Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-07-07
4 CLEVER f0RGER.
THE ROBBER OF THE D. o. MILLS BANK
ARRESTED IN STOCKTON.
One of the Smoothest Workers IN the
Countrywide Pleads Guilty to
Hide His Identity.

W. E. Williamson, alias n. E. Williams
the clever forger who was arrested feS
days ago in Stockton, has been fully identi
fed as the man who recently passed forged
checks on the d. 0. Mills Bank III thi.
city.
Officer Karcher went down to Stockton
TO look at the prisoner, and, if possible, gel
possession of him. But the Stockton folks
are going to have the first crack at him, SO
Sacramento vengeance will have to wait a
while. Officer Karcher says that besides
swindling the bank Williamson is the same
individual who robbed Fabian Bros. and
another grocery firm, one of $21 each, by
passing forged checks upon them.
Williamson is one of the smoothest work
ers in the country, as is shown by the
numerous inquiries in regard to him,
which are being daily received by Sheriff
Cunningham of San joaquin county. He
is said to have practiced mis- profession all
over the United States with great success :
in fact, if he is connected with all of the
crimes attributed to him, he will spend the
balance of his life in prison.
His modus opeTandi is to write a letter
to himself The uses q new name in every
town he works., purporting to come from
some place in another State and inClosing
a check for certain amount-neyer large
so that it may the more readily be cashed.
This letter is written as explaining why
the check is sent, and when the forgar
wishes to get money on the paper he shows
the letter USUALLY pinning the two to-
gether), and this generally dispels any
doubt from the mind of his intended vic
tim as to the genuineness of the check.
He has also font of type and a small
awl, which he uses in his work With the
type he prints such matter on tine checks as
Payment guaranteed by --, cashier"
leaving blank space for the name of that
official, as is usual. He also uses the type
to print letter heads, giving the name and
business of the person or firm from whom
he represents to have received the letter.
The awl he uses to make the perforated
numbers which designate the amount the
check is drawn for. He carries also red
ink and uses il to place the number and
date on the face of the check
Three of these letters were found in his
valise, and it is supposed they are his stock
in trade, he retaining them and using them
over again with a new check in each town
he arrives at. To one of the letters was
attached check, which he was evidently
getting ready 10 raise money on.
The only thing clumsy about any of the
forger's work are his perforated figures,
which, when compared with each other,
show that they were never executed by
regular stamp. By using the same font of
type in printing on his different checks he
makes also another mistake, as no two
banks use the same style of type, but, then,
no, rl,-, i i
than one check in each town, this made no
difference.
Sheriff Cunningham has received a cir
cular headed, Look out for the forger,"
which was issued by the Wichita Clearing
House Association of Wichita, Kansas 1t
bears date of June Goth last and is addressed
to the bankers of Colorado, Wyoming,
Montana, Utah, Nevada, Idaho. California,
Oregon and Washington Territory. 1t
reads as follows:
A man calling himself n. E. Williams is now
making tour of the West, passing forged
checks purporting to be certified by the banks
upon which they are drawn Within a month
eleven of these have been presented at the Wi
chita Clearinghouse. They are all drawn on
the Kansas National Bank, of this city, upon a
plnk-colored blank, like inclosed, signed c. W.
Newman, payable to n. f. Williams or bearer
the amount punched out with a regular needle
perforatoT, and certified good with rubber
l.. Il,
Assisting Cashier Gin some cases Asst CASH
ier'). sometimes, however, he has signed it as
.. G. Bush, Asst Cashier, and one as N G.
Bank, Actg Cashier The Kansas National
Ter. Its cashier is Charles E Frank
The Autographed fac SMILES of the various
signatures are Enclosed herewith. The first two
checks he obtslned money upon were for $50
each, and were cashed by banks in Denver and
Cheyenne the next two SS7 and $40 30 respect.
lively. and caShed by two banks in Salt Lake
and bank at Reno, New. The fOrger seems to
be working westward, and we send out this
warning in the hope that at the next point
where he tries his little game the officials may
arrest him on the spot and save our brother
bankers in the West from further imposition
and loss.
Please advise US by wire, if caught, and we
will communicate the fact to the several banks
which have been TlCumiZed.
The signatures referred to in the forego-
ing letter are &C. n. Newman &C. P.
Banks" and N. E. Williams" The lat
ter is identical with a signature on the
back of letter found in the prisoners
possession when be was arrested. 1t had
been written on the letter for the purpose,
evidently, Ct reminding him of the name
he used in a transaction to which the let
ter alluded.
Williamson is handsome fellow, about
six feet in height. and weighing in the
neighborhood of $50 pounds. He dresses
well and styhshly. he wears diamonds
and other valuable jewelry, and is an in
imitable actor.
When he was brought up for examina-
ton in Court at Stockton he paralyzed the
officials there yesterday by pleading guilty.
He evidently knew that he was in for it,
and his idea in pleading guilty was to be
sentenced and sent to jail before it became
generally known who he really was
But it didn't work. The authorities
were fully aware of the magnitude of their
prize. Williamson's acting did not please
them. He made a splendid speech, which
so far affected the Court as to elicit the
lenient sentence of three years in San
Quentin.
But the cat is out of the bag, and it is
known now ell over the country that
Williamson is in custody. He will step
from San Quentin into some other prison,
and so On probably for years to come.