The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-11-26
SWINDLING ON AN
EXTENSIVE SCALE
R. E. Escott is Now in Custody on That
Charge.
HE SAID HIS NAME WAS HOWARD
Told Alderman Millar That He Was
Merely an EmpiOye of EscOtt's and
was Not Aware of Any Unlawful
Business Being Transacted..That
Story shown Yesterday to BE En-.
tirely False.

Between sixty and seventy persons,
of the West Side, Providence. Belle
vue and Dunmore, most of them Ill
able to afford it, within five months
have been swindled out of amounts
ranging from So to $50 by building
and loan association agent VINO IS now
said to he in Jail here.
1t came to pass that II. II. Howard.
the man arrested on Lackawanna ave-
nue. at noon Tuesday by Patrolman
Iaggerty, on the charge of swindlinE
number of persons through selling
building and loan association stock. Is
the principal actor in the case and the
one that's wanted. When he was
brought before Alderman Millar for a
hearing he gave his name as Howard,
and alleged that he was In the employ
of a man named Il. L. Escott,of Homes
dale.
The alderman remanded him to the
police station for further hearing
and Special officer John Tierney was
sent with warrant to Honesdale to
arrest EscOtt. Howard said he was in
the habit of writing almost daily to
Escott in Honesdale, and he appeared
to be very much surprised when he
was told that Escott is a swindler, and
| he wanted to do what he could to help
the law in finding Escott.
DECOf LETTER. SENT.
Alderman Millar sent a letter to "R.
+. Escott, Honesdale," and had it
mailed so that it could go on the same
train that Officer Tierney took. The
plan was to have Tierney arrest Escott
when he called for the mail. Being
| well acquainted with the postmaster,
Alderman Millar gave Tierney letter
| of introduction to him. and the post
master said that no such a person as
EscOtt got mail there. Tierney came
back yesterday without his man, and
during his absence it was learned be-
yond doubt that Howard was Escott.
| He is slick looking chap and sought
to disguise himself by raising crop
OF whiskerS. There Is warrant
against him in Alderman Millar's office
since Sept. 90. 1t was sworn out by the
Security Building and Savings union
! through its secretary, Albert Ball. The
| company has its office in the Mears'
! building. Escott had been In its en-
plOy for some time. prior to last July,
when he was discharged. He had in
| his possession a number of blanks of
the company and he still went around
soliciting stock sulIscr, ,ptions in the
name of the company and putting the
money in his pocket it Is alleged
He had arranged to call every month
and make the collections, but some of
the victims went to the office of the
company where they We're painfully in
| formed that they We're not on the books.
The warrant for Escott was sworn out
on Sept. 22 by Secretary Ball. EscOtt
was at that time operating in Sport
Hill. Dunmore.
ARRESTED AT DUNMORE.
When officer Tom Jordan went up
| to Dunmore to serve the warrant he
found lIscott in the custody of bor-
ough policeman taking him to Jail. The
warrant could not he served then. but
Alderman Millar served retainer on
| the warden of the Jail to let him know
when Escott was about to be released.
| When the time came the warden did
so, and officer Terney was stationed
near the Jail door to capture him when
he came out. Tierney waited from
O'Clock in the evening until 3 the next
| morning and then left to get some sleep.
| He came back again at SIS the same
morning but between 3 and s Escott
had got out, and they were look'rs for
him since.
He had not been laying low. but
changed his residenc( to Fifth avenue,
Bellevue, and began fleeing the West
| Side residents. job Whitehouse, of
Frink street, was the first to find out
that Escott was a swindler ana he
sworc out a warrant on which PATROL
man Haggerty arrested Escott Tues
day.
There will be between 60 and 20
different indictments sent in against
Escott Persons from various places in
the valley are flocking to the alder
mans office with stories of being fleece
| ed by him,