Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1894-11-26
WHOLESALE STEAL.
Bookkeeper Seely Embezzles a
Large Fortune.
GOTHAM BANK ROBBED OF Ss54,ooo.

The Rascal. Exposed by the Adoption OF a
New System of Keeping Accounts, Makes
Himself Scarce and Confesses to His At
torney-A Second Party Alleged to Have
Got Most of the Swag-The Bank Clatsnea
To BE Sound.
NEW YORK, Nov. 26-Samuel C. Seely,
an assistant boookkeeper in the National
Shoe and Leather bank, has disappeared
with s35i, 900 of the banks funds Seely
was aided by confedeaate the bank off
Gals are certain. Indeed they go so far as
to assert that the identity of Seely's ac-
complice is known d the police and that
detectives either have BIN in custody or
will soon apprchend him. This confcd-
crate was not an attache of the bank,
though it is intimatetl that he was de-
positor According to Vice President
Pease sScely has been fleeing the bank
for some time past. His method was not
ingenious, neither was it brilliant. 1t
was arduous, difficult and dangerous, but
withal successful
Threatened with Exposure He Skips.
According to Mr.. Pease's statement the
entire execution of the scncme lay in
transposing the accounts with the assist
ance of Il confederate. On Thursday,
Nov. 10, the bank began to prepare for
the inauguration of new system of book
keeping. This, of course, blocked Sccly's
game. The introduction of a new meth
cd of keeping accounts would neccssitate
| review of the books and such n review
would probably, if not certainly, disclose
the deficiency. Exposure stared Sccly in
the face. Pease and his associates sus-
pected nothing wrong until Friday, hut
when on the evening of that day their
suspicious We're aroused Seeiy had disap-
peared.
The Bank Declared All Eight.
Work was commenced on the bank
books and accounts and early last week
| the investigation resulted in the discovery
of Seely's wrong-doing. Vice President
Pease says: The moment we discovered
the existence of an irregularity in our ac-
counts we called in the bank examiner and
subsequently asked the assistance of the
clearing house. The stability of the in
stitution, however, has not been in the least
impaired BY this unfortunate afTtlr. How
Mr.. Seely accomplished his work Is diff
cult TO say. That it required close figuring
and accurate calculations is evident He
must have kept private set of books for
his own information-a sort of record of
his own shortcomings"
Been Stealing for Nine Years.
For time it was feared that the bank
depositors would becomes alarmed over
| the defalcation, but ~ kh n number
called at the institutippJfhcy were easily
assured that all clsin You'd be met with
out difficulty. SSykNas under $3.50
bonds to the bank. He is 40 years of age
and resided with his wife and two children
in Brooklyn. He had been in the bank $
employ fourteen years, but his operations
are said to have extended only through a
period of nine years. Lawyer Angel, his
counsel, asserts that Seeiy was victimized
by his accomplice, who is said to be Fred
erick Baker. lawyer. Angel says Seely
got only 81, 900 of the large amount taken.
Confessed His Crime to His Attorney.
Angel is n personal friend of Seely, and
says that the latter came to him and con-
fessed his crime. He was advised to give
himself up, but declined, saying that he
would take his chance of running away
He said that his confederate got nearly all
the money, and told who he was The
confederate, Angel said, was too old to run
away, and besides was Il lawyer and knew
what he was doing. Angel also said that
it would be almost impossible to convict
the confederate.