Omaha daily bee., 1897-08-18
WEALTHY FARMERS TROUBLE
His Property Held by Strangers as Result
Of His Innocence.
SAMUEL RIHNeRs REMARKABLE STORY
He Accuses Banker stcckel of BIoom-
field of Boldly swindIing Him of a
Fine Farm and Its
Equipment.

Samuel Rihner, one OF the wealthiest
farmers In Pottawattamie county, attempted
to readjust his finances a short time ago and
not being thoroughly posted in the methods
OF procedure succeeded in deciding away his
interest in farm lands valued at about S4J,
OOO Rihner lives near Avoca, and is one of
the best known citizens in the county. He
came into the district court yesterday with
several highly sensational suits, which make
serious charges against w. j. Steckel, a pri
vate banker and money loaner of Bloomfield,
Ia. Steckel is the son OF Amos Steckel can
didote for railroad commissioner last year.
A number of very voluminous documents
were filed in the office of the county clerk
yesterday, giving history of the peculiar
transactions by which Rihneris property went
into the hands Of other parties without his
knowledge. The story as told by the petitions
is that Rihner was somewhat involved, and
had determined to borrow enough money
to clear up his Indebtedness and leave him
something for further Investment and i'm
prcvement He was unable to understand
English very well and he made known his
desire to a friend living in Shelby, nearby
! town. This friend had some acquaintance
with the Steckels. and wrote to them. advis-
ing them of the possibility of making La ge
loan. The younger Steckel visited Rihner's
place and looked over the land and con-
cluded to make the lean or S22, 900 asked for
by the farmer. Steckel represented to Rihner
and his wife that, in order to accomplish this,
1t would be necessary for them to give him a
power OF attorney, which he accordingly drew
uD.
CLEANED HIM OUT AT ONCE.
There was no friend near to explain what
| power OF attorney was, and the imperfect
| knowledge of the meaning of the terms in
the instrument led them to sign an instru-
! tlnt
| Steckel. and gave him the power to execute
| deeds to their property Steckel explained to
! them that the power of attorney was only
for the purpose OF enabling him to negotiate
the loan and could be used for no other pur-
| pose AS soon as Steckel got this important
instrument in his hands. which was August
| Z. he executed warranty deed for the old
| Germans $4,000 farm, and dated 1t the same
day. The party to whom the property was
conveyed was Amos Taylor, near relative
| CT Steckel's who is also a resident of Bloom
field. The consideration was 500, 500, the
amount Of the loan that the farmer was ex-
pecting to get. On August this deed and
the power of attorney were placed on file, and
| the property was in the hands of strangers
without the knowledge of its owners.
In consideration of the loan Rihner had
| agreed to give Stecke commission of
| $l,15O. and he gave him a note for that
| amount During the progress of the deal
| he also borrowed $3.50 from Steckel and
he AYERS in his petition is the only consld-
| Grafton he received and the only obligations
| ne signed. The money represented by the
| loan never came and the first intimation he
received that anything was wrong was on
| Monday of last week He took load OF
stock to Chicago and during his absence his
| wife was served with notice of a foreclosure
suit by the Avoca bank on note and mort
| gage for $3,440. Mr. Rihner was surprised
| and on investigation found that warranty
fnp t., Anl t.tt
sale covering his personal property had been
| filed for record, and that the action taken
| by the bank was for the purpose of protect
| ing its interests. Rihner contended he had
| not given any such deeds, nor authorized
| anyone to do ii for him. He at once sought
| his attorneys and all of Saturday, Sunday
ana Monday they were engaged in the
preparation of the papers in the case.
TOOK HIS STOCK ALSO
| Rihner's possessions include eighty nine
acres in sections l. 4, 33 and "a, township
n, range 40. The farm is well stocked with
catue horses mules and large quantity
| or grain of all kinds All OF these, accord
| Ing to the petition, are now in the name of
! Theodore Taylor
investigation Of the county records shows
| that Steckel executed on August Z a bill of
| sale conveying all of Rihners personal prop-
| erty to Taylor, including the grain and all
| or the farm stock. The consideration is al
| legged to be $4,000.
second suit was instituted against Tay-
| lor for the recovery of the property, alleg-
| Ing substantially the same facts and claim
ing that Taylor was in connivance with
| Steckel in the transaction
Criminal prosecutions will also be begun
| at once. The attorneys for Rihner said last
evening that warrants were issued yester-
| day for the arrest of Steckel and Taylor.
| and that they would be taken into custody
last night. The case has created a great
sensation In the vicinity of Shelby and
| Avoca. The complaint upon which the war
| rants for the arrest of the men implicated
was filed in Shelby, where the transfers