St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-07-04
A GIGANTIC STEAL.
A Scheme to Rob the Manhattan Ele-
waited Railway of 100000.
An Accident Leads to It's Discovery and the
Schemers Arrested.

NEW YORK, July 2.-Col. Hahn, manager of
the Manhattan Elevated Railroad company, some
weeks ago reported to Inspector Byrnes that ap
large numbers but that, strange to say, the re-
ceipts were not sensibly diminished. Detectives
were put on the case. and they found that VIM.
II. Pindar, ticket agent on the Sixth avenue
read, was in frequent communication with John
b. Cole, former employe of the company, who
had been caught robbing it and had been dis
charged. The detectives arrested Pindar and in
his possession was found bundle of counterfeit
tickets and another of real ones On investiga-
ton the number of the good tickets was found
to correspond with the number of the counter
felt ones dropped into the gateman's box on the
previous evening at Pindar's station. Pindar
had been selling bad tickets for good, but had
turned all the money into the company The
police were greatly nonplussed by this action.
Coles address was got in Pindar's possession.
1t was at Woodside, N. j. He was coaxed
over to the city by spurious dispatch which he
thought to be from Pindar, and was arrested.
Then his house was searched and in it were
found $4,000 counterfeit tickets and 1000 of the
genuine issue. In Coles house was got the adj
dress of August C. Speth, photographer of this
CITY WHO prIHIcu iHe lOrSeu LlcReVs.
bogus dispatch was also sent
him and his appearance he was
also taken into custody. In his
house in Brooklyn the detective found apparatus
for forging tickets, and any quantity of red and
blue tickets. Pindar said Cole had got him to
enlist in the job. Cole, when acting as ticket
agent, had managed to rob the company of about
$4,000 by abstractng cancelled tickets from the
ticket boxes and removing the cancelled stamps
and selling them over again for genuine tickets
Coles plan was TO hire score of
more agents to print counterfeit tickets
get his men to sell these, and for each one sold
pocket a genuine ticket. These delivered to
him would be filed away until 100000 worth had
accumulated on his hands when he would destroy
the counterfeting plant and hire men to peddle
the rest of the tickets at the chief stations of the
road at reduction. This plan would
have succeeded admirably had not
an accident led to the discovery. The scheme
had at first been started and Cole had succeeded
in getting fifteen or twenty agents into his pay.
cent. was to go to the agents, $4,000 in a lot to
Mr. Speth and the remainder to Cole. Mean
while the latter paid Speth $40 per week and ex-
penses, investing 81, 900 of his previous steal in
the new enterprise. Cole gave the police the
names OF twenty or more agents employed
by him, and these will shortly
be arrested. He also told them
where to look for false catch keys that are now
being used by the thieves on the road. Cole said
he could, with his knowledge of the stealing 90
ing on on the road, save the company $4,000 a
year. Rings for robbery had existed on the road
for years. No two of the men employed by Cole
in his schemes knew Of each others connection
with it. The prisoners are locked up at police
headquarters.