St. Paul daily globe., 1895-08-06
WHEELER DUcKED.
Continued From First Page.


city, leaving men in charge to pursue
the search.
On our return we made further in
quiries and first discovered that he had
made efforts to secure possession of
the property Of Mr.. Nelson. The lat
ter, however, informs me that in this
effort Wheeler failed, but that in some
manner he secured a fac-simile of his
signature, which must have been
forged to the deeds, if any deeds were
negotiated. We continued our inves-
LEGATIONS and learned that Wheeler
went to the postoffice, where he ex-
changed 5000 of the money he received
on the deeds for bills of the denomina-
ton of $100. This was before he start
ed to Forest Lake. Then we decided
to further inquire into the status of
affairs and were aStonished to learn
that Wheeler has been delibera tely
borrowing money and in large sums,
of his fellow clerks and employees of
our store. On these he enjoined the
utmost secrecy as to the transactions.
In order to secure the loans and con-
fldence of his victims he showed some
letters which he claimed came from
soldiers at Fort Smelling and stated
that he could make a number of short
loans to them at high rates of inter-
est, which would be secured upon the
coming payrolls. By this means he Sc
cured from our employees a large
amount of money. Some of the men
gave him
THE SAVINGS OF YEARS.
and these are men who can i'll afford
to lose their cash. We have not in
vestigated the matter far enough to
know the exact amount of money he
secured from our people. But from all
indications the amount is quite large
We also learned that before his depart
ure, Wheeler gave not only a chat
tel mortgage, but also a bill Of sale up
on his household fl-rniture, thus com
mit.ing another offense. Thic latter
action will involve a haras.--, upon
his wife, who is g@ne-alls seemed
among all who know her ana who is
or was, at least until the matter be-
came public, entirely ignorant of the
entire affair."
Has your firm suffered any loss
from Wheeler's aCtions?"
mo. sir. He had no opportunity to
get the best Of us. Our funds were
not at his disposal. Our system is so
work but what he will be discovered
in it within a day. But in this par
ticular case L wish to say that none
OF our money passed through his
hands. We give no man any latitude
to be dishonest. OF course we regret
TO see our employees done up, but I |
had talk with them today. and no |
doubt this will teach them a lesson.
though a costly one''
How long have Wheeler's transac-
tions been kept up?''
To our personal KNOWLEDGE ba bss
peen borrowing right and left for over
year. We have discovered that at
the time of his departure he was beav-
lily in debt. We have also some inti-
nation that he has been addicted to !
gambling, and if that turns out to he |
true, 1t will at once furnish tha mo
tive for all of his transactions. Had
we known anything about this latter
TACT, we would have PROMPTLY dis
missed him from our service as wa
VIII not keep any man who gamb1es !
But all outward signs made us haliavo
that wheeler was all right in his CON
duct and we had not the slightest
ground for suspicion. The reveIa tions
come as a surprise to us all. We sbou
continue our Investigations furtbor
and shall be glad to let you know all
we can find out"
Mrs Wheeler was hearthrol,e, 1,h,
she heard of her husbands s,,nnosod
browning, and wept as she fond1ad -
handsome photograph of him. Rut tba
IeVelatons of yesterday were 50 ,nncb
worse than even accidental death +bo+
nc poor woman is completely pros-
trated. PioS-
EPIDEMICS OF CRIME.
Will not be surprised if there is an
epidemic of this sort of thing" was the
remark OF e of the very best detec-
lives IN the Northwest, made in con-
Versauon with G. e reporter YES
'e!uay' After every great series of
iniles' IKE those of HI. H. Holmes. for
lsIance' L nave noticed that a lot of
Ioollsh people in different parts of the
country attempt something of the same
KIND. In Wheeler's case. however
GO not quite see where he could hone +o
Work the insurance companies. IF he
mas Skipped with the money raised of
course II Will be impossible to produce
the pody, and without that no insur-
ance company would give up on anv
policy he might have taken out. IF as
mas been intimated, Wheeler had his
life heavily insured, it is strange thar
he should be so cruel as to raise money
by giving chattel mortgage on his
household furniture.
VIII he be captured? Sure. No
doubt he thought his game was so well
planned that such a thing as flight to
escape the penalty Of crimes would not
be thought Of; but he overreached him
self, and undoubtedly he will be round
ed up before many days"
CLEANED OUT THE HOUSE.
Last night it was learned that the
parties holding the chattel mortgage
on the household furniture of Wheeler