Judge Duly, who hoard tho
harges against the St. Louis bond orgers the plea
Mat there was no evidence to hold HIM. may thank
that the story comes SO late, for It might
have been very inconyenient for him to havo stood
examination Of tho subjects in connection with which
he s here spoKcn OIL direct connection Is shown
below TO havo existed between this man Cannon aud
His affidavit against Sprague whom Mr.. Jayne has not
yet produced and the substance OF which Is related
In the story, shows how intimate both men
were. Mr.. Columbini who wrote to the
HERALD O lew days ago, did not In all probability
know the District Attorney had IN his possession
the stone from which printed the tiank check on
which tho $4,000 forgery was committed, or that
certain lawyer in town actually had the cancelled
check for s15o.oOO from which the signatures were
traced In his hands, and had examined 1t. These
items of interest will be as ncws to the "crooked"
men as to tho public generally. To proper under
standing Of the case In It's light il is necessary
tell the story the from its inception with
certain details which have never before been made
public. The police OF New York knew that the for
yery was be committed weeks before 1t CON-
nitted, ana yet the thieves successful.
INCEPTION CRIME
During the month of November 1875, District At
sorney Phelps informed that heavy forgery was
about be committed the checks OF great hnan-
cial institution, either insurance trust CON-
panv. The same information conveyed to
Detective George W. Elder, who endeavored TO
tnlist some substantial broker TO aid him
In preventing the CRIME The Information being 30
indefinite, not naming any institution trust COM
yany nothing seemed possible 10 the police but to
Keep q sharp lookout. The crime was finally CON-
nitted on the I'd OF January, and discovered the
18Th OF the month. Notwithstanding
lhe strong clews then known, the lead
Ing guilty. parties escaped detection until
quite recently, and in the meantime the
Union Trust Company on whom the check was drawn,
and the New York Life Insurance Company, whose
pcers' were forged to IT. have been out OF the
money to say nothing of SIC. 200 spent employ
lug detectives. The OF the failure OF speedy de-
lection the rivalry and jealousy OF the dnercnt
detectives employed to work up tho by
. no
Trust Company employed an eminent firm OF lawyers.
N addition to Pinkertons detective agency, at great
Expense, while the for the people put In the
lands OF Defective Sampson, OF the stock Exchange.
Dozens OF guttersnipc brokers were arrested and
brought before Mr.. Wheeler H. Peckham Ior cxanina-
non and but little Information gained while the
teal culprits had ample time to learn all that
Was going About this time man named Henry
A. Tidd who had been employed as an agent by the
New York Lite Insurance Company at Troy. N. r..
aud who had been discharged for cause, went TO the
Union Trust Com SAID that tor consideration,
he could prove that the check which the 64 900 had
been procured was genuine one and had been issued
by the connvance OF one OF the company's officers
and near relative OF hJs. He Is supposed to have
taken this step IN order to be revenged for his ds-
misss and also, being "up tree" at tho time, TO
procure little com. He succeeded 10 making
written agreement with the Union Trust
Company, stpulatng that a certain percentage OF
the money recovered an allowance for expenses
he would produce the crim annals. He then began to
investigate the antecedents OF an officer Of the com
puny, which were not wholesome might be, and
circulate stories derogatory TO his character. So
much for Mr.. rdd. and now 10 the first whisper
the outside world hoard OF the forgery.
A HEAD
About the middle of November and at about the
same that the District Attorney Informed of
the coming crime, Connecticut barber named l. A..
Brown who has Tor many years been operating as u
crooked expert and who has becn arrested
charges, applied to several downtown brokers
honest himself Tor information OF u broker In good
siand,nx VINO or,ct could ouy W, very large amount unit
checks OF some large financial institution without
citing suspicion Brown at that time stated that the
amount to bo purchased would be between
5000 900 and $40O, 000 The checks he stated,
would be partly genuine, and that an officer
OF the Institution would be Interested in
tho matter should this officer be applied
10 tho genuineness OF the check II would he de-
Shared all right and OF the proceeds be
turned to the company II, however the check
mould pass currency without any suspicion and tho
speculation succeed, IL would be pronounced forgery
the proceeds be divided ull around the broker 10
ret a iair percentage Several persons who
claimed to be able 10 produce such broker
we're introduced to George W. Chadwick, who repeated
The promise made by Dis iorerunner Brown, ana
recommended speedy action. Finally Horace H.
Ties who claimed TO be able 10 interest the KIND OF
broker required, was Consulted and procured
tue services OF George Maxwell to act IN the
case, the Grand Jury tailed TO
indict Maxwell II Is proper he should be dismissed
here. Mr. Maxwe's story is that on the I'd day vi
January, 1877, man representing himself AS
scngcr from the New York Life InsuraSce Company
handed him letter purporiing to be from that CON-
pany asSns Sras h'n aSoe ar, soon, as ,a0'r 0roxer %
He consented, aud on The following day received a
letter asking him to purchase 100000 worth OF gold
md ipciosing check IRON the New YORK Life lnsur.
nnce Company upon the Union Trust Company Tor
$64, ,225. Maxwell says ue bought tho 90 through
Il ood 4 Co., and handed the messenger who called
for II $4,000 IN god certificates and "a gold
check for nearly $4,000 THIS check has been
cashed, The messenger who IS sald to have received
this money is nnutciy described IN tho testimony OF
Horace h. Browne, who turned Staic's evidence and
later Browne identified Elliott who escaped IRON the
Supreme Court about two months ago, and VINO IN
way answers the description us the messenger An
impression prevails that the messenger was H. H.
Brown himself
Two HENS On ONE EGG.
While the BrowDs Chadwick were making
efforts to circulate the sixty -iour thousand dollar
forged check other partics unknown 10 them wero
attempting the same thing, and these other parties
show planIy Tue IDENTITY OF the authors OF the sixty
tour thousand dollar CHI OK the Union Trust with
tho men who ''made" The twcntv-seven thousand
dollar check on Winslow, Ianier Il Co.
Une Ednunds, who recently sent
70 taiI for forging check, and a man ramed Coinm.
blni who denial of certain lacts stated tue
HERALD few days since, cndcavorcd, while Cbudwick
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