The evening times., 1898-01-20
BANKS MADE THE VICTIMS.
Checks Forged by a Clever Penman
Passed IJpon Them.

New York, Jan 20.-Pinkerton detec-
tives are on the track of mysterious
penman whose lucrative feats of for
gerry, they believe, have netted him
| and his confederates many thousands
of. dollars, and who, they are confident,
wrote the forged check which Charles
Meline was trying to have cashed
when he was arrested three weeks ago.
! Important arrests in the case are ex-
pected any day. -
Meline's arrest put the detectives to
work, and resulted in the revelation
of an amazingly bold scheme of theft
by forgery, by which leading banks of
New York have been victlmized to the
extent of many thousands of dollars.
The false check wrenched from Mel
ines hands when he was arrested, gave
the detectives a clew which quickly led
to the collection of many other fraudu-
lent checks written by the same man
and passed on various banks through
out the city. Meline was merely one
OF a band of at least four members,
and it is not improbable that he is the
least guilty of all.
An expert in handwriting declares
positively that Meline did not write
lihC thtth WHICH ilt 10 pass, anu
that the man who did write it is also
the author of several other forged
Z checks now in the hands of the Pinker-
tons. The swindle has proved to be
such n general one that the American
Bankers Association has taken up
the fight, and it was this organization
which engaged the Pinkertons.
The men whose names were used on
the forged checks are all prominent
e,
their signatures were obtained in al
most every instance by means of let
ter written by a member OF the band
on some pretense of business. These
letters will play an important part in
the further history of the case in fas-
tening the guilt on the right man.
Paying Teller Alfred II. Curtis, of
the Bank of the State of New York,
said the amount realized by the for
gers would run far into the thousands.
A list of victims whose losses will ag-
gregate about $4,000. is now in the
hands Cf the Pinkertons. The exact
amounts of the checks cannot be OBJ
tained, but in every case but one, that
of w. A. Smallwood & Co, the checks
were for sums less than s400.
The smallest check of the lot led to
the betrayal OF the band. Ii was for
S125.25, and was signed by Henry c.
-hei1ut IL u
ing Teller Curtis, of the Bank of the
STATE of New York, on December u.
and Mr.. Curtis. quickly detecting the
fraud. had Meline held. crop of
forged checks developed shortly after
ward. These were turned over to Mr..
Curtis. in the belief that they might
bear some relation To the one he had
detected. When they were examined
by Teller Curtis he found that in every
instance the victim was member of
the Coffee Exchange
None of the tellers who cashed the
other checks was able to identity Mel
inc as the man who presented them.
and il is thought that other members
of the band Cashed them Meline
claimed as his defense that the check
was given him on Park Row by |
friend named Henry James to have
cashed. and James A. Peterson swore .
that he saw James give the check 10 1
Meline. Detective Minister. of Pinker-
toms agency. swore that he was Shad- 4
owing Peterson on that day, and that /
he was not on Park Row at the time |
he claimed.