The weekly Thibodaux sentinel and journal of the 8th Senatorial District. [volume] (Thibodaux, Lna. [i.e. La.]) 1875-1898, 1897-06-19

NeeQ completely fooieu She Nihh hoscN
Name He Wrote, but Was Too Previous
In His Dates-A Signature Involving an
Amputated Arm.
Ivan Ivanoff, one Of the most skillful
of Russian forgers, when sentenced to
30 years imprisonment in the mines of
Siberia ~nonchalantly remarked:
81 am the victim of poor technic.
I know my business better than most
men. but I am human, and to err is hu-
man. Had my forgery been perfect l
could not have been convicted. / am the
victim of poor technic and a careless
stroke of the pen"
Strange as it may SEEM, an event has
taken place recently in the United
States which proves tlat Ivan IvanoG
was mistaken III his theory and that the
absolute perfection of a forgery may
prove the cause of a conviction. The
story which contains the proof of this
assertion is not u long one and is as fol
lows:
About 30 years ago a young man
named Richard Robinson, who lived i'll
the city of New York, bought 1G0 acres
of land near Kansas City. The land
was worth only So or 81 an acre at that
time, and Robinson, getting into trou-
BILE. decided the land to his lawyer IL
payment of his fee. The lawyer gave no
attention to TIE property, and it was
sold fer taxes, and his title was good
against all claimants except infant heirs.
When the land became valuable, owing
to the growth Of Kansas City, an un-
scrupulous rcal estate dealer of st.
Louis induced a young wom&n of that
city to impersonate Il daughter Of Rob
inson AID to bring suit 10 recover the
property. The girl was proved to be nj
impostor and the suit was decided
against her.
The case attracted vide attention, ana
the fact that the title 70 the lana seem
ed somewhat in deuLt caused a disLlr-
red lawyer named Reed. once a resident
Of Chicago, to lcok into tie matter care
fully and finally to conceive a plan 70
obtain possession Of the land through
forgery. When everything had been PIE
pared. Reed brought suit Of ejectncnt
against the man who had possession Of
the property, claiming that he had 4
deed to it from Robinson dated prior to
the one given by Robinson to his law
yer, thus invalidutins not only that
title, but all subsequent titles which
had been given.
The only way to break this claim Was
to prove that the deed alleged to be
signed by Robinson was q forgery. Aft
er a long search Robinson was discover
ed by the attorney for the defense. liv-
ing in an obscure owl i'll Texas. He
had passed through many wild cESri-
ences on the frontier ara ii i PERSONAL
encounter had received a pistol bali III
his right arm. which made amputation
necessary. Subsequently, Ee had served
as county clerk il Missa1ri. and his sig
nature was thus readily accessible to
the forger. Robinson was brought to
Kansas City by the defense, and his tes-
timony was relied O. 20 prove that the
signature attached 70 the deed was .
forgery.
When tho case came TO trial and the
deed had been offered in evidence. Rob
am;ned 40 sia,s,rr~e 1r;fG tbs ore,togt
core and "a fFe osto,ishment and cha
grin Of the 4, gansn his foarffe5 fbat the
T~gr;tirg vs. bis nor =, 1;.a cr AR i, fho
s;gnatnro Ti{Teying II, fho sIi-h+as+ 40
Gree from bic I-age u eao,,oa 5sthonob
tbe vilv Mr. Pr@d h,d asirod I,is casa.
ypben tLo o-e,rner for tto 5sfaaea tal-.
iro m the deed. riancp1 at If 4 mo-
ment then drorniro n unon fire fable.
be enddenlv asse1.
"1fr. Robinson. vseD all von lose
vour RIGHT ar,nYn