The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1898-01-13
A CLEVER WINDLER
He Might Still BE Free Had
He Not Tilted a
Woman.
DETECTIVE Parsons QUICK EYE
1t identified H. ". Straight From
a photograph-Hay Men
the Sufferers.

Detective Pearson, of the Police Head
quarters staff, this morning arrested II.
w. Straight, who has a dozen Aliases
and who is wanted in nearly every State
in the Union for %swindling dealers IN
hay and feed, in amounts ranging from
$500 to 81, 500. The arrest is the result
of four months hard work on the part
of the Jersey City police. Detective Fear
| son has been on the lookout for Straight
since September. and in searching 1or
him has visited Baltimore and several
| other distant cities. He finally caught
him by the merest chance. But for the
jealousy of a woman whom Straight, I'M
der one of his aliases, wooed. won, and
then Tilted, he would probably sun De
at large. This woman, who lives in
Easton, furnished the police with an ex-
| cellent picture of Straight, by means Oh
which Pearson identified him.
The prisoner was arraigned before Po-
| lice Justice Nevin in the First Criminal
| Court and was held in $1,000 bail to await
| examination and extradition to New YORK,
| where an indictment has been found
against him for ~swindling George van
Worst. a dealer in hay and feed, of No.
COL West T~hirty-fourth street. The way
in which he swindled Van Worst is a
fair example of the methods which ne
has practised in nearly a hundred large
| cities throughout the United States, prin-
| cipally in New York, New Jersey and
Pennsylvania.
Straight is a man of fine appearance
| and of excellent address. On September
Is he called on Mr.. Van Worst to ao-
| vance him $50 on Zach car. This van
| Worst did, after Straight, who then Went
| under the name of Chas. Bates, had
| shown him bills of lading for the cars.
Five Of the cars, he said, were about TO
land in New York. and the other Two
had just been sent by the conslgner' a
man in Pennsylvania. Van Worst called
up the Lehigh Valley Railroad freight
| office and asked them about the
cars. The agent replied that five cars
were on the way and were consigned to
| Mr.. Bates. When the cars arrived MI.
| Van Worst presented his bill of lading
| for one of them and sold it's contents.
Before he could get rid of the second car,
| the consignor sent word that his draft
| on a New York bank, drawn on Bates for
| the of the hay, had been return
| ed. together with the bills of lading, and
| ordered the railroad company not to de-
liver the hay. 1t was then found py d
comparison of the bills of iadlpS IN the
! possession of Mr.. Van Worst and nose ~
the hands of the consignor that the ones
given Mr.. Van Worst We're Iorgerles;
cleverly executed. Investigation developed
| the fact that Straight, or Bates, as ne
| represented himself, had called at the
| bank. and telling who he was had. looked
/ at the bills of lading, returning them
after glancing them over, WIN me Re,
honor the draft. By this sight OF the tae
| original bills of lading, Straight was able
to make a copy of them.
AS soon as the swindle was ~olsc9VeT rs1
r. H. Donnelly, agent of the Leh1gh VAL
ley Railroad in Jersey City; immune D s
| with Chief. Murphy, and he detailed Re
| tectives McNally and Pearson TO me he
| case. Chief Murphy. on learning thai the
| swindle was perpetrated in New YORK,
had Mr.. Van Worst appear before tne
| Grand Jury in that city and have an IN
| dictment found against Bates. Soon after
Van Worst was swindled Chief Murphy
began to receive cards from all parts OF
the country describing Straight ana ask
ing that he be apprehended for swlnoles
Detective McNally was on the LOOKOUT
for him in the meanwhile. once ne
| thought he was on his track, and went 70
Baltimore in search of him. but failed to
| accomplish anything. When the Ean
| Worst swindle was perpetrated and Chle1
Murphy was acqualnted WIN ao tne 49, fssl,
head of him in solving the problem. He
| found that there Vas a hay and feed dea,
Ter named Bates in Jersey CITY, ne Ievd nad
| DAYS, and then sent for Mr.. Van Vorsts
| clerk and placed him in a position Wnere
ne could see the Jersey City Bates; Wltn L
| out being. seen by him. asked II
I that was the swindler he replied that II
was not, and that he had never seen the
gentleman before, The hetoc iaugn was on
The Chief and the railroad officials con-
| Quoted their Investigation in a quiet man.
ner, so as not to excite the susplclon OF
Straight, who. elated by the success OF
his swindle of Mr.. Van Worst, began to
operate on a large scale in New YORK
State and Pennsylvania. Complaints
poured in from all quarters. ALI the de-
| scriptions tailed, although in each city
the swindler adopted a different alias.
| About a month after the detectives start
in Easton. Pa, with whom Straight sasso-
| ciated. She was Jealous of him, and fur
nished Detective Pearson with an excel
lent photograph of her recalcitrant lover.
| Chief Murphy had the photograph repro
| dueed and sent it, with an excellent de-
scription of the swindler to every large
city in the United States.
On December q Straight, under the
| name of D. C. BLY,, sold a bill of lading
for a carload of oats in ransit from
sayre. New York, to the Minor Hilliard
for s21S. 1t was found when the bill OF
lading was presented at the Lehigh Valley
| Railroad depot JnaL II was d IofSeIy-
| The original bill of lading was in the
hands of the Peoples Bank at Wilkes
barre, with a draft on D.. c. Ely. Straight,
under the name of Bly,, had bought the
| pats but did not pay for them. 1t was
by the merest chance that Detective Pear
son finally caught Straight. He was on
his way to Police Headquarters from his
home on Montgomery street, a few even
ings ago, when, on Bergen avenue near
MONTGOMERY street, ne ran across a mar
who he thought answered the descrip-
ton of the swindler.
He followed him to a house on the Hill,
the address of which Chief Murphy re-
fuses to disclose at the present time.
Later he followed him to a well now
club on the Hill, and on becoming con-
WINGED that the man was Straight CHIEF
Murphy sent to Wilkesbarre. Pa, and
requested the Minor Hillard Milling Com
pany to send on some one who knew Bly,.
They sent w. c.. Cook, a clerk VINO had
received the bill of lading from him. He
arrived last night and was sent by Chief
Murphy to the Hotel Washington. This
West Side avenue and Montgomery street
for Straight, who took the car there
every morning, and arrested him. Chief
Murphy stood him up with a dozen other
men in Police Headquarters and Mr..
Cook picked him out as the man who had
represented himself as Bly,, without even
glancing at any of the other men.
Straight was kept in Chief Murphy's
office this morning, awaiting the arrival
Of Mr.. Van Worst and his clerk. While
the Chief was out of the room he at
tempted to escape by the bathroom win
/ dow. which opens into the hall at Police
H~eadouarteh5. Inspector LANCE suspect
and had a man posted where he could
uatch the window. Mr.. Donnelly of the