, 1877-08-19
A Gang Of SkiIlfuI and Successful
Forgers Arrested.
Details of a, Patient Pursuit. Car-
ried ON for Six Months.
Their Confinement at tho Pacific and Subsequent It,
moral to How lQrk.


forecrs Who has ever been arrested tn this coun-
try. He went on to New York in the custody
of the officers Of the law, accompanied ny
minor accotuplice, who has long resided in this
citr. being Joined on the way by person ot
even greater ability as O criminal, VINO wl!i 90
along to the East, there to stand trlal lor
series Of offenses extending over ABOUT ten
years. ...,
During the latter part Of last year and tue
first Of this number Of heavy frauds were
committed upon New York banks by the use OF
bogus checks. Chief among these was one on
the sth OF January, when the Third Nauonal
Bank Of that city was defrauded out OF s2o'-
9s6. IS by means Of check purporting to haze
been drawn bv the firm Of Winslow, Lanier s.
ca. At about the same time check purport-
ing to be drawn by the New York Litc-ln-
suronce Company on the Union Trust OF
New York for, about $4,000 was presented
and paid. There had been other operations of
similar nature, many Of which have never been
made public, although known omong Eastern
bankers. The two firms whose naInes arc given
above were unwilling to put up with my such
loss as this without m effort to bring to punish
mept the perpetrators, and they put the matter
! into the hands Of the regular police. They,
after about mouth OF searching, succeeded ID
finding clew, and got on the track OF the
orisinators Of the fraud, but, as far as can be
Rscertained,
and abandoned the case. This conclusion is ar-
rived at from the fact that the officer who was
at that time Intrustcd with the matter sudden
ly came into possession Of large sums Of money,
and has since then BEEN amusing himself at
Saratoga and otler Eastern watering-placcs.
Disguised with this action on the part OF the
regulars, the two firms changed their tactics:
They put the matter in the bands ol
Col F. + Austln, ss;oessmon 1eslqent sonmccted ID
with certain New York banks With him we're
associated s. H. Carney, Of New York, also
businessman, and B. G. Jayne, the Special
Treasury Agent, OF New York These gentle
men arrived here on their hrst TIP ABOUT 1our
munication with the firm Of Eldridge
d Tourtelottc, from whom they re-
ceiyed valuable assistance during their re-
searches. Since that time these three gentle
been wandering over the United States from
the Atlantic to the Pacific Coast following up
the various persons who had been imme ediately
or Indirectly concerned In these forge1ies. They
succeeded in finding that the
HEAD-CESTRE OF THE GANG
WIS person with 100 names, sometimes called
Stephens, sometimes E. J. Henderson,-a man
Of wealth and apparent responsibility, whose
business was that OF a spcculator, operating
sometimes in corn, sometimes in cattle, some,
| means, for his check was good Tor S5t+o0U at
sNew York banks, aud his respectabity was
further youched for By an excellent family.
Next to him came man By the name OF Nelson
had represented bis district in the
State Legislature, who was also wealthy,
and whose rcsuectabiity had never been
| questioned. Besides these there were the par
=. +fg N4fteE E1rft
| discovered that iu this ease, y in others, the
chief criminals had nothing to do with the risky
work. These drafts or checks, Us the casc
might be, were put in the hands Of subordlnates,
their hazard. In the course Of their inrestiga~
tions they found that man by the name Of Ely
B. Weston, living at No. 1925 Wilcox avcnue.
| who Was at one time real-cstate agent, anu
who afterwards kept horse-auctlon room at
No. 19S Washington street. was one Of the gnng,
and had been used by Stephens or HENDERSON
and Gesner for their purposes. TWAS nesessary
for the gang frequently, when operating tn
city, to have person OF apparent responsibility
whose business it was to vouch at 4 bank for the
individual who deposited for collection, or pre-
sented for payment, raised draft or spurious
check Tint part Was played in Chicago by
Weston. -...
ONE OF TIE OPERATIONS IN WHICH HE TOOK
is Of SO recent date that it may easily be called
to memory. EARLY in February man By the
name OF 7. ]. Henderson opened an account
with. the Third National Bank: He was
and checked 1t out, always keeping
q satisfactory balance on. hand. One day he
deposited a couple Of drafts purporting to have
been drawn by the First National :Bank OF Mil
waukee, one for. s., 500 on the First National
Bank Of this city, and the other for $4,000 on
the Union National The Third sent them to
the Clearing House, whence they went to the
banks on which they were drawn, and were By
them accepted. After that had been done,
Henderson checked against the amount which
vas then in deposit in the Third National, aud
drew out all the money except about $500. At
tae end OF the month, when the Milwaukee bank
settled its account with its Chicago correspond
ents, it was discovered that the drafts had
! been raised Subsequently suit was brought BY
/ the First and Union against the Third to re-
| cover the amount OF the forgery: but the gener-
| 81 drift Of all the opinions seems to be That,
| under the circumstances, the Third is not re-
| sponslb1e
The chief object of the representations Of the
| New York houses was to
| sECuRE THE SIMULTANEOUS ARREST
Of al1 these parties, and to do that required an
amount Of 'hncssng and fine work which
! extended over about four months. During their
operations they travelled over pretty nearly the
entire country, especially in following up the
yocrason
| ally able to get hold Of letters Written By some
| OF these parties, but it is peculiarity among
| gentlemen Of this profession that, il they are
| at Joliet, for INSTANCE, aud want to write to an
| accomplice, they date the letter as at Aurora,
and send il by private hand or under envelope
to the Postmaster, and have 1t mailed at Auro-
ra that it is frequently - during these hurts,
| matter Of exceeding difficulty to made
| ANYTHING out OF information which was thus oD-
! taiurd. There we're various times when the
| New Workers were almost on the point Of
! pouncing down upon their victims. An opera
tor accompanied Gesner once for two or three
| 18th uf anfItiS md
pied the reom adjoining his; but did not dare
| to touch his man for fear OF inability to have
| Stephens and one or two other parties arrested
| at the same moment Finally, however, things
| drew toward focus About the middle OF
last mouth the Special Agent, jayne,
turned up ut the Grand Pacific, where he
registered as J. Howard, and remained there
from that time until yesterday. Not long alter
that s. H. Carney, sometimes called - Doctor"
turned up, aud also Installed himself at the
| Pacific in an adjoining room. A few days after
came Austin. On the 30th OF July warrants
| were sworn out before Pollak for the arrest OF
Gesner and Weston.
t. DEcoI LETTERS
| had been written to the former, who was then
I! near St. Paul, and acting Oh them he came
down to this city THURSDAY and registered at
| the Pacific. On the 18th Of July Carney started
| for Michigan. Intelligence had been received
t tha, Stephens had left Railway where he
| had been stopping, and had gone with his
| family to place near Detroit for the
| purpose Of spending q few Of the summer
weeks. 1t was decided, after consultation, to
| strike tue blow Thursday. The first man
picked up Was Gesner: who was arrested at bis