St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-12-03
R0BART'SBAD RECORD
Detective Pinkerton Sizes Him
Up as an All-Roand
Worker.
He 1t Was Who Perpetrated
the Great English Bank e
note Forgery.
Known to and Watched by
Eastern and Western Po-
lice for Years. 3
His Minneapolis Work Only
the Last of a Brilliant =
Series. :,

charges, turns out TO De nOted char
acter. whose history is most novel and
interesting. w. A. Plnkerton, who is
now in the city OH business. says he is
none other than the William Saville,
vino flooded the country dozen years
ago with forged bank notes Oh the Bank
of London and Westminster, and after
ward appeared in California under the
name of Lord AshburtOn. Mr.. Pinker-
ton last evening recited his history IN
this wise: --@i*s
y 1.-The right name of this man is Will
lam Griffith. Twelve years ago he made
his appearance in New York under the
name of William Saville. The country
was soon found to be flooded with En-
glish bank notes purportlng to be those
Of the Bank of London and Westmin-
ster. The notes ranged III amounts
from ego to $50, and were as clever
fUrgerieS as ever made. Savlile maue
an immense purchase of diamonds OF
Kirkpatrick, the great wholesale dla-
moDd dealer of New York, and paid
him in these notes. The notes were
soon found to be f0rgerieS, and the New
York police traced Saville, in company
with a.handS0nle blonde young woman,
westward. They found traces OF him
at Chicago and st. Louis, but he man
aged to elpde them and turned UP i'll
Denver. The detectives of Denver ar
rested him, and demanded of New York
a reward for their services. Not reeelv-
ing-a prompt and satisfactory reply, the
detectives turned him over to two
prominent men who held public posi-
lions, they to hold him until he could
ransom himself. The ransom was to be
raised by him out of crooked bank
work. The Denver men went with him
and the woman, to Cheyenne. there
Sayille worked a bank to the tune of
$1,000. From there all four went to San
Francisco, Savllle was an =
10 Rnyeterate Poker Player. 3
And on the way out the Denver men,
one of whom was a professional gam
bier. beat him out of every cent of his
money. AT San Francisco, Saville put
up with the blonde woman at the Bald
win house under the name of Lord Ash
burton He soon became close friend
and associate of Lucky Baldwin, the
owner of the house, and was negotlat-
ing for the purchase OF a big ranch,
when Capt. J. w, Lee, the chief Of de-
tectiyes, 4swoOped down upon him, his
woman and the Denver men, and re-
covered "A large amount of the forged
English notes. The arrest created
a great sensation throughout the
country. The Denver men escaped,
one of them taking with him the
blonde, and Lord Ashbllrton was left
alone in the hands of the minion of the
law He was tried. convicted and SEN,
fenced to seven years at San Quentin,
and he, served the full term. On his re-
lease from prison he married a most
eStlmable young lady of Il highly Fe4
speeted family of San francisco, and by
her has now one child. i saw him. not
long after that. His health was badly
broken and lie looked as though afflicted
with quick consumption. He eventu-
ally went to New York with his wife
ana child, and was there taken in by
Inspector ByrneS and given a thorough
showing up, Later, OH read all obitu-
airy notice In Eastern papers of the
fellow. .s.,,,7., s5t r.
-Four or five years ago he turned up
under the name OF William Griffith. and
instead of being the consumptlye | had
seen before. he was developed into a.
robust man of 235 pounds. The alteTa-
ton was so great scarcely recognized
him. But afterward he came to me and
/ had a long talk with him. He told me
that he was going by the name of viii.
lam Griffith, and was in the employ of
maid 81 Co. He had plenty of money
and letters of introduction to some
of the leading. people of Chicago.
His firm, he said, was fully
aware of his past life, and being an ex-
pert statesmen he made friends rapidly!
as he appeared to be making an honest
living and providing for his family
said nothing of his career to any one and
rather helped him. Later | discovered
that he was gambling and running with
fast company, not OF the crooked ele-
ment, but fast men OF the
Heavy Business order. 8
He claimed to have been the hacker of
Jack Dempsey i'll several of his fights,
and to be the warm friend of John L..
Sullivan and several other noted prize
fighters. A.~''' 80,
~ nave seen him several times in the
past three years, and rode once with
him and his wife and daughter from
Boston to New York. His wife was
badly broken up. and he explained to
me that he had come near losing his
situation, and that his wife had pre-
vailed on the firm to give him another
trial.
"The last time / saw him was early
in August of this year. [ met him in
Chicago, and he told me he had just
come down from Minneapolis, and Was
going right back. He said that short
time before going to Minneapolis he
had come from Australia, where he lost
much money gambling OH races and in
h0 n
because he mentioned the names of
people know there, and lately met
some bookmakers from there, and they
told me he was there. Griffith told me
he was in the oil business in MInneapo-J
lis. but was not connected with South
maid e Co. I
HE is a great sensational man, and.
given to blowing much about the money
he has made. John McGinn saw him in
Minneapolis in September and October
at different times. Griffith told Inc that
while he was in Australia he came
across the John l.. Sullivan combination
there The company was stranded and
he bought tickets for them to San Fran:
cisco.
Ell always knew he was spending too
much money, unless, as he claimed, he
was in possession of secret process Of
manufacturing oil. His process, he
claimed, enabled him to make fine
salad oil out of cotton seed. He made
this claim at New Orleans. [ should
think, if he had such process, he had
a big thing. don't think he has an
equal as salesman in the country. He
is forty-fiye years old, and stands five
feet eleven inches in height; his COM
plexion and hair are light, and he is
slightly pitted with smallpox. He
dresses well. and freQuents the best
hotels wherever he goes. At. Chicago
he stops at the Auditorium. He has
evidently been in trouble somewhere
and assumed the name of Clifford w.
hobart.
The Minneapolis Sequel.
Supt. Henderson returned from Chi
cago yesterday morning, whittier he
went in search of c. W. hobart, whose
abrupt departure from the city Satur-
day night caused pain to several we'll
known business men. But Henderson
returned without hobart. He found
him not in Chicago. So far as can be
learned. he found no trace of him, The