The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1884-07-12
A CLEVER FRAUD.
s. rewd Scheme to Rob Railroads.
Discharged Employe Arrested for
Trying to Defraud the Company.

Colonel Hahn, the manager of the Man
haitian Elevated Railroad Company, New
York, some weeks ago reported to In
spector Byrnes that apparently counter
felt tickets were passed on the road in
large numbers, but that, strange to say,
the receipts were not sensibly dimin-
ished. Detectives were put on the case,
and they found that William ii. Pindar.
4 ticket agent on the Sixth avenue road,
was in frequent communication with
John b. Cole, Il former emplOye of the
company, who had been caught robbing
it and had been discharged. The detec
tives arrested Pindar on Wednesday, and
in his possession found Il bundle Of coun-
terieit tickets and another of real ones.
On investigation, the number of good
tickets was found to correspond with
the number of counterfeit ones dropped
in the gatesman's box on the previous
evening at Pindar's station. Pindar
had been selling the bad tickets for the
good, but had turned all the money into
the company. The police were greatly
nonplusSed by this action. Coles add
dress was got in l'indar's possession. 1t
was at Wooosidc, n. j. lie was coaxcd
over to New York bya spurious dispatch
which he thought to be from Pndar, and
he was arrested. Then his house was
searched and i'll it were found $1,000
counterfeit tickets and l. 200 of the gen
uine issues. In Coles house was got
! the address of August c. Speth, ltho-
grapher of New York, who printed the
forged tickets. a bogus dispatch was
also sent to him and upon his appear
ance he was also taken into custody. In
his house in Brooklyn the detectives
found the apparatus for forging the tick
cts and any quantity of the red and blue
tickets. Speth said that Cole had got
him to enlist in the job. Cole, when
acting as ticket agent, had managed to
rob the company of about $14, 600 by alb
stracting the cancelled tickets from the
ticket box, removing the cancelled
stamps and selling them over again for
genuine tickets. Coles plan was to
hire Il score or more of agents to print
counterfeit tickets, get his men to sell
these and for each one pocket genuine
ticket. Those delivered to him would
be filed away until hundred thousand
dollars worth had accumulated on his
hands, when he would destroy the coun-
terfeiting plant and hire men to petldle
the real tickets near the chief stations of
the road at a reduction. This plan would
have succeeded admirably hau not acct
dent led to discovery. The scheme had
inst been started, and Cole had sue
ceedcd i'll getting fifteen or twenty agents
berry, thirty-thrce per cent. was to go to
the agents, $l0,0 900 in lot to Speth, and
the remainder to Cole. Meanwhile the
latter paid Spe,h $40 Il week and bore
all the expenses. investing 81, 900 of his
previous steal i'll the new enterprise.
Cole gave to the police the rames of 90
or more agents employed by him. and
these will shortly I've arrested. He also
told them v here to look fu. false latch
keys that We're being used by thieves ON
the road. Cole said that lie could with
his knowledge of the stealing going on,
on the road save the company $50,0 900
year. Rings within rings organized for
robbery, Cole said, had existed ON the
road for years. Nc two of the men en-
ployeG by Cole in his scheme knew of
each others connection with it. The
prisoners were locked up At police head
quarters.