The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1897-02-06
GEORGE MCDONALD INSANE N culcAeo.
He Il One Of the Notorious Gang that
Robbed the Bank Of England.

Robbed the Bank Of England.
; [st. Louis Republic]
: On Tuesday Austin Bidwell, th
man who served 20 years in an El
glish prison for swindling the Ban
: of England out of 81. 500, 900, re
: ceived two drafts for $50, 900 each
telegram from his old pal, Georg
Mcdonald, now in Chicago, askin
, him to cash the drafts immediatel
; and send the money to him b
! express. Mcdonald and Edwar,
. Noyes were implicated with Bidwel
} in the Bank of England job. TIL
trio were captured and convicted i,
1874. about three years after tn
swindle was discovered, and wer
sentenced to life Imprisonment
Bidwell secured his release after q
years, and one year later secured
the release of his pals.
/ Bidwell and Noyes are living il
St. Louis and stopping ut 1904 Lo
Gust. Upon the receipt of the two
drafts and the telegram yesterday
Bidwell started his friend Noyes fol
Chicago at once to see Mcdonald
and save trouble.
| Poor Macs mind is gone" said
Bidwell when seen by Republic
reporter. He has been sending me
drafts and checks for amounts rang.
ing all the way from $4,000 to
100000 for several weeks. | paid
no attention to them until to. day,
and, fearing that the fly men of the
Windy City may not know of bis
pitiable plight, l sent Noyes on to
see Mac. The poor fellow has been
off for years. He imagines that he
has 100000 in the banks of Drexel
and Harjes, Paris, France"
1t came about in this way. After
the Bank of England job, / being
the only known member of the gang,
left Mcdonald and Noes in charge
OF the money, about $4,OOO.OOO.
Believing that they would never be
suspected they travelled and made
the deposits in their own names.
Contrary to their own expectations,
Noyes was the FIRST of the trio to fall
into the hands of the English po-
lice. His connection with the swim
die was discovered through piece
of blotting paper found in a room
he had vacated in a. London hotel.
The blotter bore an impression of
enough of the writing on the last
$40, 900 check drawn on the Bank of
England to warrant suspicion and
his arrest. The capture of Nc Donald
followed soon after, and, of course,
the recovery of the money was an
easy matter, it having been depos-
tied In their own names. When the
official list or account of the money
recovered was published, through
some mistake the 100000 left |
with Drexel and Harjes by McDon-
aid was not printed. This led Mac
TO believe that the police had over
looked this little pile. and for 81 |
years he brooded over it, until it
became part of his being. Aside
from his hopes of liberty the Sc
curing of that 100000 was the
lppermost thing on his mind. To
show what hold this matter had
IN his very nature | need only say
hat on meeting him on the shores
If New York after a separation of
Il years his first remark to me was
Let's go and get that $500, 0O0."
Il did my best to prove to him
hat this as we'll as all other de-
,osits had been confscated by the
English authorities but failed.
Il kept him with me for about
hree weeks. Then be suddenly
disappeared. The next l heard of
Tim was through a cable dispatch
rom France, which read about as
ollows:
George Mcdonald. one of the
hree men implicated in the Bank
# England robbery, upon securing
lis release from the English prison
las returned to the scene of the ar
est looking very shabby. He put
p at swell Partisan hotel, ordered
hampagne suppers, in payment
Or which he offered bogus checks
n the Bank of Drexel aud Haries,
mounting to $4,000 and was ar
ested.'
Il sent his sister to Paris, and
fter a long legal fight Mac was
ronounced insane. She brought
i'm to America and after remaining
18th his family for awhile he be-
anne more rational. His people
,oved with him to Frisco, where be
ecured the position of Latin and
Ireek lecturer in the public schools.
he publication of his connection
18th the Bank of England job
aused him to lose this place and
9 became violently insane aud was
onhned in an asylum for some
me. A short time ago he moved
Chicago, where be hasbeer doing
ewspaper work. / fear that his
ase is hopeless, and for his family's