The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1894-12-18

IN til Ii closed daily, Wnen the DOCKS were
locked up safely and nobody could see
them. He did Dot want any of the other
clerks to get an opportunity of turning
over his cash account as their familiarity
with the routine of the Office Was con =
sidered dangerous. They mi ght notice the
fraudulent entries of cash that was never
paid out by Croke and never entered on
the credit side of the principal cashbook.
In which event he would be caught at his
crooked work.
Last Tuesday Mr.. Ackerson thought il
would be a good thing to go over all tile
books so that clean record might be
given his successor 10 Office When he
spoke to Croke about the subject he
noticed the deputy grew EN- barrassed. and
in.uitively concluded something was
wrong. Croke asked next day fol his
salary warrant, but was told it was in
Ackerson's hands. This made him suspi-
cious that ne was under investigation and
he left the office hurriedly at o'clock in
the afternoon oil Wednesday.
while he was going OUT" said the
Street Superintendent yesterday, 'he took
$40 with him in a minute or two. Now
that was the checklist piece of business 1
ever heard of. He actually went to work
and made two false entries of 500 each and
pocketed the money"
The books of earlier date were then
under investigation in another room, and
If the Superintendent of Streets had been
present Croke could not handle the cash.
There was barely minute In which to
MAKE the entries. pocket the coin and get
ou;. and this Limitation of time, no doubt,
precluded the possibility Of further steal
ing, else few hundred dollars might have
been taken. The cool act illustrates what
kind of character Croke is. He took
desperate chances, but had Ackerson not
instituted an examination of the office
accounts Croke would have escaped de-
lection when released from duty on Janu-
airy 1. Only a balance showing SO much
cash on hand, and apparently correct,
would be given his successor. 1t might be
months. or years perhaps, before the de-
falcations would be discovered.
Although Croke has not been at HON q
for some time he did not leave town. He
lived on Turk street, near Jones, In a
clearinghouse among associates of shady
character, and was seen In the vicinity
early yesterday morning Deputies in
Acker6on's Office were sent after him, but
returned without finding even a clew to
the missing cashier. Several employees OF
the Street Departments spent the day hunt
ing after CrUke, and every employe was
told to be on watch for him. They went
through saloons, out to the racetrack and
in every place where he used TO frequent.
Hs was wanted to straighten out his books
and give an account of himself, which is
more than Croke may do under the circum-
stances. The Office he left so unceremo
niously is the last place that Croke would
like to visit.
AckersOn declares he will find him. any,
how. and 1t is very likely the police nay
be asked to assist in the search, The
Street Superin tendent has hopes that
Croke's relatives may make good the de-
falcations. Otherwise he will lose about
$4,000. and this is one of the reasons WHY
he is anxious to get chance to speak with
CrOke.
10 his defalcations Croke employed four
OF five different methods of covering up
his tracks, and consequently the clerks
who are exporting his books find great
difficulty in detecting every criminal act
Sometimes ne tore out stubs containing
entries of money deposited by contractors
In his department. but which he did not
enter as received. Again he would mark
deposits as paid twice, and keep the sec
ond payment. Certified checks were man
ipulated in another way, and all along 1t
was, as Ackerson expressed it. "Robblng
Peter to pay Paul" Necessarily it is
tedious task the clerks have on account of
the variety of cunning ways devised by
Croke to steal money.
The investigation has gone so far back
as May 81, 1892, and already at first glance
$500 is discovered missing. In sewer per
mits 500 was stolen. One hundred dollars
was taken in Giileran's time, but that is
not all. Two thousand and sixty dollars
was stolen out of the deposits made by
street contractors and on new buildings,
$50 on certificates for keeping tar kettles
en- streets and $40 from deposits on NOV