Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-01-06
Vain Efforts to Swindle the Pension
Bureau.
CASES RUN DOWN BY DETECTIVES
Interesting Stories Drawn From
the Files.
TALES OF THE TORTUOUS

| building, on the third floor, is the detective
agency of the bureau the place where all
schemes are laid to catch the cuprits who
| seek by every known method to rob Uncle
Sam of pensions.
The examiners in the field are in con-
slant communication with this bureau, and
webs are daily spun with which to trap
the foolish flies who ina CINE they can
practice their thieving methods without
Uncle Sans knowledge. They succeed for
a time now and then. but sooner or later
they are caught. The government officials
are merciless, and press the charges
against Them always insisting upon con-
viction and sentence. The records of the
bureau contain hundreds of cases, and the
criminal docket consists of thirteen large
volumes The principal offenses charged
are forgery. impersonating a government
ofl1cer and perjury, and there are hundreds
or such cases. A reporter of The Star
picked out few of the interesting cases
made out during the past few months
They are presented herewith:
A Series of Forgeries.
One of the most famous cases of forgery
| unearthed by the pension bureau is that Of
Letitia Burress of Hopknsville, Ky. "Tish,'
as the officials designate her, was shrewd
woman. about thirty-five years of age and
unmarried. She forged the papers in
number of claims, including the claims of
two persons who were supposed to be her
relatives. Not only did she forge the sig
, natures of the witnesses, but those of the
executing officers, and, as she was not the
attorney in any of the claims, though it
appears she was sort of a subagent for
other attorneys, it was with great difficulty
that the offenses We're fastened upon her
In one of the cases with which it was sup
posed she was connected, the claimant had
q eS "a inc hit
dent of writing a letter to the dead wo-
man. The letter was posted on the list at
the post office, and shortly thereafter
little boy came to the office with an order
purportinS to have been signed by the
dead woman for the letter. The eXarpiner
was standing rear by and proceeded to fol-
low.the boy, who, suspecting he being
followed, started TO run. The boy outran
the examiner, who repaired to ..Tish' 81
house, where, after an hour had elapsed
he saw the boy enter. The forged order
which was presented at the post office was
identical with the forged papers in the
claims, and the boy testified that "Tish"
wrote the order and sent him for the let
ter, thus SUI plying the missing link con-
Meeting her with the forgeries for which
she was sent to Jail.
Guilty of Many Forgerics.
An agent at Renalara, Miss, was asso-
GATED in the pension business with a JUS
tice OF the peace and notary public. He adj
essery for him to file one certificate show
irg his official character, to the end that
all papers executed before him might be
accepted by the pension bureau, and then
presented him with d nice new bottle of ink
and pen tC make his signature to the GER
tiiicate Thereafter the agent did not
trouble the justice to go through the for
| mality of signing papers, but deliberately
forged what purported to be his signature
in over thirty cases, and in some instances.
to. as many as eight papers. This mans
methods were discovered by the bureau,
which, suspecting something wrong made
tracings of the signatures and compared
them. A special examiner was detailed on
the case, and put the forger in JAIL from
which ne expects to depart in 1899. He
pleaded guilty thirteen indictments
Had he been convicted on every forgery
committed. and been sentenced to six
months in eacn case, his cumulative SEN
tence would have been for life
An attorney and his clerk residing in
Ulster County. New York. entered into a
conspiracy to prosecute a fraudulent claim
for pension, in furtherance of which they
forged certain alfidavits, for which offense
the attorney was sentenced to thirteen
months imprisonment, and the clerk also
convicted; but as the trial judge believed
the clerk was merely a tool in the hands
of the attorney, ne suspended sentence In
his case.
A man who a major III a Kentucky
regiment claimed pension on account of
amputatlon of two fingers on his right
hard. which, he claimed, resulted from an
accident received while in line of duty The
claim was investigated and proven that
these fingers were lost before the major
enlisted, and he was tried for perjury anc
sentenced to six months imprisonment
Represented Himself as Commissioners
T. F. Dewey Of Osborne. Ohio, Travelled
through that state representing himself to
be the commissioner of pensions, and col
lected various sums from pensioners and
applicants upon the pretense that he would
take favorable action upon their claims
The special examiners of the bureau ran
him down, and now the pseudo-commis-
sioner is serving a sentence of eighteen
months Imprisonment in the Ohio peniten-
tiary.
Joseph Brandenburg of Quincy, ILL.,, who
was proven to never have been in the ser
vice, tried to convince the pension author
tiles that he was the George w. Young who
served in the 18th Pennsylvania Reserve
Infantry. but signally failed and instead Of
getting pension drew a sentence in the
penitentiary of one year and day.
This is a case Of a soldier who served in
Kentucky regiment and was convicted
with woman who forged certain affi-
davitS to perfect his claim.
An impostor whose real name has never
been discovered, but who is now in the
penitentiary serving a two years sentence
tried to make the pension bureau believe
that he was the Robert Bayless who served
in the 1st United States Colored Heavy Ar
tillery.
Forged His Dead Mothers Name,
An old lady at Maysville, KY, was grant
ed pension as the widow of soldier who
was killed In the line Of duty. After her
death her daughter continued to draw the
pension by forging her dead mothers name
| to the vouchers and checks. Two years
solitary confinement will give her ample op-
portunity to repent.
| A man at Sycamore, Va, promoted and
seemingly established a false widows claim
| and obtained 81, 1857 from the government.
| He obtained four years term in the peni-
| Tertiary for his carelessness one day, which
put the watch dogs Of the pension bureau
on his trail.
A notary public at ST. Peter, AIinn., mall
ed blank declaration and affidavit forms
| to a claimant to sign and obtain the sigma,
lures of her witness, which she did and re,
| turned the papers to the notary, who then
filed them out signed the jurats. impressed
| his seal thereon and forwarded them to the
| pension bureau as genuine papers. For this
offense he was tried and sentenced upon
| conviction, to one years Imprisonment.
PersOnated His Dead Father.
| soldier who served in the 9Th Maine
l Infantry died in 1879 and hip SON con.