The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1880-03-27

Aiken must satisfy us on that point be-
fore we become entirely convinced.
sA@.usazs>zzsr1..
ROBBIHG Il BANK.
How Smart Young Cashier Covered his
| Tracks.
From tho Springfield tMass.) Republican.
The conviction of Nathan z. Pratt on
indictments charging him with the en-
bcZZlemcnt Of $3.50, 900 Of tho funds of
the Reading savings bank, of which he
was treasurer, with the statement of
his son, Sidney =. Pratt, that he and
not his father is the real criminal, is
! the most startling event in tho recent
history Of Massachusetts banks. Itnot
only reflects great discrcdit on those
whose duty it was to supervise the
affairs OF the institution, but suggests
that Massachusetts, whose savings de-
positories rank among the first in the
country, has yet much to learn in tho
art Of protecting the little boards of
| her common people. Here is q bank
almost utterly wrecked by tho knayerv
OF one or two mcn, when a little watch.
f:!:iii.nss such 20 m nrflinnrv hnsinnss
man exercises in his own affairs would
have kept it perfectly sound. The son
declares that the father was not crimi-
nal, but incompetent and tho victim of
his (the son's) wilcs, but as tho young
mans whereabouts are not now
known, while the father is. in the
clutches Of the law, it is easy to believe
that the "confcssion"-mude public
just after the jury had rct:rcd-was
concocted TO shift tho burden, rs far as
possible, to q person out Of reach of
punishment. The old man is, how
ever, responsible In law, and the public
will feel that justice Is cheated if his
counsel, Gen. Butler, finds way of
escape for him in the supreme court, to
which the case has gone OH exceptions.
Young Pratt, according to his state
mcnt, became sole book-kccper and
cashier ofthe bank in 1872 and soon
began 4 system Of spcculations. One
method was, when q large deposit was
made, to enter it in the depositor's
pass-booll and also OH the ledger of the
bank, but make no record of it III the
days transactions Or in tho journal.
At other times he would make tho cll-
try on the Journal less than on the
ledger, and in the depositor's book.
For instance he once received q deDos-
it of 1888, which he duly charged and
and credited, except that in tile iourn-
al he MAadf it Ell ;Ss, and ,pocketed the
The $9.5s would be found in the I11t5iS mon.
ey drawer and correspond with thc
entry in the journal. Finally the eId-
or Pratt, according to the sons story.
suggested rs method of examination
of the banks accounts of the credits To
dcpOsiCors on the ledger and COM
parison on the journal, from which thc
statements of tho banks assets and lin
Dlhtics arc made. Pratt claims that
the cm6cZZlcmcnt was not suspected
even at this time, although it had
reached Sloo,OOO: Knowing that the
trustees and auditors would not spend
cime III comparing the two books item
by item. the detaulter, to meet his cx-
amin9tion, simply entered fictitious
Wlthdrawnls on the ledger sufficient to
MIKE 1t tally with the journal, the to-
tais OF which, as already shown, were
iar below those of the ledger. The
trick worked we'll, and the trustees and
auditors expressed astonisl,ment at tho
accuracy OF the bookkeeping.
Other methods by which hc claims
to have got many thousands Of dollars
were the forgery Of mortgages, notes
ana insurance policies, the manufac-
ture OF spurious .pass-books, which
were used as collateral for loans, etc.
Ana the beauty Of his arrangements
was that he often got the letters of tho
treasurer before the latter saw them,
and, opening them, found if there was
anything In them that would bctray
nm: If, for instance bank wrote to
the treasurer of the Reading savings
BANK to inquire rs to tho >genuinencss
OF pass-book offered as collateral.
young Pratt would forge a letter from
ms iather stating that 1t was oil right,
ana there would be no further troHble
about tho loan. OF course the parties
trom whom he borrowed suffered in
TINS case. and ho says he got $40 900
1rom various national banks by this
method. He claims to have baggcd a
handsome lot of bonds by unlocking
ms iather's safe at home, of which he
nad q duplicate key, and after moisten-
lng the envelope containing the bonds,
aostracting them, substituting worth
less paper, and rc-sealing tho envelope.
RETURN OF THE GREAT CoMnr.-
rrosessor Benjamin Pierce says he ia
fullv persuaded that the great comet
seen III South America recently, and
Tor which an anxious outlook has been
Kept ever since in this hemisphere, ia
tho comet Of 1848, once moro VISITING
Inc sun. II this Is so, and if tho comet
becomes visible here, the year 1880
STANDS chance of being memorable In
astronomtcal annals. The comet Of
lo43 was ono Of tho most wonderful
oyer eye, seen. Assuming that Professor
,Pe rierce.s computation of this comets
previous returns Is correct, it has had
an astonishing history. In 1io6 II
blazed with a brightness that was COM
pared red to % that h Of the sun itself; il l4o2
~ was so brilliant as to be Visible at
MONDAY In 1854 1t is said to have
eclipsed the moon; in 1889 It spread
terror among the ignorant throtlghomt
the, the world, s,'t and ~ is4s 1t gave aid and
to'nIort ~ n,a.i. 70 tho Millerites, and holped
70 alarm those who listened to their
predictions Of q speedy burning up Of
the world. If 1t should return This
year with its accustomed STYLE. II viii
COnffan1 tho Eo{kh - ~ - - 49, 80