The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-02-04
A CHECK FORGERY PLANT
FOUND At THE MOUSE or CHARLES
MELTNE. VINO rs ARRESTED.

! Checks, Blank aud Cancelled, stolen from
ONCE Buildings, 800 Signatures of Bust.
ness Men, Tracing Paper, Acids, n Perfor.
ntor aud So on-Mnny Banks DcTrauded
The Phonix National Bank OF this city re.
| ported to the American Bankers Association
in December. 1897, that II had cashed on
Nov. 20 Of that year two forged checks,
one for S2iO.53 aud the other for S12O.4s.
One Of the checks bore tho supposed
signature of Victor Schallcr. IA broker in
the Cofree Exchange building. The rinker.
ton agency. TO which the case was turned over,
learned through Mr.. Schaller that about two
weeks before the checks we're presented to him
he had received q letter asking him II he had
some lots to sell IL East Orange. The letter
was signed John A.. Peterson, BOB East Thir-
ty-lrst street, and the letter which Mr.. Schal.
Ter sent in reply bore his own signature. The
detectives found Peterson and after shadow
ing him for some time found him colloguing
with Il porter in the Coffee Exchange.
At the same time the Corn Exchange Bank
reported that II had cashed a forged check
for Slt3.7 II. uayable to Simon Smith and
signed and indorsed ADRIAN f.. Bamberger."
The genuine Hamburger had an Office In the
same building as Mr.. Schaller. Later another
check was presented at tho same bank bear
ing the forged Endorsement of +. c.. Condor.
another tenant OF the Coffee Exchange. The
detectives began TO think that some employed
in the Cofree Exchange building had stolen n
lot OF cancelled checks and supplied them for
patterns of signatures to the forEer or forgers.
come in In punches. The Western National
Bank was one q! the. victims. losing 500 on
other tenant OF tho CofTcc Exchange. The
work o. the detectives had almost come to q
stanG,tjl, when one day the man that had
saw him enter the Fifth National Bank. A
month later the bank found that it had paid
out SS'i2j ON the strength of a forged indorse-
Finally. on Dec. -. 1897. Charles Meline. a
S,&ede. Was qrreste5 10y, The paying teller Of
had presented a check for S12O.25. bearing
what pnrrortcd to he tho signature OF Henry
Exchange, Mcline had not been brought into
the case before that time. but the fact that he
Change h Te'Ib aiiRiIilm%ss 'iie led the , detcctives to connect
him with the gang. Accordingly. the day after
Meline's. arrest Peterson was arrested for
given him the check on Park row. and Peter
son sworC hat lie saw the stranger hand Me.
it could not he discovered at the time that
Peterson and Melinc were meeting each other
Meline was tried and acquitted.
\ pause in the operations Of the gang seemed
to follow the trial, but early in May they be;
gan again. the American Exchange National
S3&i,75 on two checks bearing the forged in
building. The detectives looked up Peterson
again. and found TINT he was employed in that
signed by tenants of the Ncr York
Iu'eS, building. Investigation, showed that
Of the suspected members of the band was
working as a porter in that building. A check
for $3.50 was uassed, on the Chatham Ma
ttonal Bank, u J4iy' bearing no torged in
tives learned that the genuine check from
which the signature was traced, was stolen
ing. Banks in Brooklyn then began to be de-
frauded. and in nearly every instance. as in
many of the cases IN Manhattan. the persons
either tenants of the building in which the
was. or Of an adjacent building, the pur-
pose OF this being to allay the suspicious OF he
In October. Isos.. Peterson was arrested at
INC a check for, SlG6. The bank hal previous
y been dcfrauded on two checks amounting to
500. Peterson was indicted and released on
been heard of since. Early this year more
Brooklyn banks were detrauded, and finally
the National Broadway Bank, whore on Ian.
payable to the order of George Walter. signed
II. G. Phillips and bore the forged Endorsement
" Royal s. Crane, n depositOr.
The detectives believed they had enough
on which to ~reqrrest ATe!ine. Meline
street on Thursday night by Pin
lcrton and Central ONCE men. When the detcc-
accompanied him to his a5 ; = a 81 West
inciy furnished. Meline's wife and two chill
Iren sat on n sofa together while the place
searched. Their adhesion to the sofa
suspicion. and it was found that, con-
by the. woman's, skirts. was a bag in
were acids, a check perforator. all kinds
# pens, brushes and "A bundle Of checks. blank
md cancelled. OF nearly every bank In the
'ity. Some Of these were already made out
With forged signatures. There was also II
packagc Of slips uf tracing uaper with the
raced signatures Of more than 300 New York
business men. \ note after each name showed
he banks at which he was known. Some
VI the names ON the slips had already, been !
Used in the operations. They had evidently
,een preserved with the idea that they could
% used again.
McIinc was positively identified Yesterday as
he man who pre- .cntel the CHECK at the
broadway Bank. He was rcmhnded at the
street Court. The employees Of Office
who. II is believed, stole the checks,
viii be arrested il cases cpn .be made out.
feline Is % years old. He kept a sofa water
tnnd in Chicago during the Worlds Fair.
The gang secured more than $4,000 in their