St. Paul daily globe., 1889-06-25
The Police Think They Are at
the Bottom of an Old
SWindle.
In a New Phase the Melodop-
Gus BlatZ Case Will Bob
UP.
Yesterdays Doings in the
Various Courts, State and
Federal.

gang of real estate crooks who have
been operating in st. Paul, as the most
slippery set of Swindlers with which
the city has been infested. A large
number of poor people have been vic
timized by this band, and all appeals to
the police department and other sources
of redress have proved futile. Some
time ago, however, maD' by the name
of John Ritz. or Rutz, said to reside on
Charles street, was swindled out of
his only team of draft horses, worth
about four hundred dollars. The modus
Operandi employed by this lot of crooks
will be apparent and suggestive of well
designed fraud. The basis OF all value
and assets for trading and swindling
purposes on the part of the ''gang"
seems to have been the proverbial
"South Duluth building lots," local
ity made famous for its speculative
medium. through which great deal of
swindling was done in st. Paul and
Minneapolis during the memorable real
estate boom of 1887. 1t is said by those
who have been skinned on this property
gag, that lots described in the usual
mortgages purporting TO be on valuable
property in Duluth, do, in most cases,
not exist at all. Where there is really
land upon which worthless mortgages
and notes are given from one member
of the gang to the other, that property
is worth Sl.25 per acre. The matter
which has caused
THE ARREST OF TWO
of the men alleged to be concerned in
the repeated frauds was the trade with
RutZ. The first arrest upon this deal
WIS about week ago. George Kings
ley, man we'll known in the city as
rather ambiguous horse trader, was then
arrested and placed in Jail on charge
of larceny. He subsequently, gave bail
and was released. 1t appears now that
when Kingsley got out of Jail he gave
the alarm to the others, and the police,
who had warrants for some of the 9TH
ers, were chasing about the city all last
week endeavoring to arrest the others.
into the hands of Deputy Sher-
all day yesterday. came upon
him in Lafayette park late in the after
noon. Gerhardt H. Thaden is the name
of the second arrest. As Deputy Cole
approached Thaden the latter ran up
Lafayette avenue, and was only cap
tured and manacled at the point of re-
vOlver. There are seven or eight sus-
poets, all of whom are thought to be inn
plicated in this and other frauds, which
will probably now come to light. The
scheme played upon RutZ, whereby the
gang secured his than, was this:
Thaden, who hangs out at real estate
Office on East Seventh street, is charged
with effecting the exchange of mort
gage for some s4G0, given by one Ed
Carlson On some South Duluth lots, for
Rutz's team of horses, upon the repre-
sentation. by Thaden and others, that
the mortgage was -
A VALID ONE
and upon property worth $1,000. ID
order to induce Rutz to trade, the gang
took him to the Office of one of their
colleagues on W abasha street, who told
RutZ that he would have tine mortgage
cashed as non as it became RitZ's prop
erty. Ritz, assured in this manner that
he was getting a good deal. made the
trade and delivered the horses to Kings
ley, who Immediately drove them to
Minneapolis and put them in charge
of one Charles Herrick, who is evi-
IDENTITY in colIusion with the ST. Paul
end of the conspiracy. Thaden says he
acted as agent for Kingsley. who tn turn
says he procured the mortgage from
one Anderson, who was working for
him. Ed Carlson is saloonkeeper on
the corner of Pine and Seventh streets,
and be says that his name was forged
to that mortgage. There seems to be
racket. and Thaden, who is now in Jail,
says they are notorious for the great
number of successful schemes Of fraud
they have practiced upon any number
of poor and ignorant people. Thaden
says they are at the bottom of the whole
affair, and tnat they have always
worked under cover of s.....
AN ORGANIZATION OF sWINDLERS,
which they have themselves maln-
tanned. This firm is said to be doing
business ON Jackson street. Thaden
says one member. forged Carlson's
name to the mortgage. and then palmed
it off on Anderson. Kingsley's hired
man. Thaden also claims, and produced.
several letters from his pocket
book, that the other, member
had forged the name of Herrick.
of Minneapolis, to those notes, and
backs his statement by declaring that
Herrick swOre that such was the case
and that he believed it to be true. The
notes were indorsed to Carlson, but are
now in the possession of Thaden. For
this Thaden did not account, but in
some juggling way involved another,
one Ed Carver, of this city. And so the
matter stands. Thaden says he is glad
the gang has been run down, feeling
confident that he can clear himself and
aid the state in convicting the others
implicated i'm the stealing operations,
which have been going OH for a year or
more. P. j. Qvist, of Pierce & Qvist,
attorneys, has filed complaint which
makes other charges of more serious
nature against Thaden, Kingsley and
some of the others, and it will not be
long ere the whole band will be lodged
behind the bars.