The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1894-08-03
AT LAST IN LIMBO.
A Notorious Forger Caught.
George =. Sage, the Man who so CleverIy
Swimdied the Hartford National Bank,
Arrested In Eineland, n. j.
STORY OF HIS CAPTURE.

| STORY OF HIS CAPTURE.
George Z. Sage, whose clever swindle, per-
| petrated on the Hartford National Bank of Bel
Air last May, is still fresh in the minds of
our readers: was captured this week at Vine
land, New Jersey. The story of his arrest is
as follows:
About year ago, Sage under one of his
many aliases, victimiZed the Exchange Bank
of Warrington, West Virginia, out of $780,
| This was accomplished in his usual manner,
| he having first won the confidence of Mr..
| Frank Burt, who runs PrOhibitiOnist paper
| in Wheeling and is director of the Manning
| ton bank. Mr.. Burt was enraged and has
| since devoted considerable of his time and
| money to hunting Sage down. He advertised
| him in his paper and by means of circulars,
which he distributed to banks all over the
| United States. This finally led to a correspon-
dence with parties at Vineland where Sage
had had some trouble with a bank but which
had been dropped by the bank, Sage having
| settled their claims. Mr. Burt having become
satisfied that his man was located, went to
Vineland and found that Sage, or Horace ID.
| Baker, as he was then called had bought
| farm and was living there but was preparing
| to leave the place, having disposed of his
| personal property and placed his farm in the
hands of a real estate agent. There WAS no
| time to lose, so, acting on the advice of
lawyer, Mr.. Burt had his man arrested ON the
old charge of the Vineland bank and the off
GERS Of the Bel Air bank were at once notified
| and preparations made for the necessary re-
QUESTION papers. Sage took his arrest quite
coolly. When Mr.. Burt appeared at the
magistrates office next morning he found
Sage reading paper. Mr.. Burt said to him,
.'Good morning, l have been looking for you
for some time.' Sage looked up and quietly
said 'Mr. Burt believe, Y es sir, heard from
you last night" evidently referring to his az
rest. Mr.. Burt came at once to Bel Air and
Teller w. w. Finney accompanied him to
Vineland on Tuesday, and on their arrival
promptly identified the prisoner as the man
whose presence is so much desired in Hartford.
Sheriff Hughes and Mr. p. F. Ball follow
ed on Wednesday. The requistion papers of
the Governor of Maryland were promptly
honored and in spite of an unsuccessful at
tempt to secure his release on writ of ha-
beas corpus, the law retained its grip and the
clever forger was placed in charge of Sheriff
Hughes.
OF A GOOD FAMILY.
Bakers real name is Robert +. Harvey,
though his operations have been carried on
under as many as twenty different aliases
He is said to have been born in Virginia, and
to have moved with his parents to Philadel-
phia when a boy. His father, q reputable
business man, died there some years ago and
his mother, now quite an old lady, still resides
in that city. He has two brothers in business
in New York City. He is the only member of
his family who is following criminals life |
His movements have been traced by Pinker-
toms National Detective Agency back to |
sometime early in the eighties when he is
said to have served term in the California |
State Prison. He afterward drifted from |
place to place until he arrived at Topeka, |
Kansas, where he connected himself with the |
Good Templars, Y. VI. c. A. and other similar |
organizations and married the daughter of |
very respectable family.
A BUSY CRIMINAL.
His criminal record in the East appears to |
have been commenced in the fall of 1889 mt |
Washington, ID. c., where under the alias of |
Robert L. Hall, on November IA of that year
he was arrested for forging the names of sew
eral business men to checks for small amounts.
On his arrest it developed that he was wanted
in Montana and Colorado for forgeries there
and an effort was made to eXtradite him but
he was tried in Washington and sentenced to
the Albany Penitentiary, from which he was
in August. Since that time he has
been busily engaged, fitting from town to
town and leaving behind him trail of forged
drafts big enough to send him to prison for
the remainder of his life.
BLAsPHEMoUs RAsCALITY.
Even while on sick bed in hospital in
Elmira, n. Y. during October, ] S92, he concoct-
ed scheme by which he swindled the Twin
Valley Bank of Ohio out of $l2l.30. Having
thoroughly recovered his health he secured
around with renewed energy and proceeded
to gather in the golden harvest. His unvary
ing method was to enter into correspondence
with some prominent person in the location
where he wished to operate, and by means
of his familiarity with the Bible and all sub
jects connected with temperance and religion
make friends with those who are active in
such work, and necessarily stand high in the
for uprightness, and then select
from one of them the dupe who was to intro
duce him to the bank he proposed TO swindle.
He hesitated at nothing and was always ready
with prayer and eXhortation to complete the
deception. Among the banks victimiZed by
him besides those already mentioned, are
Quinsgamond National Bank, of Worcester,
The Manufacturers National
Bank. of Providence, X. l., and The National
Bank of the Republic, of New York City. lie
has been identified as the man who worked
the Quinsigamond Bank and is already wanted
in New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania,
Ohio, Rhode Island and New York The to-
tai amount of his forgeries is estimated at over
$50, 600.
Late yesterday evening, Mr.. S. A. Williams
received telegram from MIR. w. w. Finney
stating, that Sage's hearing had been postponed
until Saturday morning and that Sheriff
Hughes would remain to take charge of the
prisoner. Sage has plenty OF money and will
take advantage of every technicality, but in
the end he must give up.
Kenneth nazemore had the good fortune to
rnaayp "A. small hattie n Cham bprl1iD'S Collie |