The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-01-28

Leader or the Dolan Gang or Counterfehters
Arrested In Cleveland.

Arrested in Cleveland.
CLEVELAND. o.. Jan. 27.-The United States
authorities, working in unison with detectives
and attorneys in tho employ of the Honduras
Lottery Company. which is the old New Orleans
Lottery Company, have captured here the chief
of what Is said by the United States
officials to be the cleverest and most
dangerous gang of counterfeiters that
has operated in this country in the last
twenty years. The gang is composed Of seven.
teen persona. the leader being Thomas Dolan.
who possesses a dozen aliases. and who for Q
decade has been working successfully in noarly
all the large cities of the country. For three
years the New York authorities have known
that the residents there were being swindled by
this gang, and during that time extensive efforts
were made to ferret out the swindlers. but ow-
ing to the reticence Of the victims. who pre-.
ferred losing their money to gaining notoriety.
sufficient evidence was never secured to war
rant arrest.
The plan Of the gang was to write to men
having money telling Of the possession OF a lot.
terry ticket which had drawn a prize in the Hon.
duras lottery. Sometimes tho amount Of the
prize was 81 900 and sometimes So, 900. Occa.
sionally the gang would raise the amount OF tho
prize to $5, 900. The number of the ticket would
be given. and accompanying the letter would
be a forged list Of tn. lottery drawing. The
ticket. of course, was forged. They would sell
tho bogus ticket cheap. Another method was
to change the numbers OF genuine tickets so as
to make them identical with the one drawing
the prize. Counterfeiting was added to the
business Tta OF the gang 81 as q sort OF SIDE % line line yort
Baltimore, Washington. Boston, Philadelphia,
Cincinnati. Chicago. Minneapolis, st. Louis,
New Orleans, and finally in Cleveland.
found at a house, rs Berlin street, on the out
skirts of the city. Here Dolan passed as q
respectable carpenter. The only thing out Of
the ordinary that tine neiGhbors noticed
was the large ho number sbs,voot Of Visitors 4 Is
winning tho confidence of ,Dolan and hi.
colleagues, eventually becoming n member OF
the gang. During the last two months he ac.
lively participated in the swindling Schemes 10
The Post Office Department had been kept In.
formed OF the case and its progress. and ten
days ago Post Office Inspector A. p. Owens was
teiegraphed to that everything was In shape 10
arrested by Chief Deputy United States Mar.
shal Young on a warrant charging him, with
knowingly sending for delivery in the United
States a letter concerning q lottery. Dolan was
bound over by United States Commissioner ,Chl
and warrants for tho other sixteen members
of the gong were issued.
At the Berlin street house q complete counter
feiting outfit was found. 1t consisted OF printing
presses, engravers' stones, peculiar paints and
Ink. inkpads, steel orasers. paper polishers,
about 800 lottery tickets that had been raised
so cleverly was this raising done that even under
q magnifyinR glass 1t was scarcely apparei.t.
There were also plaster of paris moulds and tools
of various sorts.
Mr.. Owens roughly estimates tho amount
realized by the gangs swindling operations 10
100000 to 100000. Dolan was locked M In
the county jail without bail.