San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1894-05-18
CHARGED WITH FORGERY.
YOUNG DENTIST IN A SERIOUS PRE-
DICAMENT.
St. Louis Officials Say He is Wanted
in a Job That Would do Credit
to an Older Criminal.
What at first appeared to POI


What at first appeared to por-
tend coroner's inquest was seen
at the City hall last night late.
Justice Griff Jones, three detec-
tives, the city marshal and hack
were grouped about the corridors
and patrolmen's room in great pro-
fusion.
Instead of an inquest, however,
inquiry developed that an impor-
tant arrest of an accused forger
had been made by strange
detective. The individual accus-
ed was none other than
young DIR. James Breeding, a dem
tist of this city, who has but re-
Gently won his spurs in his chosen
profession and has passed his ma
jority by just one year.
He stands accused before the
courts of Missouri as a forger, be-
fore the United States courts on the
charge of using the mails for ille-
gal purposes. He gave bond in
She sum of $1,000 last night,
with w. T. Pancoast, DIR. Breed
ing, his father, and Mr.. Judson,
as sureties. He was arrested by
Detective Hughes, on the charge
brought by the officer from the
state of Missouri, Assistant Super
intendent Taft, of the Wells Fargo
Express company. The officer ar
rested him at his residence at
about IL o'clock. Young Breeding
was not wholly unprepared for the
announcement, as he had been
served in the previous part Of the
evening, about s o'clock, with a
warrant of arrest from the United
States court, on an indictment by
the grand jury, charging him with
fraudulent use of the mails.
A conversation with Mr.. Taft
and Mr.. HazletOn, of the Wells
Fargo service, elected the follow
ing;
For some time past systematic
series of forgeries have been perpe-
trated on the company, in cities
and towns all over the East
ern and Northern parts of the
country, through means Of forged
express money orders. The sums
gained by this means have in some
cases been large, in later cases
small. The attention of the COM
pany was first drawn to it by the
fact of large number of these or
ders being presented at one time by
country lawyers, who collected
their commission and sent the bal
ance to Bertram n. Trend, an al
legged attorney Of st. Louis, Of the
alleged firm of Trend, Smith d Eos
ter. No such firm exists in St.
Louis. The matter was put in the
hands of Mr.. G. A. Taft, and
after a good deal of travel over
the country he finally succeeded
in tracing the case to San Antonio
and the home office was watched.
Yesterday when DR.. Breeding. re-
ceived a box by express G. 0. d.
from Chicago, and refused to pay
Tile CudISSS Oll6ISOus Claiming
overcharge, the box was suspect
ed. Opened it contained blue lith-
ographic ink and copying ink and
other circumstances becoming ap-
parent, the detective wired for au-
thority and the local police re-
ceived Geographic authority to
make the arrest on a charge of
forgery.
DR.. Breeding has lived in San
Antonio many years, is
married and has one
child. He is a young
dentist of considerable ability in
his profession, is also an amateur
printer and engraver. He is hav-
ing bad luck, evidently, as it is not
long ago that a series of mysterious
fires in his house destroyed a great
deal of his household goods and
his dwelling. He recovered some
insurance, however.
Mr.. Taft states that whOmever is
guilty of these forgeries was a
green hand, though he had the sig
nature of the cOmpany's Chicago
agent in a regular looking way.
The checks were very crudely
printed, apparently on a hand