The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1893-11-15

NEW YORK, Nov. 9.-The arrest in
this city of Louis Floyd of Minneapolis
on Wednesday by two Of Inspector Nc
Laughlin's men, charged with being
party to the $4,000 robbery from the
bank of Minneapolis on Sept. 2, will prob
ably bring to a close the knavish career
of one Of the three parties in the act. The
two others, charged with the robbery,
Phil NJ Scheig and Frank Floyd, a
brother Of the other Floyd, now under
arrest here awaiting the arrival Of Min
neapolis detectives with requisition pa
pers. are on board the steamer Spree,
bound for Southampton. They will be
arrested upon their arrival and brought
back to this city.
When arraigned before Justice Meade
at the Tomb's police court today Louis
Floyd made a full confession and gave
information as to the whereabouts Of
his brother and Scheig. The three young
men have HAD careers that do not often
fall to the lot Of men so young. Up to
the time the father of the Floyd boys
died their lives had been an uneventful
one. At his death they secured for
tune of $4,000, which they managed to
spend within nine months, besides
spending the greater portion of $4,000
which was left to Mrs. Floyd. No sooner
was the father buried than the two
young men became men about town, in
the free sense of the word. Their first
move was to furnish an apartment in
gorgeous style and about that time they
met Phil Scheig. who was then employed
as paying teller in the bank of Mime
nd
lived like a man enjoying an income of
$4,000 year and his habits created con-
siderable talk. The three men became
fast friends.
Met Frank Byers.
About this time another young man.
whom they knew. became possessed Of a
fortune of nearly a million dollars. This
was Frank Byers, then about nineteen
years old. Most of his money was held
by the Bank of Minneapolis in trust and.
of course, Scheig was in position to
know all about his financial condition.
Byers had an open account which he
drew against. He, too, was taken up
by the Floyd brothers, and for time
the quartet lived at the Floyd apart
ments The four had box at the the
alter almost nightly, and by their lavish
display Of jewelry and money made
many friends among both sexes.
However. some one of the quartet was
almost always in trouble, but influence
and the money that they could COM
mand always served to quiet anything
of an unpleasant nature. By persons in
a position to know, it is stated that one
of the Floyds, after going through his
own fortune, signed young Byers's name
to checks and that Scheig, as paying
teller, would pass the signature as cor
rect 1t is thought that in this way
Byers was mulcted in a considerable
amount.
Plan of Operations.
When the nety-thousand-dollar loss
was first discovered it was thought to
cover everything, but subsequent events
and admissions made by Louis Floyd
go to show that a scheme to defraud
English banks was about to be worked.
Scheig, it is alleged, before he left the
bank, tore out several drafts and put
the certiication stamp upon them,
marking the stubs void. It was then
intended to have Frank Floyd fill in the
draft to any amount suitable to them
Scheig had carried away with him con-
siderable of the banks letterheads, and
being familiar with the secret cipher
used for Identification purposes with
the Great Britain correspondents, it
would be an easy matter to have sever
al drafts cashed before the fraud be-
came known.
Another method of securing funds
was to have Frank Floyd, who pos
sessed a large amount of personal mag
netism, visit the nearby cities and make
friends with swell young men. He
would tell tales of the grand times they
had at their apartments and invite
everybody to visit them. When anyone
did come and not few took adj
vantage of the invitation, they would
be introduced to a game of poker,
where marked cards, mirrors and every
other device known to swindlers at
play would be used. In this way they
managed to make considerable money.
Scheig, the principal in the robbery, is
the son of a prominent man in Mime
apolis A few years ago he gained con-
siderable notoriety through his secret
marriage to Miss Louise Barge, the
Youngest daughter of Millionaire