The San Francisco call., 1897-07-20
ney-LenderS at Los
Angeles Duped by a
SWindler.
Pacific Coast Steamship Com
pany Clerks Novel
Methods.
Disposed OF Numerous "Shaved -
or Altered Claims Against
His Employers.

! ers of an aggregate face value OF between
$4,000 and $4,000, purporting to have
| been issued by the Pacific Coast Steam
| ship Company in settlement OF claims OF
losses and damages, are found to be in ex
istence in Los Angeles in the hands OF
money-le nders, and it is to-day declared
ali are forged and worthless. Represen-s
| tatives of the steamship company claim
| that gigantic conspiracy has been going
| on here for months by which great
amount OF money has been made by some
persons. As result there are prospects
of a criminal prosecution being 1nsti-
tuted and certainty of numbers OF civil
suits which may help to throw light upon
the steal.
| Careful investigation discloses these
facts: J. W. Kapus, shrewd young man
who for about five years was clerk for w.
Paris, local agent of the Pacific Coast
Steamship Company, lost his position
| last March, having resigned by request of
his employer, who thought the clerk had
| too much private business to enable him
| to properly attend to that Of the steam
ship company.
| Previous to that time and up to the
present, it appears, Kapus has been doing
| q large business in buying or shaving"
CLAIMS against the steamship company. 1t
is said that he would receive information
that a certain shipper would be entitled to
a claim for some amount say $4,000, and
would go to him with an offer to buy the
| claim at a discount for ready cash, which
| otherwise would not be forthcoming until
4 the matter had run the usual time con-
| Stunning course. Thus an agreement would
be reached for about $500.
| Kapus, by his own admission, would bor-
| row from some moneyed man the amount
and give to him for security voucher for
| the full amount of the cl aim. The ear
lier ones were eventually paid back from
receipts of the next loan, Kapus in each
case dividing a big rake off with the
money-lender.
| 1t is stated that the operations began
with the loss of the steamer Colima, when
! a great number of claims were filed
against the company, and the enterpris-
| ing clerk turned a snug, profit to his ac-
| count.
As shippers were inclined to magnify
| the amount of loss they had sustained,
they were all the more willing to compro-
mise on discount basis. and, the vouch-
ers being considered as good as gold, no
difficulty was experienced in obtaining
ready cash upon them. Some OF the
shire wd est money men in the city went
into the deal, and as a result now hold
quantities of the vouchers for which they
may never receive cent.
1t is charged that many ii not most OF
cse vouchers are entire forgerles. Each
E,ine voucher should bear the sigma
IF the claim clerk, the chief account
nd also the initials or full signature
,eneral agents-Goodall, Perkins &
these forged vouchers, it is said,
autographs are spurious, and these
IN denounced by the company's
bogus.
the vouchers instead of being
to signature are genuine In that
IT raised in amount. Thus 1t IS
vouchers issued in regular form
um, $50 for instance, turn up in
ender's hands bearing the os-
ace value of $500 or even $4,000.
jkless abandon exhibited in the
of these forged or raised vouchers
hing marvellous, and that profess
noney-lenders, who are expert on
ing" negotiable paper. should be
in on them is past belief. Yet De
Jer, who is wealthy Randsburg
Ae- -owner, is said to hold $500 worth of
Ae vouchers, some portion of which may
be worth something, but with
changes against them.
DR.. Kuns has $4,000 OF the claims, but he
| is confident he will get the money. Other
men, the ma ajority OF them wealthy doc
tors, hold amounts great or small, and the
holders differ as to the prospects OF ever
realizing on them.
| When w. Paris, the local agent for the
steamship company, became convinced OF
| what was going on, he set about to lnVes-
| tigate, after communicating with the
| head office in San Francisco, but he found
great reluctance on the part OF the In
| vestofs to admit what they had put into
the pool of the young Napoleon of finance.
| Not until to-day was he able to apprOxi-
| mate the total amount of the alleged for
| geries, and it approached the $40, 600 mark.
Young Kapus at first did his banking
| at the National Bank of California, but
| he became angry because an overdrait
would not be honored and transferred his
account to the Citizens Bank. At both
| establishments he created suspicion by
the great size of his account but neither
bank had any business with him except to
| handle his deposits.
| After Kapus left the steamship CON-
pany's employ he, with partner, engaged
| in the mems furnishing business on
Broadway under the firm name of Parry
& Kapus, and there continued his busl-
ness of "shaving" claims.
All of this Kapus admits but he denies
that he did any forging. When seen to-
day by THE CALL correspondent Kapus
said that his connection with the matter
was only that of buyer of claims just as
persons buy city and county warrants at
discount.
He said If any of the vouchers were
forged the work must have been done in
the San Francisco office. He declares he
is innocent of any purpose to defraud, and
has employed an attorney to look after
his interests.
Certain holders of the denounced vouch-
ers have also sought counsel. They assert
that the documents they hold are true
upon their face and not different from
others they previously held, which were
paid, and they will undertake to force the
company to pay them.
None of these holders as yet evince an
inclination to bring criminal action
against any one while hoping for settle
ment, but that they display great uneasi-
ness is shown by the fact of their employ
ing legal counsel.
representative of the steamship COM
pany is expected to arrive from San Fran
cisco tomorrow
FIRES IN SHASTA FORESTS.