The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1894-07-22

due but for the error mentioned.
In the meantime Austin opened an
other account at the Continental bank
as Charles Johnson Horton. He pre-
tended to be an American who had
come over TO build Pullman palace cars
at Birmingham, and from Birmingham
nearly all the forged bills were sent
to the bank and discounted for Mr..
Warren" By means of the Continent
tai bank account they were enabled to
obtain large amounts in notes which, if
they had taken them from the Bank
of England and Immediately turned
them back into gold, as was their plan,
in the same bank, would have excited
suspicion
Once started, the plan worked with
out a hitch. They made one or two
preliminary trials, and finding that the
forgeries were not questioned, sent
down on January p, 1872, a batch
amounting to $4,000. The money was
paid. the bank discounting the bills
without word, and filing them away
for presentation when due. A few
days later, February 4, they sent the
second batch of $780, with the same
result. They quickly followed this up,
at short intervals, with patches of $23,-
2dO on February 10, $73, 480 on February
IS, $73,430 on February 20, S96,26 on
February "a, and 121, 1926 on February Is.
THE SWINDLERS SECURE $4,000 A
DAY IN GOLD.
Their system was perfect, and their
confidence was great The first of the
forged bills did not fall due until
March %. They were exchanging notes
from the Continental bank into gold at
the Bank of England at the rate of
$4,000 per day and carrying the gold
) -,
and did this until they became sick
of carrying the stuff At the same
time they were buying United States
bonds through Jay Cooke & company,
1920, 900 in these securities being after
ward recovered in a trunkful of dirty
linen sent by George Bidwell to New
York. All being ready, they were pre-
pairing their grand stroke. The pro-
posed to take an indefinite amount
something between half million and
a million in one day, and then leave the
country.
A SMALL CLERICAL ERROR RUINS
ALL.
An oversight, however, proved their
ruin. In the batch of $121 1925 there
were two bills on which the acceptance
by B. w. Blydenstein. was not dated.
The clerk who received them thought
this merely on oversight. and on March
1 sent the bills to Mr.. Blydenstein for
the correction. He promptly pro-
nounced them forgeries and the bank
was aghast. The notification of Scot
land Yard was a matter of a few
minutes, and NoyeS, who had been
regularly and formally indentured as
Horizons" clerk, was arrested as he
entered the Continental bank to draw
the money.
A FATAL BLOTTTNG PAD.
Even then, all preparations for the
discovery were so perfect that the
quartet would have escaped but for a
second oversight. George, who was
watching. saw the arrest. He sent
Austin. Austin fled, George fled, and
Mcdonald fled. Noyes proved to be all
they had expected of him. He was to
receive only per cent. of the profits,
but he resolutely held to his story, re-
fused to betray them under promise of
freedom. and took a sentence of penal
servitude for life rather than turn
traitor. He held to his first statement
that he was merely a clerk and knew
nothing of the transactions. There
would have been no means of discover
ing the connection between the three
but for piece of clean blotting paper
in McDonald's lodgings, upon which he
had blotted a note to George just be-
fore he went away, without notifying
his landlady, and thereby exciting her
sup.,ion. The police knew that the
Bidwells were on this side, and flashed
George BidwelPs description in all di-
rections. He was hunted through Ire
land and caught, after an exciting
chase. in Scotland. Austin was cap-
tured in Havana and Mcdonald in New
York; all four were tried and sentenced
to penal servitude for life on August 26,
1872. but were released after fourteen
years. Imprisonment ON tickets-of-leave.
George and Austin coming out of Wok-
ing in 1887. The only thing about the
whole plot which the English have
never been able to understand is that
forgers who had so much money to
start with should have taken the
chances of further crime.
After passing through the depart
ments occupied with printing and can
collation., you come to the one most
familiar to the public in the daily rou-
tine of city finance, viz:
THE GENERAL BANKING DE-
PARTMENT
This is a spacious apartment, looking
in all respects like an ordinary bank
ing room, at the Princes street corner
facing the Royal Exchange. This de-
partment has two distinct branches,
the first of which is the public drawing
office. This has charge of ali public or
government accounts, and is practical
ly a national treasury. 1t receives all
the money collected throughout the
country as taxes, customs, excise du-
ties, etc. and all payments made ON
account of the public service are made
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