The age-herald., 1899-03-29
Georges End Comes in Butte
 Three Weeks After AuStin's.
PAUPER GRAVES FOR BOTH
The Men Who Enjoyed the Bank of England's Wealth For Time Pass Away
 Penniless.

Butte, Mont, March N-GeorBe bloWell'
 the elder of the two Bidwell brothers who
 participated in the forgeries which robbed the Bank of England of $1.000,0o0 in 1872, died here this morning of pneumonia. The body of Austin Bidwel the younger broth CT, who died three weeks ago, still lies
 here awaiting burial. The death of George
 Bidwell can be traced directly to the shock
 occasloned him by Austin's death. He was so depressed by it that when disease struck him he was unable to withstand it. Neith-
 CT of the men left any property, and unless
 relatives intervene the bodies will be buried by the county.
 George Bidwell was 57 years old and his appearance in recent years gave little indi-
 cation of the dashing qualities of his youth.
 It was ten years since he had left an Eng
 fish prison, and though he was fairly sue cessful as publisher and book agent for some years, of late years he had been less prosperous.
 George Bidwel was perhaps the clever est of the three men who devised the scheme which resulted in the biggest bank | swindle ever successfully carried through. | Austin Bidwel was a younger man, and l perhaps smoother than his brother, as | 1t would now be expressed, and George Me | Donald. the other member of the trio, had 1 had more experience as a forger, but George Bidwell seems to have been the 1 boldest as a leader.
 All three of the men had been successful | criminals in America before going to Eu- l rope. They had opera ted the "business" | swindle in Chicago, and later travelled with
 party Of forgers. When they reached London in the fall of 1872 they had between them perhaps $5O,000 as working capital, and plenty of schemes for obtaining fifty times as much.
 Finally the best plan was hit upon It
 was discovered that the Bank of England was in the custom of cashing foreign bls | of exchange for its customers without first | verifying the signatures of the makers and | indorsers. Here was a great opportunity | for forger as forged bills drawn at sixty l or ninety days would not be discovered l as forgeries for that length of time, and l plenty of leisure was thus given for the operations and escape.
 Evidently the first thing to be done was | to open an account with the Bank of Eng land This seeming impossibility the three | men accomplished through lucky acci- | dent of which they knew how to avail themselves. Then, posing as capitalists | about to open big manufacturing plant 1 at Birmingham, their credit was secure. | First, George Bidwell travelled over Europe l buying bills of exchange, which he sent to l Austin, who deposited them in the London
 bank. The bank officials became used to | such deposits, and at the same time the l gang used the bills as models for their for l geries. In February, 1873, the first forged l bill was deposited. All went well. Inside 1 of three months over $1 GOO of forged l bills had been converted into cash. Then l there was an accidental discovery, due to l the carelessness of George Bidwell in not l dating a bill, and a nasty escape of the l men.
 l George Bidwell was finally captured in | disguise in Edinburgh. The others were | also taken and all three, together with | one of their tools, were given twenty-year sentences. Released about 1890, George Bid- well returned to America and founded a | printing firm at Hartford, Conn.,, the city | of his birth. He published his own books | and sold them was industrious and honest. | and supported himself fairly well. Austin l Bidwell worked for him part of the time, | and part of the time followed his trade as
 an electrician. Both of the Bidwells preach l ed honesty as the best policy throughout | the latter years of their lives.
 1 Benson Bidwell, brother, lives in Chi | cago at 1856 Mozart street. He said last | night that he had heard of the death of his brother George, and would take no steps | whatever in caring for the body. George
 has always been disgrace to the family" he said land. to tell the truth, am more
 glad than grieved to hear of his death l Austin was a fine young man until George
 succeeded in causing his downfall, but for
 some time I have had nothing to do with | either of them I was informed by the au- | thorities of Butte that Austin's body was | unburied, and told them that I would do
 nothing in the matter. If they must be
 buried by the county, will not interfere l at all" He said that George leaves a wid- | ow in Hartford but he didn't think she | would claim the body.