Omaha daily bee., 1889-09-12
PAVING PETITION FORGERY.
Unscrupulous Solicitors Deceiving
Council and People.
MRS. BEArriE's SIGNATURE.
Unauthorized, It Is Used to show a
Never Expressed Preference for
Pavement OF Gales
burg Brick.

For some time past there has been o sus-
picion in the minds of sundry citizens that
they were being imposed upon in tho manner
In which contractors for paving have secured
signatures to their petitions for their favor
ite material, and that which they could ham
die to the greater advantage.
This Impression has fingered In thoir minds
and has been allowed to rest there, the
aggrieved deeming that any effort upon their
part TO correct the conditions of things would
be fruitless.
But communication introduced into the
council Tuesday night, signed by Mary Il.
Boattie, has, at last, started movement that
promises TO bring to light any number of for
geries perpetrated by the solicitors employed
by contractors, and the pursuance and
investigation of which may eventually land
some of these affable gentlemen in the
criminal court
Mr.. Hugh Murphy, one of the leading con-
tractors of the city, possesses unsurpassed
facilities for securing paving brick, and az a
consequence has been active through the
agency of solicitors, IN obtaining the sigma
lures of property owners along streets where
paving has been ordered this year, to petit
tions requesting that such thoroughfares be
paved in brick.
He succeeded in securing two contracts for
this kind of work and was after q third,
which was to pave with vitrifed fire brick,
Thirtieth street from Spaulding north.
His solicitors succeeded in securing q num-
Der OF signatures to the petition and these in
cluded that OF gentleman named Parker,
who owned large proportion of the proper
ty along the street. Mr.. Murphy had suffi-
cient to get HIM the contract, although an
actual majority of the property owners were
inclined towards other materials.
Among them were supposed to be Mr.
Beattie, but Tuesday, while going over the
petition asking for brick paving on this
thoroughfare, number of gentlemen inter-
ested in the matter found the supposed sig
nature of Mr.. Beattie's wife, Mrs. Mary Il.
Beattie.
The gentlemen at once went to MIR. Beat
tie and asked him what this meant. He had
always declared himself in favor of other
paving, and they could not understand why
his wife should attach her signature to pc
tition asking for brick.
Mr.. Beattie declared that If his wife's
name appeared upon the petition it was
forgery, and at once proceeded to the clerks
office and asked for the document. He says
that the clerk handed out tho petition very
reluctantly, but finally did SO, and upon ex-
animation he found his wife's name attached
to the document, but written in hand en-
tirely different from hers.
This led him to address communication
to the council in regard TO the matter.
"My wife, said Mr.. Beatte, ''has been
absent from the city for three months leuv-
ing long before this petition was circulated.
l was absent all during the month of August
and my theory is that this solicitor called
upon me at the store and finding that was
absent and would be for three or four weeks,
attached the name of my wife to this petit
ton, hoping to rush it through before my
return, She owns a block of land up there,
but she has always made it rule not to sign
documents of any kind but to refer them
to me.h
A reporter yesterday morning compared an
original signature of Mrs. Beattie, furnished
by her husband, with that upon the petition
The genuine Is IN the stylish gothic hand so
popular with ladies, while that upon the petit
tion is in the round free hand of an ac-
countant.
This, however, is not the only ca Sc IN
which name has been Signed to the petit
ton by others than the owner of the cog
nomen. ....-
Immediately above the forged signature of
Mrs Beattie, Is that of a man named Magen-
shl who also owns some property out there.
The owner of the signature declares this to
be forgery. Unlike the case of Mrs. Beat
tie, in signing the name of Magenshi, the
penman has made a desperate attempt to
initiate the signature of Magenshi, but the
effort brought forth but poor result
1t is asserted that there are other names
which have been forged to This petition, and
that there are petitions TO which signatures
have been forged, and which have been ac-
cepted by the council contracts allowed and
work begun.
The investigation which has been com.
menced promises to annul many OF the paw
ing contracts let this year.