Evening journal., 1896-12-02
TOOL OF THE SYNDICATE
Richard Grant Monks, Alleged
Forger, Arrested.
WAS A HANDY MAN WITH A PEN.
Boueh-Naientine Combination Employed
Him to Write Bogus Checks and Deeds.
Wanted In Bay City. Mich, FOR De-
fraudine His Benefactors.


Wanted In Bay City. Mich, For De-
fraudinr His Benefactors.
NEW YORK, Dec 2.-Slowly but sure
ly the members OF the Valentine Bongh
band of forgers and swindlers are being
brought to Justice The last TO be arrested
is Richard Grant Monks whose skilled
hand il is alleged by Valentine, under the
direction of John Bough, forged most Of
the gangs worthless paper.
Monks was caught by Central Office
Detectives Flay and Murphy as he called
at the postofiice for mail awaiting him
under the name of Wellington Thorn
waite He had just arrived from the west,
where he admits, he has forged checks
and passed them upon merchants AID ho-
tel Keepers He denies that Ee was ever
IN trouble before or that he has operated
IN any but "a small way, but the police.
found In his possession an outfit such as
only man who expected TO reap q large
harvest by his frauds would carry. He
told the detectives TINT he is only . years
old, but his smoothly shaved face shows
lines that would hardly be found on so
young man, and his skin in passing
worthless paper is too great to have been
obtained In a short career.
Valentine who is now in the Raymond
Street Jail, Brooklyn, awaiting sentence
for passing some Of that paper says it was
one of Monks forged checks that first at.
tracted attention to the gang i'm last July,
when May Vintage passed It at Sixth
avenue store. For this she was arrested,
as was Valentine, but both Succeeded in
rcgaining their freedom by making good
the amount they had obtained on the check
Valentine says Mclaughlin gave II to him
and told him il was one Of number made
by Monks.
Wanted In Bay City, Mich.
The first notice that the police received
regarding Monks came last Friday in a
telegram from the chief of police Of Bay
City, Mich, stating that Monks would
call at the postoilice for mail and asking
that he be arrested The next day another
telegram was received, giving a descrip-
ton Of Monks and saying that he was bad
ly wanted for forgery A third telegram
came Monday. In this IL was said that the
forger was desperate and would probably
shoot il given chance. As a consequence
the detectives, as soon as they recognized
the young man, seized and handcutfed
him before he could offer any resistance.
At police headquarters his vaise was
found to contain more than 200 bank
checks on banks in all parts of the coun-
try. Most of them were the checks Of pri-
vatc houses, especially engraved for the
different firms The banks represented
ranged from the Cochise County bank Of
Tombstone, A. r., and an institution in
Tacoma, to small banks in the Dalotas,
Wisconsin, Montana and other states Of
the northwest. Besides these there were
checks of some of the leading mercantile
houses of Chicago and one Of the city Of
Chicago itself, all showing that Monks
was skilled in his line of crime.
Besides the checl.sa perforating machine,
such as is used to mark the amount of a
check upon it, was found in his valise.
This had been purchased by Monks in
Buffalo, where the police think ho may
have found victims. Ia Buffalo, too, he
had cards engraved with the name of Vel
lington Thornwaite and Monks and rcp-
resenting him to be a representative Of The
engineering department. Of the Illinois
Central railroad. Another card bore the
signature of -. $. Barlow and certified
that Monks was the representative of the
Central News company on the Cincinnati,
Hamilton ald Dayton railroad. A touch
of romance was given TO his ease by the
finding of two photographs of a handsome
young woman that had been taken by a
photographer named Cooper I'm Ypsilanti,
Mich. Monks refused TO say who the young
woman is He claims 20 be a civil engi-
ncer