The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1893-12-26
A HIGH-PRICED LOBBY
eFinancial Transactions Which
Startled New York Banker.
A Check for $4,000 Payable to Bearer
Capitalists Who Declined Identi-
ficatiOn-S89O,0 900 for One Act.

dent had this impressed upon him. This
bank president was George 5. Coe. AZ the
time he had been Al officer of the Ameri-
can Exchange Bank twenty years, and dur
ing fourteen OF It was president. Yet his
experience with the Washington lobby and
its queer methods was something which i'm
pressed his memory with minute details
Among the depositOrs having an account
with Mr.. Goes bank was Richard Il. Irwin.
For five or six years Mr.. Irwin had been
known TO Mr. Coe as a business mana
steamship agent His balance in the bank
had run as high as $1,000
Colonel Irwin" said Mr. Coo, "came into
the bank one day. IS 1 distinctly recolIect,
and came into my room. He made some re-
mark to me of an ordinary character. hav-
ing no reference to business at all. and then
went out. AS he passed the receiving tell
ers desk. in very cool and nonchatant
way. he threw down his bank book with a
deposit OF $685. 900 and passed out"
The deposit was one in four checks. one
for $1,000 one for s.. 900, one for $4,000, and
one for s650.0c0.
After he had gone" continued the bank
president, 'the receiving teller reported to
me the facts of this deposit. remarking that
IL was an extraordinary sum TO be deposit
ed by Colonel Irwin, and 1 was quite start
led It was about the time when there was
a great deal Of excitement prevailing in re-
spect to locking up greenbacks- L inferred,
without knowing anything about it, that
this had some relation to some stock opera
ton. and possibly some relation to a trick
of that kinda thing that is very odious to
me-and i asked the young teller Why he
had not notified me promptly when the de-
post was made. He replied that, seeing
Colonel Irwin coming from my own roon
h.. hat lrrlax al n a mi
that answer L thought was quite sufficient
70 excuse him, for 1t seemed very natural.
I was startled at the largenesS OF the de-
post by Colonel Irwin; but the deposit had
been made and the man was gone. did
not think there was any official propr1ety
In my pursuing q customer and seeking to
know more about il, as the bank in it's reg
ular course of business had taken the
money. Therefore said to the teller:
% Let 1t pass now, but be very careful
and watch the operation of this deposit.
See who draws the money, so that we may
avoid complicating this bank with any
such operations as are now going on In the
street s,...,u.s ~, -,
tect for the day. The next day I directed
the tellers-all Of them-to report to me
how that money was drawn, whether in
day passed away, and none of it was
drawn at all; and the next day there was
nothing drawn against this large account account,
Irwin, which was quite mysterious 10 me.
The deposit was made on the 18th of May,
small sum- and IL gave an unusual signifi-
canoe 10 the transaction. in view of the
financial interests of the country.
DECLINED IDENTIFICATION.
After a few days $4,000 was drawn out
In three checks, one for s125.OOO and the
others for 100000 each. These three checks
were presented at the counter and were
paid in money They came through other
banks and were so drawn that there was
no way OF identifying the persons who ul-
timately received the cash But the 18th
of May there occurred something that
again amazed President Coe and gave him
impressive experience with the ways Of
1.-TWO strangers came into the bank gen.
temen un nid M 70 Toe me or 10 any 4ae
themselves first at the paying teller's desk
and handed him two checks. one for $40
600 and another for $4,000. / saw the
checks at the time. My impression Is that
order and indOrSed in blank, which made
the checks payable to bearer. The two
gentlemen presented them and demanded
payment in currency. The teller, startled
by the largenesS of the sums, was unwlll-
ing to paw them without some identifca-
ton. which the gentlemen refused to give.
The teller then referred them TO the ohicerS
room in the rear OF the bank. and they went
10 the assistant cashier. and he also had
the same apprehension or reluctance TO pay
these large amounts without some identtf-
cation of the gentlemen who presented the
checks The two gentlemen were then re-
ferred to me. and hearing them very en-
phatic for had overheard part of the con-
versation, / asked them to sit down and
explain TO me what the matter was. They
said In substance:
1--WE have two checks on your bank and
they refuse to pay them.
"Said L: Let me look at them, gentle
men
''They handed the checks to me and L
looked at them. One of them was for $780,
600. The other was for $4,000 l said:
Now. gentlemen. you. know those are
yer q
"And one of the gentlemen remarked:
That is not large sum-
II said: Sir. $275,C0O we consider in New
York TO be a very large sum-
"He answered: We handle larger sums
than that that or something IN thing TO that effect
there is a courtesy due between gentlemen.
and there Is certain obligation which every
man owes to the community in handling
large sums of money and which men who
are engaged in these large transactions owe
to each other to take care of each other.
On that general ground | ask you to iden-
tify yourselves. simply that | may be sure
that am not paying forged check
The answer of the gentlemen was some
thing like this, or TO this effect, that they
had reasons for not wanting to be identified.
and that they declined to be identified.
saw that l was officially in a corner. be-
cause L could not fail to recognize the right
OF any man TO preserve his incognitO If he
chose to do IL nor the right of any man
70 demand money for n check payable to
bearer. That. of course is unquestion-
able right. The only ground on which
forgeries. had looked at them and at the
signatures with unusual attention / was
perfectly satisfied that they were genuine
i did not want to belittlc myself by being
unnecessarily hypercritical, so L resolved TO
do the next best thing that l could to pro-
tect the bank. Therefore ] said:
" 'GenUemel, now DO you propose 10 use
this large check? If you are going to use
this in a bank you can relieve me of all
embarrassment.
And the gentleman who had presented
the larger check said: Yes, 1 am going to
use IL in bank.
said 1: Then have it certified and YOU
can deposit IL. which will save you and us
the trouble OF counting this large amount
He aSsented. SO / directed the check to
be certified. Then. turning to the other
gentleman, I said, How do you want
yOursT !"
He said: I want mine tomorrow morn
81 said: Come in tomorrow morning and
you shall have it
LAS 10 the first check / felt this assllr-
ance in certifying IL, that If il were depos-
tied in another bank and Il proved TO he
wrong In any way, i could discover the
came In, and without any hesitation at all
said:
Pay this check 70 the gentleman
1T was the check for $1,000. At the
same time for the purpose of protecting
myself much possible. L directed the
police officer whose business il is To 20
around among the banks 10 see this gentle
had had an opportunity OF rejecting upon
the matter over night, and the bare posi-
Dtllty or our paying a forged check OF this
magnitude was. of course. startling TO me.
So 1 said To this officer. whom / knew To be
a very discreet man:
hon oh. -.