The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1896-05-28

house had always been kept locked,
and one of them was never visited,
even by members of the family. The
front room was a library, and this the
wife and children sometimes entered
when the head of the family was there,
but the rear room. his workshop, as ne
| called Il, was always closed to them.
These rooms had not been opened since
he went to Europe. and at the friends
| suggestion the doors were forced.
on the desk in the center Of the IL
brary was a letter addressed To- bis
wife and marked: ITO be opened only
in case of my death" With some mis-
givings the wife broke the seal ana
found only a short note of an affection
ate nature, which contained the combi-
nation to open small safe in the
workshop. In the safe were found
bonds, stocks and several bank books,
all bearing the wifes name, as well as
the deeds of several pieces of property
In this city and Brooklyn made out
simply in her name Everything had
been arranged so that in case of his
death his wife would have no trouble
i'm securing the money and property,
except his own bank account, which
appeared from the check book to be
good for only little over 500.
IMPORTANT PAPERS.
There was no insurance on his life,
and the only trouble the wife might
have would be in getting the balance
! left in his own bank of deposit. 1t is
usual in such cases to apply to the sur
rogate court for letters of administra-
| ton or go through some such form of
/ law before bank will pay over money
/ To the credit of a dead person. Proof
| of death is usually necessary as n ba-
| sis for such proceedings, but the widow
will probably prefer to lose the money
/ rather than to go into court. Some
] f~f.a 10 do ha hn N
officials to pay the money over on the
strength of a bond which they will give
l to protect the bank from loss, and tins
| action may be taken.
In the safe were found several
bundles Of papers tightly wrapped and
pasted, bearing the words
ITO be burned in case of DEATH"
IL would have been better If the
owner had burned them himself, for
! his wishes were not respected The
packages were opened and were found
/ to contain conclusive evidence that the
owner Of them had been a daring thief,
| and If the police could read them no
doubt some mysterious robberies would
/ be cleared up.
! Dates and names of distant cities
were given and sums of money We're
mentioned 1t was not clear, however,
whether the money was the profits of
check swindles or of violent robbery.
1
for the purpose of keeping track If his
own movements, so as not to visit the
same city or locality within a consid-
cradle period of time. One entry, dated
Detroit Nov. 2, 1898, reads:
mo work; too soon; unsafe"
! From there he evidently went to Mil
waukee. for under date of Nov. :, 1898,
this entry is given:
outlook. poor; cash, 1926; town is
plated"
BY this he probably meant that the
silverware was plated. The entries in
this period run from Nov. , to Dec. 5.
and 20 cities are mentioned with cash
| items" and brief comments. The names
of some banks are given, which may
indicate that the writer robbed thCm
by means of worthless checks. IL is
curious fact that in no case is the
name given of The hotel Or house at
which he stopped. Frequently Names
are given which appear to have been
aliases used. unless ;hey were those If
| companions i'm crime, for the same
| names appear connected with the brief
notes concerning different crimes.
ROBBED THE WEALTHY.
The papers show that he attended
the democratic and repIoli can nat.upal
! conventions I'm Chicago in July and
June respectively, 1884, taking trip as
far West as San Francisco during the
interval between the two conventions.
There are entries showing that he met
| politicians, hut = does nOt appear that
he robbed any of them. lie seorIs to
have taken advantage OF the crowds.
and other entries show that ne Visited
many cities while political aud other
| conventions were being held in :hf m.
The cash items range from sums close
| to 500 as high as $500 or 500.
There are struggling items of sill
YER" and "jewelry" which might mean
that burglary was the source of the
! crooks revenue. The entries d. not
run back of June, 1884. and stop in De-
cember. 1894. OF course there are meme
covering his last trip. on which he was
caught Between those two dat - there
are hundred of items, and while no at
tempt was made to add the entries, IT
was evident that the proceeds Of the
trip ran up high in the thousands Of
dollars.
There were two little slips of paper
among the lists of cities. on which the
crook had written sentim ants of ills
sort:
Thank God. have never robbed
poor man, or person who could not
afford TO stand the loss"
1T is written. Unto them who hath
II shall be given. from those who have
not II shall be taken away My Bible
would read: From those who have too
much some shall be taken away and
! given to those who have nothing
! WANTED TO MAKE RESTITUTION.
But for these telltale scraps of senti-
ment the entries, or most of them,
might be construed as being those of
an honest man. If found under less sus-
picious circumstances. The papers We're
carefully searched by the widow. with
a view To making restitution, If she
could do without exposing herself to
disgrace. but i'm no case could she find
the necessary data. OF course she could
communicate with the police of the
various cities, but that would undoubt-
eddy involve exposure.
IL is possible that she may turn the
matter over to some lawyer and let
him make restitution in such cases as
the crimes can be traced out, for her
husband left her fortune beside the
sums indicated on the lists as having