The morning call., 1894-03-03
A CLEVER FORGER.
He Introduces a Brand
New Game.
DETECTIVES ON HIS TRAIL.
He Had His Eye on the Purse of
an Attorney.
DETECTIVES ON HIS TRAIL.
A WORKINGMAN HIS CATSPAW
An Expert Fails to Distinguish the
Stimulation of the lawyers Name
From the Genuine Article.

Detectives are hot on the trail Of very
clever. and therefore very dangerous,
forger, who has recently made this city
the scene of his operations. Whether he
is tourist or native of the State is un-
known, but that be is worth watching and
capturing is established.
Strange to say the penman selected a
lawyer as one of his first victims. The
attorney was Edward II. Stearns, whose
cash is deposited with Sisson, Croker g.
Co.. on Pine street. and this is how be
tried to work his game. Stearns received
the following letter on February "a:
ALAMEDA, Cal, FEB. "a, '94.
Dear Sir: / would like 10 know if you are the
Edward Searns that owns that house on 1910
Park street., ana lei me know what Is the low
est you will take rent for It. cannot pay you
much, but am steady Tenant Please let
me no, and Oblige ALEX. B. ELLIOT.
The letter was apparently written by
the trembling hand of very old man. No
two characters were written alike, and the
word "know" was correctly spelled in
two instances and misspelled in third.
The lawyer suspected nothing and
promptly returned an answer TO the
epistle, disclaiming the ownership of the
Alameda property.
nUW lu6 ODtdlUeUp was
used and why il was obtained will now be
made manifest.
j. +. Morris, workingman in quest OF
job. was sitting in the Office of an en-
plOymeIt agent on Geary street yesterday
when a young man, sm0oth-faced and
sharp-Dosed. entered. He was well
dressed, wore a light oveTcoat, buttOned
up TO the chin, and blue yachling-cap.
Looking for job?" he inquired of
Morris.
Yes, yes" was the eager reply.
"What kind of work do yon want?"
81 have always worked in hotels, but
am willing to do anything"
Acquainted in San JOSEF"
Il am not"
"My name is Searns. My father runs
the Stearns House in San Jose aud he
wants man TO attend the door at The
ladies' entrance. He has had several
young men, but they are unreliable and he
wants an old man. l think you will do
first rate. lie VIII pay you $50 month.
Morris was delighted. but he had to ad-
mi that the clothes he had on were his
best, and they were not good enough.
That will be all right" asserted the
alleged Mr.. Stearns from the Stearns
House. San Jose. you look like an hon.
est man and / will trust you. l will ad-
vance you enough to buy a proper suit"
Mr.. "StearDs" felt In his pocket. ostensi-
bly, 10 get the money, and looking dlsap-
pointed said: II haven't enough coin. but
that will be all right; we will go into the
bank here and we will draw check for
II. I'VE then went into the Croker
Woolworth bank, said Mr.. Morris. He
took book out of his pocket and took a
check from it and drew the check on the
bank of SissOn, Croker IL Co., for $50,
payable to cash, and told me TO go down to
that bank on Pine street, draw the money
and meet him at Kearny-street clothier's,
where we would get the clothes. He said
he would trust TO my honesty. | started
for the bank and then began to think
something was wrong. | was afraid
might get into trouble, and L thought it
strange he did not 60 to the bank with me.
when l got to the bank / handed the
check TO the cashier and told him thought
there was something wrong about it. He
examined 1t and said ii was all right and
asked me what kind of looking man he
was who gave it 20 me. l toad him and
then he sent me up to Mr.. Stearns' Office"
Morris found that the lawyer in no
way resembled his generous and con-
fding employer. The cashier would
have paid the check If Morris had not
voiced bis suspicion, for the signature was
a perfect imitation of the lawyers hand
writing. Morris and the lawyer returned
to the bank and the former was sent ont
of the light overcoat and yachting cap had
disappeared.
Detectives we're called in and shown the
letter received by Stearns from "a. b.
Elliott, Alameda" but they failed to see
any connection between "Elliott" and
''Stearns." A CALL reporter took a diff
ferent view of the matter and went to
Alameda, where be learned from the Post
master that the man who received the let
ter addressed to Elliott was "a young man
| about "a years old with smooth face and
sharp nose. He wore light overcoat aud
! blue yachting cap"
Elliott" was 'Stearps."
His was a clever scheme. He is an
| ACCOMPLISHED penman, for the forged
check was placed with half dozen good
ones which had been paid and the cashier
was asked TO select the forged one, but he
could not do it; neither could the presi-
dent nor an expert on writing called in for
the purpose.
The check not only seemed to have been
written by Mr.. Stearns but was numbered
102, and the last check, drawn ten days
before, was numbered SO. In the lower
corner the clever one wrote Loan to
j. Y. NJ" the initials of Morris.