St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-03-26
FREDDIE is FREE.
President Harrison PardOns
Young Bickel, the Thieving,
Rank MaSSou0ep

1ounS biCkSi, Tue lnieVinS
Bank Messenger. ~
A special dispatch to the GLOBE FRONT
Washington yesterday afternoon statesl
that President Harrison has granted a
pardon in the case of Frederick f.
Biekel, convicted in this state on June
6, 1888, of abStracting funds of the
Union National Bank of Duluth while
acting as its messenger, nowserving a.
five years sentence at Saltwater. ,
The story of Bickefs theft was pub
lished in detail in the columns of the
GLOBE on Oct. 1, 1887, the morning after
his arrest in Chicago by Detective Will
lam Pinkerton. Bickel was employed
in the bank as messenger, his former
reputation as an honest and moral
young man and member of Protes-
tant church, coupled with his family
connections, recommending him to Mr..
Odell, president of the bank. Entering
upon the duties of his position in Feb
be an able and earnest employe. On
Sept. 16, 1887, H. A. Ware. cash
Ter of the bank. entered the
vault to remove several packages
of currency which had been left
there by Teller Wells after charging
the amount to the days reserve account.
Diligent search revealed nothing, and
the six packages, amounting to S24, 500,
were missing. MIR. Ware Immediately
telegraphed the president of the bank,
who was then in Chicago, and the case
was at once turned over to the superin-
tendent of the Pinkerton Detective
agency. Maj. Loader, Pinkerton rep
resentative, stationed at st. Paul, was
notified, and all trains from Duluth
were closely watched. The city police
of Duluth were put upon the scent
who, together with the Pinkerton men,
who Swallowed the movements of each
employee of the bank, made escape
almostlmpossible. Nothing was learned
and no clue found to the solution of the
mystery. All employees of the bank
were crosS-questioned and examined,
but to no avail. The bank officials de-
cided to discharge Bickel. SO that his
conduct might be watched by the de-
tectives.. He saved the management
the trouble. however, by rendering his
decided he should be caShiered. This
self-sown bud of suspicion soon
bloomed to conviction, and he was
Swallowed day and night and soon be-
came prey to detective ambition. The
reports of the Sleuths who hunted him
down show that Bickel had planned
to implicate fellow employee who had
left the employ of the bank the night of
the robbery. He had access to the
vault. and thinking that the guilt would
be fastened upon his innocent colleague
who resigned his position on the even
ing of the theft, he entered the vault
at noon, and, secreting the money under
his coat, carried it to his room. That
night he took the packages to larges
rock pile about mile out of Duluth,'
and hid them under several huge boul-i
ders, not going near them again till the
night after his departure from the
bank. On that night he secured the.
money and bought ticket for Mill.
waukee, intending to GO from there to-
Detroit and thence to Canada. Afraid to
| leave al the regular Duluth depot he
walked to West Dulnth. carrying the,
money stored away under the false bot
tom of small portmanteau, and there,
boarded the train, first coming to ST.
Paul. When he arrived here he
changed his mind and decided to go to
Chicago, All this time he was being
tracked and and allowed to proceed OH
his way, the officers hoping to thus dis
cover his accomplicc. if he had one.
When Bickel arrived at Chicago, he
wandered about lIap-haZzard for three
days, until William ePinkerton, feeling
that Bickel was alone in his crime,
nabbed him, extracted complete con-
fesSion and recovered the entire plum
der, except $50. which Bickel had
spent. He was taken back to Duluth,
tried, convicted and sentenced on June
6, 1888 to five years. imprisonment.
Bickel, at the time of the robbery, was
but twenty-five years old. handsome
and intelligent. He planned and exc
cuted the theft in a clever manner. fix
ing the suspicion-bad he not been
caught-upon friend. Not being
calloused criminal. he confessed when
confronted with his misdeed.
PROPERTY OWNERS PROTEST
Residents Of St. Anthony Hill
Think the Proposed Carpenter
Park Too Expensive a luxury.
A large crowd of particularly inter-
ested st. Anthony hill property owners