The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1900-07-28
AdO!ph PIass, Whose Escape
Was frustrated, Was the
Leader in st. Louis
Operations.
TIE FORGED DffDS OF TRUST.
Sensational Schemes BY His
COnfederdtes to liberate
Him from Riverside
Prison.
TIE FORGED DffDS OF TRUST.

NHuiiN Pa tll-S J. = BOYD, the con-
Wet in Riverside P-nteu,ilry at Pittsburg
who's friends made such "a hold and Sys-
temat!c ..ut unsuccessful attempt TO liber-
ate him by tunnoling under the prison wall
Is well known in ST. Louis He and HIS
ccrfoderates. the same who dug the Pitts
burg tunnel. figured in a series Of fraudu-
, lent real estate transactions here four
years ago. in which the names OF some OF
the city's most prominent realty dealers
Ncrc used without their knowledge.
Thomas Brown" who. IN March last
pure hased the house in Pittsburg. across
from the prison. from which the tunneling
operations were later directed. is believed
To 10 the Charles Wilson whose real name
is Earle who vas a confederate Of Plass in
this city. Mrs Brown is said To be Mrs
Anderson. P!ass's common law wife
Browns 'brothcr-in-law and sister" the
remainder OF the quartet which occupied
the rittsburg house. are said 10 bc Charles
Williams. another ST. Louis confederate,
and Mrs. Francis Carlisle Plass's sister
Tho quartet is nervy strewd. daring and
plentifuliy supplied with money. the pro-
C.7ds Of their ncfarious transactions.
amounting. it Is said on good authority. To
nearly SlG'H1-' in three years. when Plass
-
le:.,iI talent tn defend him. Since his con-
vi.tIon and incarceration they hav. spent
money freely in unsuccessful endeavOrs to
effect his escape
The police here have little knowledge OF
PlasS or his confeisratcs.
Williams known here under the
names of Simon Aiiquart and ]. l.. Richard
son. his record being that Of n CRATER or
confidence man. His picture Il In the Rer-
;i!lcn Bureau. and also in the burrau at
I'isisburg. urdcr the name Of Max Book.
His connection with the real estate sw!ndle
was a sealed book TO the police.
The same Is true of Wilson. He was
known to have an unsavory turf record.
but was never known TO have been mixed
UP in any criminal transaction until his
association with Plas9.
Detectives Tracy and Tucker arrested
plasss sister, Mrs. Carlisle. and Mrs An
dcrson in the Union Trust Ccmpany's Office
on charge OF attempted fraud. in
! lSlS while rIass was in the East The
women Were attempting To secure a loan on
| piece Of property belonging to another
! person, Mrs. Anderson impersonating the
| owner. The woman who was TO advance
! the money grew suspicious and informed
| the police. who We're waiting To arrest the
swiEdlcrS when they arrived ut the trust
c"mpdny's Office for the money. The ease
| was never pushed to conclusion.
| How They Operated Here.
u.
became aware of the existence of Il gisan-
| tic scheme to defraud property owners nv
means of bogus deeds Of trust which wrr.,
! to be hypothccatcd through reputable real
/ estate dealers. who were unaware Of tn"
! true character Of the men conducting the
cs1t!,ftiuns There were four chief con-
| spiraturs. Adolph PiaSs. whose father ~
/ that time conducted real estate agency an
| Chestnut street. Charles Wilson, alias
! Earle. VII. had deskroom with th, realty
.
! a real estate agent OF Means Charles VII
! liam~. alias MiqUart. alias Max Buck. alias
| j. e. Richardson. who also passed as a real
| estate operator. The fourth man WAS an
| attorney. who IS sun doing business here
| and whose reputation. which up To
| that time WAS good. WAS depended
upon To carry tn. fraud through
| without aT"usiuE suspicion TIL" At
| torncy and IiISs developed the plot and Ia
| ter sent for Wilson and Williams to a9-
| sit them. Wilson's real nam. is Earle
| He was bpokmaker, whose notorious
| W ichirg proClivitieS resulted in his being
| ruled OF Il turf. iie was recommended to
| FIaS' hy Il local gambler. no formerly ran
! saloon in the r",iliehI district hefor. M,
| was forced 20 close up.
| Tine methods Of operation ~ the gang
| were simple. but amazingly bold. Pl,~~.
| having access L. the records in his fathers
| zeal estate, ciiicc secured :. list Of Valuabi,.
1 uHiHcuIIb-Ttd property in the city
The MOST likely "f these parcels were
used 10y Wilson. who advertised that the
1 oW neTs wanted ID obtain loans. Whenever {,
/ /.
/ nee. Fia-S rT Williams unprecedented IA
owner of the property ard negotiations for
| Tli.. lJau were opened. The attorney was
summoned TO- draw zap Ia" deed Of trust.
! aud every facility was extended the IoH,rr
| 4" have jIr title to the property examined.
Real estate men at unIuuttci integrity
were suggested ty the Cnn-piratnrS for i,i-
| Investigation. Charles J.. NCgel. August
| GthI-T. Wachtcl and others Of equal prom
iu-uc. W.r" made Use Uf IN this MANN r.
| The transactions looked to be legitimate
| GA their face. Wilson was known on tn.
! street IL a real estate agent. with no cloud
| on his record the ltTorn"s was prominent
| H. his profession. the identity of the pssUio
! owner WAS never doubted. and the title tn
/. the property was I'm each instance found to
/ he clear ana the property unincumbtred.
| I rider thcs. circumstances til. loans were
| negotiated with little trouble. and had i;
1 not been for q faint suspicion which arose
| almost without any cause in the mind Of
| one of the victims. tie couSpirators might
1 have mOTtGaged one-third Of the property
! i'm the city unknown To the real owners.
! and cleared up a fortune in a few months.
Fraud IL Uncovered.
| Mrs Newsletter. AN old lady in South ST
! Louis loaned Wilson slJ" on a piece o!
property on Iowa avenue. owned by a man
| named Winter. Williams WAS introduced g.
| her Winter. He gave her six notes for
! s. =. each 20 cutter tin, monthly interest. \
lew days later u young woman, handsomely