The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1896-03-17
Il WOMAN FORGER,

A False Draft on the Mechanics Bank of
New Haven for $915A Clever Job-Mrs.
Eliza Mays Name Eoreed-st. Louis Bank
the Loser.
There has recently come to light the
details of a most clever forgery, in
which the perpetrator was woman
and in which the Mechanics bank Of
this city and the Bank of the Repub-
lie of st. Louis are involved.
The beneficiary of the forgery is now
a fugitive from justice, with the
chances of escape in her favor, and
the detective bureau of st. Louis is
demoralized at her escape from their
hands The circumstances are as fol-
lows:
Mrs. Eliza May, widow of Fernandez
May of ST. Paul, MINI, with her son,
Abraham L. May, Yale 81, and her
daughter, Miss Jennie L. May, came to
New Haven last August for short
vacation and incidentally to collect ST.
500 from the Connecticut Masonic as
ISOLATION, OF which Mrs Mays husband
was a member.
The 81 500 was deposited in the Me-
chanicS' bank in this city and Mrs. May
and her children returned to st. Paul.
January "a of this year Mrs. May de-
posted in the Bank of the Republic in
St Louis a check for $1,250 on the New
Haven Mechanics bank for collection.
A week later the check was returned
dishonored and telegram to the Me-
chanics' bank brought back the answer
to ST. Louis that on January "a draft
for $975 had been sent to Mrs. May.
That lady had, however, not received
any draft and two days after the re-
ceipt of the telegram from the Bank of
the Republic the draft was returned to
the Mechanics bank endorsed by Mrs.
May. This ENHANCEMENT of facts was
bewildering, but it was finally decided
that a forger had been at work and in
vestigations began.
1t was discovered that another wo-
man named Eliza May, a widow with
two young children, also lived in st.
Louis. BY some means this woman dis
covered that the check had been de-
posted in the Bank of the Republic on
January "a for collection, and she inn
mediately telegraphed the Mechanics
bank for a draft for 1915. which was
honored. Then the forger induced S.
D. Rossi a business man of ST. Louis.
to go to the bank and identify her, and
she got the cash. The woman then
placed her two young children in an
orphan asylum and departed to parts
unknown with man, who, it is
thought, assisted her in the forgery.
They have not been found, although
the St. Louis detectives traced them to
Louisville, KY, where the trail was lost.
Mr. Rossi when confronted by Mrs.
May, who had suffered the loss, said
that she was not the person whom he
had identified.
The Republic bank, which cashed the
draft for Mrs. May, declared that Rossi
would be held responsible. He vowed
that he simply identified her, but the
bank claimed his signature on the back
of the draft amounted to an endorse
ment, and that his account in the Re
public bank, which amounts to more
than the sum in question, would be at
tached to cover the claim.
In the meantime, however, the for
gerry has been proved, the money in
the Mechanics bank has been declared
to be awaiting the disposal of the first
Mrs. May, and will be claimed in a
few days. The counsel of the Republic
bank was John G. Noble, ex-secretary
of the interior.
James J. Buchanan of this city, a
classmate of A. L. May, has looked af-
ter the interests of the family, who, it
was feared, might suffer from the for
gerry.