Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-03-30

poorhouse near by
was woman who had applied for pen.
sion. She was the widow of a Union sol
der. Her claim had got so far along that
vouchers were ready to be issued for 1t.
Having ascertained these facts the mer-
chant went to the woman and persuaded
her to come and live at his home, on the
plea that she should be employed in taking
care of his mother. At the same time,
acting in her behalf, he wrote to the pen
sion office, requesting that the money
for the widows pension be sent to his
address. She executed the necessary pa
pers under his direction. and in due time a
check for $1,000 arrived. He forged .her
Endorsement, collected the money, put 1t
in his pocket and said nothing about it.
After awhile the fact leaked out that
the woman had not received her pension.
She complained on the subject to neigh
bors. Inquiry followed and the truth be-
came known. People began to look askance
at the merchant, who was unable to make
the sum good. His credit was impaired and
legal proceedings were threatened. Anxiety
drove him insane, and one night he solved
the whole problem by setting fire to his
house and burning up his mother and the
defrauded widow, himself swallowing at
the same time fatal dose of Paris green.
In another story of tragedy figures an
apothecary of New Albany, Ind. He was
acquainted with a widow in Louisville, KY,
who had a claim for pension. She had
confidence in him, inaSmuch as he was a
man Of excellent repute and quite promi-
nent in local politics. He helped her to
prepare the evidence in her case and for
warded the documents for her to the PEN
sion office at Washington. 1t was arranged
that her check should be sent to his adj
dress. Nevertheless, months elapsed and
it did not arrive. She became clamorous
on the subject, but he continued to declare
hof ha hc1 ord Ac
Of fact, however, he had received the
check. forged her Endorsement and pocket
ed the cash, which amounted to s1,7O0.
Now, It happened that the widow had a
son. He addressed an inquiry to the near
est pension agency, and was informed that
the check had been forwarded to New
Albany some time previously. An investi-
CATION followed. The delinquent apothe-
cary took the matter somewhat coolly at
first, apparently relying somewhat upon
his political influence. But the government
secured all necessary proofs AMI wove a
net so tightly about him that he could not
possibly escape. Having learned that a
warrant had been issued for his arrest, he
went into the rear part of his shop and
blew his brains out
In a case like this neither the pensioner
nor the government loses the money. The
government RECEIVERS from the bank that
has cashed the fraudulently Endorsed check
and pays the pensioner over again.
Fraudulent Claims.
From thirty to forty persons are arrested
every year for fraudulently pretending to
be agents of the pension office. One of the
most remarkable swindlers of this kind was
colored preacher of Nashville, the Rev.
Glen. w. Lewis. Through his pastoral re-
lations he knew everybody, and his prac-
tice was to persuade all of his acquaint-
ances to apply for pensions. He repre-
scented that he was an officer of the gov
eminent authorized to adjust such claims
and he made business Of furnishing the
requisite evidence in their behalf. The
persons with whom he dealt being very
ignorant, were easily persuaded that they
were entitled to pensions, He manufac-
tured the testimony, including bogus affi-
davits, ETC., and literally peddled it about
in a market basket. In this way he made
a good deal of money, imposing upon hun
dreds of individuals. He was so foolish as
to give receipts in some instances, and a
few of these got into the hands of the
ago and was sentenced to twenty-eight
years in the penitentiary-the longest sem
tence ever given in a pension case.
Much more remarkable and successful
were the fraud of the three McGindley
brothers, James H., John w. and Austin,
in southern Illinois. Immediately after the
war they established business in fraudu-
lent claims. James II. was the genius of
the trio. He had benevolent countenance,
somewhat resembling Horace Greeley and
well calculated to disarm suspicion. The
plan adopted was extremely simple and eff
fective. The claims of widows who had
been pensioners and who had died were
dealt in principally. The MeGindleys Sc
cured women to falsely personate the de-
funct widows, themselves executing the
vouchers and forging Endorsements on the
checks. In not few instances, where SOL
diers had not been SO thoughtful as to take
wives unto themselves, they manufactured
widows for them. How much money they
secured in this way is not accurately
known, but it is supposed to have been
somewhere between $4,000 and $4,000.
James H. was arrested in 1887 at post
Office in Illinois, to which he came for the
purpose of securing mail addressed to him
under fictitious name. He got ten years.
One of the other brothers died In Memphis
of yellow fever several years earlier; the
third was not captured The government
recovered from banks $3.50 on proved
fcrgeries Of Endorsements.
A Much-Marricd Man.
Capt. jerks. not of the horse marines,
was a remarkable criminal in more ways
than one. He finished his last term In
prison in 1890, and has not been heard from
since. Soon after the close of the war he
killed a steamer captain in New York city
and, escaping punishment came to Wash
ington, where for some time he pursued
the calling of card sharper. Having left
here, he turned up at Cumberland, Md,
where he appeared in the role of pension
agent authorized to investigate and adjust
claims. There he won the affections of a
widow, whom he married. He deserted her
and went to Lockport. N. T., where he
married another woman. This sort of
thing he kept up until he had accumu-
lated no fewer than nine wives. always Sc
lecting women who had some money. Mean
while he kept OH at the pensions claims
business. He wore on his waistcoat large
metal star, which bore the inscription
United States Detective This served
him in lieu of credentials. One method of
his was to promise a pension and to say
that, while he himself was not permitted to
take any fee, the cost of issuing a certifi-
cate would be so much. Another plan was
to threaten a reduction of pension, but to
offer to fix it with the government for
some such small consideration as s. or $40.
He was not proud man. and was usually
willing to take chickens or other easily con-
vertible property in case the victim had no
money.
These exploits were not performed wholly
without penalty. The enterprising Capt
jerks was tried and convicted for PERSONAL
NUEEf.I7Es].E