The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1880-07-21
ln,,l,more AmerIsan, ycslrday J

fp.u,mo.e American, Yesterday
,,.orcanti,e community woke up yes
, ns 80 The FAC, that they had been enter
to,u .,',, nnawares several Of the most adroit
Ia'n, ,5,ars tina, have visited Baltimore for
sM,na sy. A comparison u notes led to
~, ~ discovery that the recent forgcries were
90. ',nIv rernetrated through the concerted
no w." ~ gang OF professionals, but that
80. ~. V,.,oundwork Of their operations had
~, very carefully laid here nearly a
,,'nr,h AGO. and that the transactions OF
rs,dsv and Saturday were only the cu'mina-
80 ., Mo. devised with exceeding
,'',;r,noss and executed with cqua'ly re-
,"rSshle skin and daring. IL Is now
''o~,,;r ms, the swlnders made Their nr>tsp
a.sar,o here about the 23,h OF june at
l,nSch time by selling Government poHus
,bav secured the checks oil al ieast N.Y.
1.toown brokers, which they loon 10
NV York for The purpose OF having ''."o.
-,ranhs made Of the check blanss-a tsc'
sShicb Il inferred from the CIRCUMSTANCES
,no, three weeks elapsed before the return
~ Tho checks IN the Baltimore Dsnss upon
,,,seh ,hcv were drawn. and thai they were
ro,,,,rcd from New York banks. When
49,, swindler, msde their appearance here
Ind fime-wb ich was last Friday
.,,h the counterfeit Autograph blanks in
,reir oossfssion, but one thing remained for
them 10 do-to ascertain from each hrm the
correct number OF its check for the day, so as
~ have everything regular on the face OF The
forged checks. To secure This number they,
N course, had only 10 sell another bond to
each firm, and that is precisely what they
aid on Friday. Chance favored them. how
ever. quite as much a. method. for bad not
the paying-teiler of the Third National
Blnk, who was the only one who discoy-
cred The fraud on Friday. neglected IL in
form the newspaperS-s) that the other
hanks and brokers were still ignorant Of
the forgery on Saturday mofn'ng-the
forcers would have been frustrated in their
further operations, and the Merchants Bank
would have saved the $3.50 out OF which
II was swinded the following morning. AT
fri SIGH: il may be thought that the swim
diers must have been possessed OF cOnSld-
cradle capital to have operated In this man
ner. but IL will be noticed that they cot back
the full value q the bonds they negotiated,
and one Of the most tantaiizinS things con-
nec,ed with the whole affair was the recep-
lion Yesterday. by the western Bank
through 4 New York bank, OF one OF the
genuine checks given by Fahnestock X Co.
which OF course bad to be paid.
WHO WE'RE THEY:
From the various firms and banks with
which The i0reers had dealings 4 tOerably
good description OF the men has been Sc
cured. and il may enable the detectives
eventually 10 put their baOds on the raScals
Three certainly. and perhaps more, were
openly engaged in executing the scheme
One Of the most prominent was an elderly
respectable.lOoking gentleman, apparently
about iiily years Of age, Of medium height
with sandy side-whiskeTs. He spoke will
q slightly English accent, but with great
suayiiy Of manner and address. Another Is
Younger person, evidently about twenty
FIVE or thirty years of age, fashlouably
dressed. He is Of medium build, good
looking, and wears a small, light nous
tacbe. The third purity Is maj
Of thrty-1ye or forty, with a thin
black beard, and OF very respectable ap
pelrance. The consummate ease and DARN.
with which these three, aided probably b,
others, have carried out their operations
seems remarkable when calmly reviewed
The Amtricdn OF yesterday contained de
tailed account OF the manner in which th'
Merchants National Bank had been victim
ized, and Yesterday 1t came TO light II
banking circles, although an effort wa
made TO suppress il, that the Third Ma
tional Bank, on South street. had been
"done" to the tune OF 100000 IN ex
aclly the same way, and by the same mOd,i;
oprdndi.
THE NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. CASE.
On Friday morning about ll:45 O'Clock
tbe Young man above alluded TO, and wh(
IL without doubt the same person who solo
Inc bond TO William J. Harmanus, Fisher!
boOk-keeper, came into the banking Office 0
Ne,srs. Middendori a. Oliver, on sec0n(
street, and rendered for sale q 300 pc
cent. United States bond. 1t was readil!
bought, and the buyer, a member OF th'
trm, asked The young man how be woult
like 10 be paid, receiving the answer tina
he would like Sj4 in cash, and checl
drawn 10 bearer for the remaining $50 (th
market value az the bond being Sl0S). Thi
va, done, and the man left. About o'cioc
another man came in and rendered %
bond Of the same sort for sale. He was ais
accommodated with check. About half ri
hour aitrrward third party entered I'd
Office, sold bond. and received checl
drawn 10 G. L. Baker, that being the nam
be cave. No one in the Office OF hidden
dOrf Il Oliver gave the matter OF buyini
the bonds 4 second thought, for the reason
that each man who came happened to bav
been waited on by different clerks behin(
the counter; hut the sequel brought disma!
10 all hands except the sharDerS. About
O'Clock hansOmely dressed young fellow
such as has already been described, walked
into the Third National Bank. marched III
10 The outer desk. endorsed his name on The
back Of a check, and handed IL 10 Mr.. \. Il
MedaiTy, the paylng-telleT, 10 be cashtd
Dir. Mtdairy took he check and looked a
Il. II WAS issued by MiddcndOrf Il Oliver
and was for the sum Of Sl,294.50, an,
endorsed on the back was w. Henri
Murdoch. All appeared to be correct
The face was the regular blank OF th
firm: but Mir. Medairy, who is alwsy
careful, told the Young man, who was lei
surely waiting, picking his teeth, that h
would not cash the check unless he wa
identified. con" said the fellow, " is tina
so? Then I'll just step around and get tn
endorsement OF the firm to my signature
He went out, but returned after brit
stay, having been gone Just long enough t
have been around 10 the Office Of that fri
and write the signature Of MiddendOri ,
Oliver just under his own, on the back G
the check, with the ink hardly dried. MI
Medary scTuiiniZed this, and, being salts
fed that everything was correct, paid owe
the money. About five minutes after
o'clock, Just as the bank was being close,
and the books cleared up, an elderly ma
with reddish side-wh iSkers came In ant
asked hurTiedly If he would have tim
90 reach the First National Bank before |
closed; "foT." said he, 81 want to deDosi
some money" He then handed over
check on Messrs. Middendorf Il Oliver 70
81 2Qf drawn I'D In due form with his owl