The Press., 1893-04-27
FORGED A. PARDON.

| FORGED A. PARDON.
 George Lewis, colored, who has been serving long sentence in the peniten- tiaIy for forgery, was. arrested on another charge of the same kind as he was leaving the prison gate at Topeka, Kan., recent ly, after having completed hiss last. sen- Itence.
 There was nothing remarkable in this except that his arrest recalls an astonish- ing story of forgery. Lewis had been 8 messenger in Washington, detailed on duty at the war department. It was while there that he committed the first forgery that led to his imprisonment. He had been in prison less than a year when he procured through the assistance of friends blank pardon, such as is used by the president of the United States. This he filled out and signed the names of Presi- dent Grant and the then assistant secre- tary of war. Having completed this work he smuggled it into the prison mail, op- portunities for which were plenty, as he had been detailed as clerk in the wardens office In due time the friend in Wash ington, to whom it had been sent, tele- graphed the warden that the pardon had that day been transmitted, signing the name of the presidents private secretary 1 to the dispatch.
 l When the expected pardon was received byWarden Smith the signatures were con- pared with others known to be genuine, not that there was suspicion, but merely as matter of precaution, as had been customary. The pardon was pronounced correct. and Lewis was called in and in formed of it's receipt and notified that he was free man. Had he been satisfied with his freedom he would soon have been at liberty, and detection of the forgery might not have occurred for years.
 When the warden told him to prepare to change his clothes for those of citi- zen, Lewis asked that he might have the pardon, in compliance with a marginal note on the paper. This request, show ing knowledge of the contents of a doc- ument that had not been shown him, ex- cited the suspicion of the deputy warden, who desired to know what he wanted it for. The answer was ready: "For pur- poses of Identification. ," He was ordered back to his cell, and the warden then tel egraphed to General Grant, inquiring if the pardon had been issued on such g. date. In less than four hours the answer was returned that if such document had been received it was fraudulent.
 When confronted with this message. Lewis denied all knowledge of the trans action for a time, but the dark cell soon caused him to confess. It was only then that another and equally bold forgery came to light, which was a part of his scheme for providing for Himself when free. v
 He had in some manner secured draft on Virginia bank, payable at one of the Leavenworth national banks. The amount on the draft was $1, which he skillfully raised to $2O,00O. This he sent to the First National Bank of Leavenworth with oh OhuCA olI0o PSVV OC poAO uPOA OAAC amount, and the balance deposited in a Richmond (Va. bank to his credit. The $2OO was paid and the deposit made as directed, but it was soon discovered that the draft had been raised. Lewis had miscalculated only two or three days in the time he had arranged for the pardon to arrive. He had intended, as soon as released, to take the pardon with him for purpose of identification, secure the $19,- 800, andsthen leave the United States.
 After the complete exposure of all his schemes he was asked to write the name of General Grants which he did so per- fectly that the most expert could not dis tinguish it from the genuine signature, placed beside it. Lewis claimed that he could reproduce the signatures of most of the public men in Washington of that time from memory. tc
 This last arrest was for forgery and ob- taining moneysunder false pretenses, be- ing the utterance of draft for $20, ,000. He will receive the full penalty of the law, and will pass the remainder of his days in the Kansas penitentiary, which is used as military prison as well as for state con- victs. His forgeries were committed in the prison office, where hisswork as clerk gave him opportunities and brought him into communication with outsiders. His confederates were never discovered.