St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-12-02
GONE WITH The CASH.
Clifford w. hobart Has De-
parted From minneapolis
and From Trouble.
Business Men OF Ackno WI
edged Shpewdness Are
Sorry for 1t.
The Union Depot Is Scorehed
by Flames and Wet by
Water.
Interesting Figures From the
Annual Report Of City
Engineer Rinker.

lis. Supt. Henderson has gone to Chi
cago. and it is said that he has gone t.
| get hobart. Several of the best-knOwl
business men in Minneapolis ale sorry
that hobart has gone, and hope that
Henderson will return with him. Be
/ hind these facts are some ugly stories
told about hobart.
In the first place, who is hobart?
| Early last summer a tall, athletic
looking man, wearing a heavy brown
moustache and. the look of ''rounder,"
came to Minneapolis. That was hobart.
He was good deal of sport in his
way, and soon made the acquaintance
of all the men of Minneapolis who
are sportively inclined. He backed
a prize fighter, played the 'hoss-
es," bought wine when ''doing the
town." and talked with an air
of authority about everything connected
with sporting matters. In some way his
name was circulated about as "Griff,''
and "Griif" was heard of on every
street corner and in every saloon in the
city. Sports took delight in quoting
what "Griff" said about this, that and
the other. He was often introduced to
strangers as one of the hackers of the
late John l.. Sullivan, champion prize
fighter of the United Saics
Not All 'E'a!k.
But talking was not all lha; '.Griff,'
as he may as well be called. could do.
although that was what he did mostly.
He opened an office at $40 Lumber Ex-
change, and on his business cards he
was put down as representing ID. A.
Stuart q Co., of Chicago, manufacture
erS of oils and lubricating compounds.
So far as being the representative of
that house, one of the richest in that
line in the country, hobart was
ION the square," 1t is limited
that he was not quite SC
square i'll many other ways. He
did good business, apparently. in Min
neapoliS. He is said to have had lot
of money at various times since he came
to the city. But he is gone now. Plain
ly. the stories are that he has victim
lied several of the supposedly Shrewd-
est business men in Minneapolis. How
much he took out of their POCKETS can
not be learned.
The men with whom hobart Is said to
have done business, at least those with
whom he was associated IN business
way, whose names he used as refer
enceS, number, among others, G. q.
Goodrich, vice president of the Mime
apolis street railway company: S. q.
Cook and c. Ii. Maxey. the owners of
the Lumber Exchange; Ii. G. Akeley,
of the Ill. G. Akeley Lumber company.
besides others whose names cannot be
learned. None of these men is anxi-
Gus to talk about the affair. But they
are ANXIOUS about hobart and want to
get him.
Changed Hotels.
hobart has been living with his wife
and child at the Waverly hotel. Last
Saturday he left there and went to the
Holmes. He went to the Holmes in the
afternoon, and left there in the evening
for Chicago. Tuesday night Supt. Hen
derSOn left for Chicago. He carried in
his pocket a warrant for Robart'S ar
rest. Wednesday the furniture and fix
lures in Robart's Lumber Exchange
Office were attached by one of the vic
tins. Yesterday the name of the occu-
pant had been scraped off the door, the
telephone pulled out and the Office
made bare room again.
AS before stated, hobart was an agent
for an oil company. If he cheated any
body, he did it skilfully. According to
one of the men who has lost by him, he
worked this way:
He always had proper letters, etc, to
show that he was the agent of this Chi
cago concern. He also had contracts
with railroads and other concerns that
use large quantities OF lubricating ma
lelial, to show that he was
doing good business He would
20 to business man whom he had
met and show his contracts and his bills
of lading, to prove that certain guam
tity of oil had been shipped to him.
But he always lacked enough money to
make the partial payment necessary be-
fore the oil could be delivered to him.
He also needed, usually some money to
pay freight charges, etc. He would
Request a loan
and turn over the bills of lading as Sc
curity. Now the assertion is made that
some of these bills of ladipg were false.
The assertion is also made that he some
times worked through confederate at
the other end of a telephone wire, and
in that way assured his creditors. or
possible creditors, that certain guam
tity of merchandise was waiting for
hin dC Gne IT0ISnG OlllC6.
But still more likely story is this:
hobart was skillful oil mixer. He had
been with the Standard Oil company for
years, it is said. and understood his
business. He would sell high grade of
lubricating oil for high price. Then
he would take little high grade
oil and skillfully mix it with two
OF three other kinds of oil of
a much lower and cheaper grade.
The mixture would be delivered in
place of the high grade sold and the
profit would be considerable. They do
say that he unfolded this scheme to
some business men and, under the int1u-
ence of his persuasive eloquence, they
were induced to embark in the Oil-miX-
ing enterprise with him to make an
honest dollar hobart spent his money
in
Gambling and ''SpOrting.''
He was an inveterate gambler and a
hard loser. The gamblers did not like
to have HIM in their houses. Once in
the place over Lally's. he made the
house pay for watch. some railroad
tickets and a 500 bill which he said he
had left on the green cloth while
he was placing his chips. The proprie-
tor of the place insists that hobart stole
his own property and made the "house''
pay for it. He lost good deal of money
in various places about the city. He
used to say that he had lost $4,000
in the places controlled by the "syndi-
cate" but if he lost fifth of that he
lost a good deal, and more than any one
will admit he lost.
hobart has had quite career. He has
been all over the country-all over the
world, in fact. He used to say that he
paid the expenses of John l.. Sullivan
and his company back from Australia.
Perhaps that is where he got the reputa.
ton of being Sullivan's hacker. Other
people say he used to be waiter IN
BILLY" McGlory's notorious joint when
New York was shot" town and Nc.
Glory Gefied the law. Others say, again,
that he used to be a
Professional ssCon'' Man
and that he was now trying to make a
| living in legitimate business. He was
not chump by any means. He was a
smooth and persuasive talker, and his
schemes always had all appearance OF