Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1900-09-28

Chatham's visit TO the bank. IL may
have been mailed by Arbogast before
the scrubbing was done, or perhaps by
the chorewoman when she left the
bank"
The reporter drew the letter from its
envelope and read:
"The Knlckorbocker Bank.
New York, Dec. 81. 1896.
"My Darling Wife; When YOU receive
this letter shall be far away-a disgraced
/ Crlminal-and you VIII De worse imam
/ widow.
al dare not ask your forgiveness for the
trouble l am bringing upon you; for
realize all too clearly the extent Of the
wrong l have done you. But feel irrcsist-
ibly impeled 10 lay before YOU in all their
nakednoss, as do before my own conscience,
the circumstances which have led 10 my
downfall 4 knowledge OF these may per-
haps enable you to understand. in meas
ure the temptation TO which / have sue
cumbed; although l find it hard myself,
now that all is over, 10 realize how l came
10 yield 10 1t.
perhaps YOU may remember the cele-
bra ton of my nftieth anniversary. We
were having a most enjoyable evening in
the company OF the friends whom you had
invited 10 participate In the festivities,
when q caller was announced. was obliged
TO leave our guests in order To receive him
In the library. This man lost no time in
stating the nature OF his business with me.
His name was Thomas Chatham: he was
an expert accountant, who had been en-
ployed at the Knickerbocker bank TO ex-
anime the books, and he cooly informed
me that he had just discovered a serious
error In my bookstore that had enabled
| a depositOr TO overdraw his account by
large amount. At first | refused 20 be-
lieve him, although he submitted copies
from the books showing exactly how the
bunder had been made. When he intimated
that IL only rested with me whether the
error should be reported TO the bank !
Indignantly refused To listen 10 him He
remained perfectly unrufiled during our
interview and left me at last with the
statement that he would wait "A hours be-
fore handing in his report TO the presi-
dent.
MY first step on reaching the bank
the next day was to verify Chatham state
ments. Alas, they were only too true. There
was the terrible blunder staring me in the
face. / could not understand how l had
come TO make IT.; but there IL was, and
nothing could explain IT away. had hoped
against hope up 10 this time; now / saw
clearly that | was a ruined man
There was only one honorable course
open 10 me-tO frankly confess my rcspon-
sibility for the blunder and take the con-
sequences, whatever they might be. l
heSitated. and | was lost.
Il hesitated because l felt that my posi-
ton was at stake Would not my error
appear ineXcusable TO the officers OF the
bank, since could find no palliation for IL
I'm my own eyes? / was 80 years old.
shrank from the necessity Of beginning
again at the foot OF the ladder which |
had so laboriously climbed after a lifetime
of conscientious plodding. 1t would be
no easy matter for me TO find another po-
sition.
THE more l thought the matter over, the
more became convinced that there might
be another way out of my trouble. Was
IL not probable that the depositor who had
proNted by my mistake had done so inno-
Gently? II so, would he not be willing TO
repay the amount overdrawn? At the
worst. If he should refuse TO do this. might
il not be possible for me 10 scrape together
and borrow enough TO make good the de-
ficiency? In this way / could correct the
blunder and no one would be the wiser for
II. But what Of that man Chatham? Would
not his report betray me? l recalled his
intimation that the nature Of his report
depended upon myself. What did he mean
by that? Probably he would set price
upon his silence This would add consid
erably TO the amount ! should have to
raise: but would not this be better, after all,
than the loss OF my position? AT any rate.
| should not be any the worse on for lis
tenlng TO his proposal, whatever II might
be
THAT afternoon, ac soon as the bank had
closed, called at the address Chatham had
given me. lie evidently expected rae.
With him was man whom he introduced
rs James Withers, the depositor In whose
favor my blunder had been made Had
l not been laboring under great excite
ment, II Is likely that my suspicious would
have been aroused by the strangeness OF
Withers' presence in Chatham room. The
two men received me pleasantly, and the
alleged Withers even before / could breach
the subject, expressed his regret at hear
ing OF the error which had been commit
ted, and assured me OF MS Willingness to
reimburse the bank: but-ah! there was an
ominous but lie was short Of ready
money just then. everything ne mad was
tied up I'm a promising enterprise which
was bound TO bring in a magnificent profit
in the course OF few days If only he could
raise few paltry hundreds to enable him
10 hold out little longer. If he failed
TO scrape together this small amount all
would be lost. Insidiously and relentless
ly they drove me toward the trap they had
prepared, and / was weak enough to fall
into It. Before the interview was over.
i had consented TO allow Withers TO still
further overdraw his account, and / had
received his solemn promise TO refund, be-
fore the end Of the week, the entire amount
he owed the bank. Then Chatham suggest
ond overdraft come from another ac-
count. Withcrs agreed with him and stated
that the check could be made in the name
OF Henry Seymour, a relative OF his, who
had recently opened a small account with
the Knickerbocker bank / strongly OBJ
Jected TO sharing the secret Of my infamy
with any others. but finally allowed my
self 10 be overrued by the plausible scoun-
drels into whose clutches / had fallen
THE next day l took my first step in
crime, by making such entries as would
insure the honoring OF Seymour's check
After that l was completely in the power OF
these two men. IL was not long before
discovered that l had been their dupe
Chatham's acccomplice was not the true
Withers; for this man, a few days later,
made a large deposit, which more than
covered his previous overdraft. The false
Withers was Henry Seymour himself
GAS soon as l had committed felony, IL |
became unnecessary for Seymour TO keep |
UP any further pretense Of a desire to re- !
fund the money | had helped him TO steal. |
l was now in the meshes OF crime as deep !
ly as my accomplices and, from that time |
10 this they have forced me 10 act as their |
cats-paw. During this period OF two years !
the bank has been robbed in this way OF |
over $250,0O0, every cent of which has |
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