Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1895-01-10
TWO FaTaL IMPULSES.

WV yOdio uSOi ouiu lluSh oaiChhy
to New York Sun representative,
"a case OF thieving that was unique
startled the entire Northwest. The
city was in is lake port of more
than ordinary consequence, and a
great deal of grain, timber, and ore
find an outlet through it, and it has
banking houses that would do honor
to a more pretentious town than that
collection of primitive buildings on
the verge of the toughest country on
the continent. In one of the largest
financial institutions the sum Of
$50, 600 was missing one spring day,
and everybody from the President
down was greatly exercised. and
strenuous exertions were made to
discover the criminal. There were
not more than half dozen men in
the concern who had access to the
vault where the money was stored,
and all were of the most exemplary
character and had been in the en-
ploy of the bank for long time.
Detectives were brought on from
Chicago and other points, and every
effort was made to get some trace Of
the thief or thieves, but at the end of
more than a month of searching in
quiry the Vidocqs were compelled to
give up and announce their inability
to place even the slightest suspicion
upon any member of the staff. The
money, which was in package Of
bills of large denominations, had
vanished as mysteriously as though
it had dissolved into the air. In the
course OF couple of months business
went on again just the same, the
stockholders made the deficit good,
and it was only now and then that
the good people of the town referred
to the loss casually.
"About q year after the money
disappeared one of the Youngest of
the clerks in the bank came to the
President, displayed letter from a
friend in the East asking him to go
into business with him, and offering
to furnish the necessary capital.
The clerk said the opportunity for
success in the venture outlined by
his friend was so promising that he
had come to the conclusion that he
could not afford to let it pass, and he
therefore rendered his resignation.
The resignation was accepted with
great reluctance by his superior
officer, for the clerk was one of the
model young men Of the town and q
member of several religious organi-
cations. He was popular, too, with
the young men Of all classes, and on
the evening of his departure it was
arranged to give him a banquet in
the dining hall of the leading hotel.
The clerk came to the hall carrying
his handbag and a light overcoat; it
was in the early fall, and the weather
is sharp in the Northwest as soon as
October sets in. The dinner was q
success, and it was so arranged that
1t should be prolonged by speech
making and jollification until mid
night, when the boys in body would
escort their young friend to the sta
tion and give him farewell cheer as
the train pulled out. 1t happened
that one of the party who was just
tipsy enough to know what he was
doing stepped on to the handbag,
which was on the floor near the
clerks chair. Taking piece Of chalk
from his pocket the joker said as he
wrote $50, 600 on one side of the
bag:
We'll, boys, here he goes with
the $50, 600.
''The clerk took the bag away from
his friend with O smile, led him back
to his seat at the table, and then adj
dressing the company in o grave
voice. said:
II can assure you this Is no jok-
ing matter. You all know how seri-
ously the loss OF that money affected
every man in the bank with which /
had the honor to be connected, and
not one of us from the President
down did not feel at the time that we
would be more or less guilty in the
eyes Of the public until the thief was
caught. By all means let US have
no more jokes of this kind"
1.-THE chalking OF $3.50, 000' on the
bag had been greeted with shouts Of
laughter, but it was sober gather
ing when the clerk concluded, and,
taking his handkerchief, expunged the
inscription. There were frowns for
the luckless instigator Of the joke,
and the dinner was concluded in
silence. 1t was with many express
sions Of good will and many hearty
handshakes that the clerk said his
es~~.oIla end ~bon The kpoin Aoaba1