The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1896-04-03
edwards" RECORD.
fle and Another Penmau 1akir g
Honey i'm the Check Business.

(From the Minneapolis Times.
Yesterday morning the 1tnaes con-
tanned a dispatch from Mankato,
stating that man by the name of
Edwards had passed worthless paper
on the local merchants there, pur-
porting to be signed by the H. w.
Johns u Manufacturing Company, Of
Boston and Chicago The Mankato
depreciation is one of the many COM
mitted by couple of very shrewd
penmen on this company. James H.
Shields, the western manager of the
company, was in Minneapolis yester-
day, and he said:
Il suppose that over 81 900 worth
of this bad paper has been issued in
this western country. The men who
are doing the work are very shrewd,
and although we have made several
attempts to capture them and have
worked hard on the clues furnished
we have been unsuccessful thus far
Edwards is not the mans real
name: He travels under several
aliases, one of which is Mccormick
Before his arrival in the city letter
arrives at one of the leading hotels
addressed to Edwards or whatever
other alias the man may use. Upon
his arrival the man opens the letters,
mutters something about the check
for his expense account arriving late
and goes to the hotel proprietor and
attempts to get him to cash it for
him. In this he is usually successful,
for the check is work of art 1t is a
Autographed affair, with the name
Asbestos" in large red letters across
one end and the names Of the princl-
pal offices of our firm In small letters,
New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chi
cago and London, England. The
check is drawn on the Bunker Hill
National Bank, of Boston, and is
stamped with the name Johns Man
ufacturing Company, countersigned
by Treasurer Bennett. The ICON"
man uses a travelling mans grip in
which he carries regular samples, and
generally after getting the hotel to
cash 800 check he will drift around
| among the plumbers of the city and
work one or more for $50 or 800 in
the same way. The checks 60 east
and it is week or 10 days before they
get back. By that time the forger
has moved on to his next stopping
place and has so thoroughly covered
up his tracks that it is difficult to ap-
prehend him.
Mr.. Shields yesterday said:
"We have heard from Grand Island,
Neb, Kearney, Neb., Topeka, Kan,
st. Joseph, Mo-, and several other
! places, and the amount the man Sc
cured at those points is considerably
over 81 900. We are of the opinion
that he is an ex-agent for the eastern
house, although we have no definite
knowledge on that point. He under
stands our advertising literature
! thoroughly and knows something
about the line of goods that the
Johns Manufacturing Company car
ries. l think if the facts connected
with his depredations were known it
would serve as a warning to many who
might be duped in the future. We
have had detectives working on the
case al d have used every means to Sc
cure the arrest of the man, but so far
have been unsuccessful. We are not to
blame, but we are using every effort
to prevent the public from being i'm
posed upon"
Cheap Lots for Sale on Easy Terms
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| 1925 will buy good lot adjoining
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Ten room house corner of Fifth and
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|