The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-01-11
THIEVISH o K CAUGHT
WALL STREET VIEWS MACHINES roo
QUICK FOR TITS FORGER.

ShtChs HuFEoWeu ~ Vug ON tue tNoCk huo
was Turning the enc. o o Check Into Geld
when the Police Got Mlm-Onlc hey Helped.
William F. Goordes, so years old. of 2s5 South
Tenth street, Newark, a member of the Consoli-
dated Exchange. was arrested by Detective Ser
gcant Philip Reilly and Detective Taylor Of the
Wall street branch of the Detective Bureau Mt
340 o'clock yesterday afternoon, charged with
forging the certihcation of tho North Side Bank
Of Brooklyn to q check for $1s.112.5O. Tho ar
rest was made at tho office Of Zimmerman g.
Forshay. bullion brokers, 0 Wall street. The
check was drawn to the order OF William Haw-
ley & Co.. stock brokers, of 90 Broad street, by
J. l.. Rives, supposed to be q mythical person, in
payment for 100 shares of the Consolidated Gas
Company's stock, the certificate for which was
delivered by Hawley to Gberdes, who had in
dorsed the check.
Tho arrest was made Just in time to prevent
Goerdes from getting away with $4,000 in
gold and in time to prevent Hawley Sc Co. from
losing tho hundred shares Of stock which they
sold to Goerdes. Ono of the most audacious at
tempts that has been made In some time to steal
money in Wal street was thus nipped in the
bud.
The story of Goordes's attempt to get some
thing for nothing dates back to last Tuesday.
1t was then, according to his own story, that he
was brought face to face with the fact that he
must get some money or starve. He had been Q
speculator in Wall street on a small capital for
several years, and bis capital was gradually
yesterday he found himself without a bank ac-
count and with only q few dollars in his pocket.
So he hit on a way by which he hoped to steal a
In the development Of this scheme he called
Tuesday afternoon. Going up to a clerk named
scully. who stood behind the desk near the
Wal street entrance, he said: ~...
the Consolidated Exchange. i want to make
arrangements with you TO get some Spanish
Mr.. Sculiy told Goerdes that the firm could
undoubtedly. furnish him with what gold he
would require. Goerdes said that he would
want about $4,000. This was a large amount of
to handle, and scully tod Gosrdes That It would
Goerdes inquired what the brokerage would be.
want this gold for myself. 1 want It for a Gus:
out Of the transaction. It's like this, but this
must be In strict confidence: I have a Gus
New York who is fitting out. an expedition to
Cuba; He wants to get hold Of $4,000 worth OF
fs Iom here sS SnS 9ssnsfe Thss' TO are e d If Ss sH do%a
sculiy consulted with Louis j. Rees, the junior
Goerdes said he would consult with his princi-
Would take the ssoi d at the rate 60 quoted % Sou sca! y
told him the order could not be filled. earlier
would do, II he could depend upon getting the
The next DAY. Saturday, just after tho consol.
Of tbe Arm Of Hawley Co, and said: -
to get 100 shares Of Consolidated Gas. Can you
get 1t for mel 1t will be a cash transaction. and
want the best quotation. SO that 1 can make
Mr.. Lawrence knew Goerdes slightly, and
Current If snte quotation was Ise bid and ISIS ,I asked.
Very WE'LL" said Goerdes; buy at 1915.
When can you make the delivery
Monday. That was satisfactory. Before Inc Ex-
change closed on Saturday, Mr.. Lawrence hap
This man said he would not care to have much
to do with Mr.. Lawrence's customer. That made
he had in mind to require Goerdes to post $500
with the Chairman as q guarantee. Then no
sSms% Wish aa sRss { Co. had b psssa al right sEhR and
fsn s0 ba oas4o@ to tat sbo a Ghn sfisr ra 9bs EI than Of,
Lawrence on the floor and said:
Mr.. Lawrence. my customer has sent me his
course you will require that the check be certi.
fed and I'll attend to the matter at once"
ly require that the Check be certifed, and
SSoerdes walked away: About noon he came
! s,112:5 SO. The check was drawn to the order
Of Hawley & Co., signed by IL. Rives, and:
ss inc not ffs nosn to Of him naT indofssd i BY soe RtSss
IN red ink as follows: "Certiied; North
red ink. were what we're supposed by Lawrence
to be the initials of the banks paying teller.
were written in a bold hand, and because they
were SO written and because they were unde-
certifcation was all right. He took the check
and surrendered the certificate for the stock.
able rpaSnn hn falt that the phpCR NyaG mot all
stock until he could call up the Northside Bank
Goerdes had disappeared, however. and SO he
called a messenger and sent the check at once
on the telephone, told him OF his suspicious, and
asked Hawley to eommpniceto With the bank
back the answer that no such person as I'LL.
Rives was known there nor was there any
account In hat persons name. w.
branch Of the Detective, Bureau and reported
the case. Reilly and Taylor sent out a notice
also notified the New York News Bureau, which
caused the following notice to be sent out on its
slips:
100 shares of Consolidated Gas stock No. Il. ses: All
parties s, are notified On,,sS not %t,' e. neg E ? The 3 r same o. R II OF;
street.
A short time after the news Of the stock trans.
action had been sent abroad In these two ways
h honlS d in Men she olie. e Of Ha% vi 70 Z s 60. an siF told
A. n. Hawley that he CMendham, had HGwley's
sIS6o 6ay wRIEss taken ss i sa as s @saa f s5o a loan tIm of
before to William f Goerdes. Hearing
with, the detectives again and the ticker and
the News Bureau were again called upon.
Mendham told HAwley. that he had given a
check on the Western National Bank for &c.,
900 to Goerdes. and that the last he saw OF
Goerdes Goerdes was on his way to the bank to
get the check certified. The ticker sent out
these facts and the News Bureau slips con-
tained tho following:
A check for $4,000, drawn on the Western Ma
tional Bank to the order OF W. Y. Goerdes by L. i.
Mendham. has been stolen. The check was certified
by the bank. IL offered please notify L. +. Mendham,
20 Broad street,
Mr.. Mendham. after telling his story. went to
the Western National Bank. He found that tho
check had been certified. Detective Taylor was
stationed at the bank TO be on hand II anything
should devclope there.
1t was about / o'clock when Goerdes presented
Mlendham's check for certihcation. Afterit had
been certified he went at once to tho office of
zimmerman s. Forshay. He said he supposed
the gold was ready. and he was ready. to pay for
1t. Scully told him that 1t would be impossible
to get all the gold before $3.50 O'Clock. When he
heard this Goerdes became very angry, and said
that ha had nrnuniaa1 Tn 1aliynr the uynId IN hia