The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1892-06-10
The st. Paul National Bank How
It Discourages Bank Greeks.
From The American Banker.

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From The American Banker.
Bank crooks will learn, bye ana bye that
there is one bank in the country that il is
pretty good policy to give wide berth, in
attempting to work their schemes-that is
the St Paul National Bank, of st. Paul,
MINI. What emphasizes the assertion is the
experience of one of these clever gentry who
arrived ia st. Paul on the I'd of May from
Milwaukee. where he took in, to small ex-
tent, one Of the prominent banks He in
troduced himself to life insurance agent
representing one of the large Eastern COM
panes, and by means of fraudulent common
datory letters gained the insurance mans
confidence, enough so that he was engaged
TO work for the company. Stating that he
needed small bank account, he wa. intro
duced to the st. Paul National and vouched
for by the insurance man. Two days later
he presented for deposit check purpOrting
to be drawn on the Metropolitan National
Bank, of Buffalo, n. Y, for $416.5O. The
teller, without arousing the suspicion of the
man, called the attention of the president OF
the bank to the check, for the purpose of
getting his 20. X" If it was all right, for
credit; but it did not require long for the
president to be pretty fully convinced that
the check was not all right. This impress
sion however he kept to himself. Later in
the day he came in with another check, and
letter showing that the same was sent 10
his sister as part of an inheritance, and
talked with the president about some invest
ment of the funds resulting from the estate.
whereby he could get her a little interest and
yet have the same in shape that they could
be availed of when she should pay for the
millinery stock that she was putting i'm.
The president was so sure of the man being
one OF the kind that make their living off of
banks, that he detained the man in his pri
vate office while chief of police could come
and take the man in custody. In st. Paul
he passed at the bank and with the insur-
ance company, for whom he started ostensi-
bly, to work as r. III. l.. Dwight, at the..Mer-
chants Hotel, where he was stopping, he
registered as Geo. f. Miles; at Milwaukee
where he operated before coming to st. Paul
his name was Albert w. Lyon, and from
his papers found in his room at the hotel it
would seem that his name is VIM. Geer, aid
that his family live in Glen Ridge, n. j.,
and that he is absent from that cline, rusti-
eating in the West until such time as 'sthe
clouds roll by" in that section.
Geer is a man probably 30 to 35 years old,
a little gray sprinkled i'm his hair and par
ticularly noticible where it is brushed back
oyer his ears, of dark, sallow complexion,
giving one the impression that he has lived
in malarial country, about five feet six
inches and of medium build, has a small
round scar about the size of pea Just over
the left eyebrow and is evidently of very
nervous temperament, as shown by the
wrnklng of his forehead and the throbbng
in the forehead over the eyes. When arrested
he had on him some grease paint for the pur-
pose of changing his appearance. and in his
room was found pair of card holders for
holding cards up the sleeve when playing
poker, also various shades of ink, blocks of
checks on eastern banks, rubber stamps for
certifying the same, and number of checks
purporting to be certified jim blank awaiting
the filling in.
This man, in his general appearance, tai
lies pretty well with the crook that is wanted
in Toledo, Ohio, for bank fraud on March
10th, and in Nashville, Tenn, on March 20,
although his methods are somewhat differ
ent. Showing the way Minnesota treats
this kind OF men, it may be well to note
that he reached st. Paul on the I'd of May;
OH the morning of the 9Th he developed his
scheme at the st. Paul National: on the
afternoon of the 9Th he was in charge of the
police; on the morning of the 9th he was
before the police court, and on the afternoon
of the 9th his case had been presented to
the grand jury, and we have no doubt that
before this month is over he will find that
Minnesota court is as stern as it is prompt
in dealing with this class of men. The st.
Paul National Bank is to be congratulated
on the fact that they have lost nothing by
the swindler, and the banks of the country,
that the st. Paul National has put one of
this class out of the way of mischief for
some time to come.
NOte-The person described as VIM. Geer
is probably no other than the person whom
The American Banker exposed last October.
Geer forged the name of Anthony Stumpf
x Co., publishers of this journal, and passed
the check at Newport, r. l. The police at
that place will also be pleased to hear from
him.