St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-08-11
like SIMPLE CILLIES
Hany Fat and Foolish Flies
FIutter Gleefully Into a
SPIDERS Web,
And the Lazy, Seheming In
sect Sucks Them Very,
Very Dry.
nr. Mortimer, the Spider, Has
Many Thousands Of
Dollars,
While His Dupes Have the
Wide World in Which
to Howl.

" I1O w 4s
CHICAGO, Aug. 1O.-Alfred Downing,
president, and \. Fl. TOllman, vice
president. of the National Capital
Savings, Building and Loan Associa-
tion of North America, were arrested
by Postofice Inspector Stuart, charged
with using the mails for fraudulent pur-
poses. 1t is charged that the men who
have been conducting this association
have swindled thousands of people
from every state in the Union, and
taken in from 100000 to S350,O0O and
given nothing in return. The victims
hail from Maine to California, and are
numbered among rich and poor alike.
From facts already in possession of the
authorities, the scheme will parallel
that of the great Fund w" Swindle
which was broken up about five years
ago. There are still two men at liberty,
they having disappeared several weeks
ago. These two men that are missing,
it is believed, got away with most OF
the funds. For six months and more
letters have been received from all
parts of the country by the poStOtfice
and city authorities protesting that the
National Capital Savings, Building and
Loan Association of North America
was not what its projectors represented
it to be, and that it was collecting
meney and
Making Nc Loans.
Inspector Stuart has been working on
the case four months. He found that
the concern was gigantic in its reach
and had agents in every state in the
union, who were selling the S20,000.0OO
of stock the company was selling. The
scheme was advertised through these
agents, who were sent circulars and
documents showing the association to
be gilt-edged. At the time Capt. Stuart
took charge of the case Louis +. MOrti-
mer. the general manager and secretary.
was apparently the responsible man and
handled the cash received in large
amounts every day. Capt. Stuart Wis
tied the cOmpany's Office frequently,
disguised as a letter carrier, in order to
secfre evidence. Several weeks ago
Mortimer disappeared, and to-day, after
having waited in vain for his return,
Capt. Stuart decided to secure the other
visible members of the combination.
George o. Ferguson. of Lincoln, Neb..
representing about sixty victims in his
city. was summoned here. With his as
sStance the necessary evidence was
completed and the arrests made. Three
young lady clerks were taken into Gus
tOdy as witnesses. Mr.. Ferguson, i'll an
interview. said: 1.-The association was
represented in our town by local firm,
acting in good faith. The people of Ne
braska are very much IN favor of the
building and loan association plan and
the offers of this concern were snapped
up quickly. 1t sold
Shares at so Cents
each, with a payment of S11.05 each
month for ninety-SiX months at the end
of which time a $1,000 loan would De
paid for. Then there was a ''member-
ship fee of $50, an appraisement fee of
$50 and S45 for three months payment
in advance, thus making S95. The COLI
Germ made one 500 loan that was genu-
Inc, and this was just enough to lead
others to invest. and hundreds sent
their money to Chicago on the strength
of the loans they expected to make.
Stores were left. The money never
rame and we wrote on here to learn
what the trouble was. and finally Prof.
EllwOOd, of the Wesleyan university,
who was quite a heavy investor, came
to Chicago to investigate. He visited
the offices, and Manager Mortimer
q
and gave such assurances that the loans
would be forthcoming that Prof. ELL
wood went back satisfied.
But the money never came. and finally
] laid the case before the pOStOffice au-
thOrities. Inspector Stuart and District
Attorney GilchriSt went over the books
or the concern and found that seventeen
legitimate loans have been made in as
many different states. These, it would
seem, were made TO allure other in
VestorS. as in the Nebraska case. No
record of any other loans could befound,
although the books show that money
has been derived from hundreds of peo-
pie from the places where the single
loan was placed. A rough estimate of
the amount of money received is S175,-
00U in the year and half the asSOcia-
tiOn had been in existence.
Suckers in minneapolis.
The books of the association show
that it had agents in all the states, but
the most active were in Omaha, Denver,
DeS MOines, Portland, Oregon. Calves
ton, Olympia. Wash, San Francisco
and Minneapolis. These agents trans
mitted hundreds of dollars daily in
checks, drafts, money orders and by
registered letters. Until within a few
months the concern, it is said, did
appears that the authorities there made
inquiries which resulted in the manager
leaving. The association was organized
Feb. Il, 1890, with the follow
ing as officers: Alfred Downing.
president; II. II. Tollman. vice
president; Louis F. Mortimer,
general manager and secretary. Morti-
mer seemed 10 be the leading spirit in
the enterprise, and he at once incor-
pOTated the concern with the long name
with capital Of $2O000,OOO. Mortimer
was a good manager, and soon had the
money flowing in at rapid rate. Ev-
erything went smoothly until the clos
ing of the Philadelphia branch. when
Mortimer came. back here and began
wrangling with his business associates.
Finally he Ousted Downing and elected
one F. A. Wentworth president. Down
ing threatened trouble, and Mortimer
saying his son was very i'll IN Philadel-
phia. left suddenly and has not been
since seen. 1t is said that he
Took Almost $4,000
that the association had in banks here,
leaving about $1,000 which Downing
had tied up by Injunction. Mortimer
was last heard of July 10 at 704 Eighth
avenue, New York city. President
Downing and Vice President Tolman
both admitted that enormous sums had
been taken in, but asserted that they
were not Sin it." Both alleged that
they had never gotten more than
small salary out of the affair. Down
ing added: "M0rtimer was the man
who got it all. We started in what |
believed to be an honest building and
loan business and l believed Mortimer