Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-01-02

the passing of forged checks has been, to
great extent, stopped, although, of course,
from the skillful ways in which that nefa-
rious industry is pursued, it is not possible
to guard absolutely against it. We cannot,
of course, know the new agents of the for
gers until they make some attempt at
work; but when they do, if the bank Off
Gals are smart enough to suspect them,
we are ready on the spot to nab them"
''You speak of the forgers' skillful ways.
What is the general method of their oper-
atoms, Or have they any particular sys-
temp
s'They have. To track it in brief, it is
this: First, as spectable-looking man
as they can command will be sent to the
house marked for plumber to sell good
bond of some sort and get check for it.
In that way the firms signature is OBJ
tanned. Then the adroit forger, who al
ways keeps himself in the background,
goes to work. He makes photographic
fac-simile of the blank check, practices in
the writing of the firms signature, and in
the chirography of the filling in on the
good check, and then he makes three false
checks. One, which is intended to be a
feeler, is only for about $500; second, to
be passed if the first goes, is for $500 or
thereabouts; and the third to fol-
low the others if they go off
safely, will be for, say, $500.
Then an agent to pass the first one is Sc
lected, somebody who is not known to the
police, generally young man who is just
going crooked and who has the nerve for
the task, and he is thoroughly drilled in the
part. he is to play, and taught just what he
is to say. When he goes into the bank
where the forged check is to be tried, an
|accomplice, apparently stranger to him,
Eenters at the same time, and manages to
get right behind him in the line at the
eashisrs window. The man who passes
the check is not trusted to get into the
street with the money. If he obtains it he
must instantly drop his hand and slip the
notes into the hand of the accomplish be-
hind him, who will, when they get away,
give him his Is per cent. for passing it. But
suppose the cashier hesitates over the check,
seeming to suspect it. Then instantly the
accomplice reaches over the shoulder of
the passer, and thrusting a good $50 bill
into the cashier, asks the favor of change
for it. That makes tenn orary diversion,
under cover of which the passer glides ont
into the street and escapes. But, suppose
that the cashier, the instant after passing
out the money, seems to have an intuitiye
perception that something is wrong, or has
his suspicious in some way awakened
about the check, and calls out, Hold on
there! wait moment,' and begins ex-
amining the check more attentively. Then
ii is not the passer who glides out and
escapes. but the accomplish to whom the
money has been passed. The passer re-
mains, looking as calm and innocent
as possible, to deny everything.
The cashier may swear as he will to the
payment; he simply denies it, says: You
have paid me nothing. Search me if you
like. You are mistaken in the person.
Perhaps you paid some other person, but
certainly not me- He has not dollar.of
the money in his possession, and it is sim
ply question of veracity between him and
the cashier. The chances are that he will
escape. They never risk more than three
checks on one house at one time, and only
one is taken to be cashed at venture, the
others being held by the 'scratcher'-or
forger-until trial gives assurance that the
forgery is sufficiently good to be success
full. The real forger is hard to get at"
An old Wall street man,when questioned
about the fluctuations of the rich, replied:
s'Well, they exist, but not in sufficient
quantities to justify us in singing that "a
rich mans lot is not happy ONE There
is, as you have been told,a devil of lot of
annoyance from blacklnailers and impu-
dent rascals who write insulting and sour
rilous letters, but of real personal danger
don't believe there is any. Some years
ago, as you may remember, stalwart
broker picked little Gould up by the nape
of the neck and dropped him through an
area-way- pretty near slung him through
BARRIERS window. Well, man naturally
hates to be treated like cat, and it was
reported then that Gould was so much dis
gusted with his experience in that line
that he got powerful.bjg fellow-a Greek,
l think they said he was-to sort of saun-
ter around where he was, and be ready to
intefere if any body undertook to
play with him again in that fashion. But
nobody else seemed inclined that way, and
[ guess the Grecian contingent was dis
banded and mustered out of service before
long. Anyway, know you can see Gould
lodging about the streets in business
hours now all alone, going between his of
fee and the Western Union building, and
Oh A1O OOo eb1OAiSs WAoiA Aio
bent down, his head thrust out consider
ably in advance of his body, and his eyes
fixed on the ground, apparently seeing no
body, not caring cuss whether everybody
him dropped dead or flew up in the
air, and certain not to notice it if they did
either. He isn't afraid of anybody. 1t is
true that the Wall street detective bureau,
under Inspector Byrnes' management, has
given such security to property down here
as was never enjoyed before. His men are
down here before the safe-deposit vaults
are opened in the morning, and are about
here all day until they are closed and bus
mess is over. You can always get one in
minute, and they are SO ubiquitous that
the thieves are afraid to come within hail
of Wall street. Of course every bank has
man of its own-an officer-but they
don't know one thief by sight where these
detectives know scores, and it is a great
security to have Byrne's men within easy
call for consultation at any minute"
TELEPHONES.