Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1899-11-03

ONE OF THE DEFENDANTS, M.
SILvERMAN, GAVE BOND IN
FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS THE
OTHERS, YOUNG BOYS, WENT
TO JAIL-THE HEARING TO
TAKE PLACE THIS MORNING
AT TEN O'CLOCK-THE POLICE
ALICE THERE IS A WIDE
SPREAD CONSPIRACY TO DE-
{ FRAUD MERCHANTS.
For a long time back, as has been
repeatedly mentioned in the Register,
| the police of this city, in harmony with
those of Parkersburg, Bellaire, and
ether river towns, have been decidedly
of the opinion that there is close COR
| roration of thieves and fences in the
| upper two hundred miles of the Ohio
valley, with general headquarters at
Pittsburg, and that stolen goods of all
sorts ard descriptions have been dis
posed CO in this city, Bellaire and Mar
tins Ferry, and then shipped away for
| disposition at remote points via. Pitts
burg. The fact of the existence of such
combination was pretty we'll demon
| tain Meighen, of Parkersburg, aided by
| other officers, run down a gang down
| the river, and made a number of ar
rests, tracing a large amount of plumber
| to Dellaire and Wheeling, much of
which was recovered, and some time
before that another gang operating ex-
| teEsively on both sides of the river
| north OF Parkersburg and Marietta.
| was broken up, and it was found that
large amounts of stolen goods had been
secreted in Washington county, Ohio, a
| few miles back from the river. From
east to west the operations of the gang
of thieves extended from GAINESVILLE to
| Washington, Pa, taking in, as it will
| be seen, very wide extent of terri
tory. Postoffices in small towns, coun-
| try stores and railroad cars have been
raided for years, and the aggregate
amount of the losses will reach many
| thousands of dollars.
In this city Chief Clemans has been
working on the local end of the gang
for some time, and yesterday matters
came to something of a head, three
arrests being made, with a prospect of
a number of others, as the police say
about ten people are known to be more
| or less implicated in the stealing, all
but one of them boys in the employ of
business houses. The arrests made
yesterday were NJ Silverman, who
keeps a general second hand store and
! shoe shop at No. 1922 Market street,
making a speciality of the Pittsburg
shoe; Henry A. Kelmeyer, youth in
| the employ of the Locke Shoe Com
| pany, and Alfred Poe, in the employ
| of Stone & Thomas. Silverman was
arrested on a warrant sworn out by Mr..
| Pfarr, of the Locke Shoe Company,
| charging him with receiving stolen
goods, felony, and was arraigned be-
| fore Justice Rogers, who fixed the bail
at $500, which was given, and the hear
ing set for 10 o'clock this morning. Mr..
I Pfarr also made the accusation against
Kelmeyer, charging him with stealing
| shoes, while Stone & Thomas made in
| formation against Alfred Poe, charg-
| ing him with stealing gum heels and
silk thread. The hearing of the boys
was set for the same time. The police
executed the warrants, and the two
| boys confessed to Chief Clemans.
/ Silverman's store was also searched
and eight pairs Of shoes belonging to
the Locke Company were found there,
as well as quantity of silk thread and
some lamp mantels, the property of
Stone & Thomas.
In discussing the matter yesterday
Chief Clemans said:
| II have reason to believe that nine
boys in all, employed by various firms,
are involved in this stealing. and that
the property was delivered to Silver
man or others in the same business.
The boys arrested both tell practically
the same story. Kelmeyer says Silver
man told him when they were first ac-
quainted, to bring him down pair Of
shoes, and he did so, the boy expecting
to get full price for them-that is, sell
them. When he delivered the shoes,
he says Silverman gave him a dollar
and a quarter, and when the boy re-
marked to Silverman that the amount
was not right, Silverman said: oh.
Just keep that for yourself After
wards the boy took shoes to Silver
mans house, on Eleventh street, in the
evening, and the next day would call
at the store and get his money for
them. Thirteen pairs were thus deliv-
cred in all The Poe boy, who was
stealing from Stone G. Thomas, told
about the same story. There is a lot
more Of the same sort of business going
on, without a doubt, but the facts are
pretty hard TO get onto"