Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1895-10-31
CHAPTER VI

not as yet since my arrival III London
paid it q visit. This was in pursuance
Of our plan. So far 1 had only done bust
ness with the supernumeraries, and
none of the people at the top had ever
even heard Of me. But we determined
that they should not long remain in
, ignorance Of the great American con-
tractor, T. a. Warren.
/ Three months had elapsed since our
departure from London on our pirat.Sal
tour to the Spanish main. In all nearly
I five months had passed since Green had
/ introduced me 10 the old lady whose
/ impregnable vaults we had now at last
! determined to loot. That in itself was
/ n favorable circumstance, as it would
| give me a chance TO flourish in a grand
| " indefinite way to the effect that had
| for some time been customer Of the
bank, and none of the officials would
! probably take the trouble to ascertain
! how very brief, in fact, my acquaintance
| had been.
| l left London by the night mail from
Victoria station for Paris, the first Of
many hurried trips 1 took TO the con-
tinent on the business we had entered
upon. Truly we worked hard, spent
money lavishly, brought all our power
and genius to owork-for what? To have
the lightning fall and pitch Us from our
earthly heaven into PRISONS hell
Upon my arrival l drove at once to
the Hotel Bristol, Place Vendome, a
swell hotel, where none but the great
sirs Of the earth could afford to stop.
Here l registered as f. A. Warren,
London, and at once sent Off the follow
ing letter:
P. NJ. Francis Esq, Manager Bank Of Eng
land, London:
DEAR SIR-I am a customer Of the bank.
Therefore / take the liberty Of troubling you
in the hope to have the benefit Of your advice.
VIII you kindly inform what good per
cent stocks are TO be had in the market; also
if the bank win transact the business for mef
| remain very truly yours,
BY return mail came letter wherein
1 was advised to invest in India per
cents or London Gas. | wrote an i'm
mediate order to have the bank purchase
10000 of India stock and sent my
check for that amount, on his own bank,
payable TO the order Of the manager. |
received the stock, instantly sold it and
replaced the money to my credit, and
the next day sent off an order for $40, 900
Gas stock and repeated the operation
until had made the impression want
ed to make on the mind of the manager,
so that when | returned to London for
my decisive interview and sent III my
card he would at once recognize the
L
honaire American who had been send
ing him $40, 900 checks from Paris.
After the events narrated i'll the last
chapter | returned to London. | arrived
early in the morning, and meeting my
companions we had a long and anxious
talk over my near apTroachiug and all
important interview with that great sir
of the London world, the manager of
the Bank Of England. Happy for Us if,
in that interview, the manager had ask
ed for the customary references or had
used ordinary business preCaUtion and
investigated rae, or indeed had Ectod as
any ordinary business man would have
done under ordinary circumstances
Our known conclusions were that the
fact that / was already deposition, 70
gether with the impression made by the
letters and my e10, 900 checks, would
put the thing through. Yet we of course
felt that a thousand things could arise
to block our way effectually. A look, a
word, a shadow or a smile in my face
might ruin all, but still, after providing
so far as possible for every contingency,
after planning what was to be said OF left
unsaid at the interview, after my com
panions filling me full of advice, we
felt, after all, that everything must be
left to my discretion to say and to act
as thought best.
This council Of war was held i'll my
room in the Grosvenor. had arrived
from Paris at o'clock Mac and L
breakfasted together at s. George join
ed us at 8, and we talked until 10, and
then we set out together for the bank.
Arriving there, they remained outside
watching for my reappearance. Enter
ing the bank, | sent in my card-F. A.
Warren-by a liveried fiunky and was
Immediately ushered into the managers
parlor. He has long since gone over to
the majority. so here Twill not so much
as name or describe him. Sufficient to
say that as soon Us l set eyes upon him
l thought that we would have no partic-
ular difficulty in carrying out our plans.
The manager, who had been told that
was railroad contractor, expressed
himself highly gratified to have me do
my business through the bank and said
they would do all i'll their power to ac-
commodate me. told him that of course
1 was financing large sums and would
require more or less discounts before the
year was out. Then | came away, and
meeting my two friends outside of the
bank in answer to their eager inquiries
as to what had transpired | told them
that so far as the bank officials were CON
cerned our way to the vaults of the bank
was wide open.
SO ended the last scene of act l.
The next day went to the Continental
bank in Lombard street and bought
sight exchange ON Paris for 200, 600
francs, paying for it by check on the
Bank of England. / was given a note
of identification to the Paris agent Of
the bank.
That night l left Victoria station for
Paris At 10 the next morning had my
money, and going to the Place de Ia
Bourse, near the exchange, / commits
stoned broker, who was a member Of
the exchange, to purchase bills in Lon
don for GS, 600. l cautioned him to buy
bills drawn only on well known bank
ing houses. About O'Clock he had the
bills ready. 1 paid him the amount,
along with his commission, and oxamin-
ing the paper found be had purchased for
me about what / wanted.
l will explain, for the benefit of any
reader not conversant with financial
transactions, that ii John Russell, cot
ton broker in Savannah, ships a thou
sand bales of cotton to a firm in Man
chester, the firm in Manchester author
izes him to draw bill of exchange on
their firm, payable at some London bank
at three or six months time, for the
value of the cotton. We will say the
| price is G10, 900. Russell draws ten bills
| for e1, 900 each, say, payable at the
| Union bank of London. He gives these
bills to a money broker in Savannah,
| who sells them on the exchange and
| gets for them whatever the rate of ex-
| change may then be on London. The
president of the Georgia Central railroad
may have ordered thousand tons Of
steel rails in England for his road, and
to pay for them he orders broker to
| buy for him bills ON London to the