New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1900-10-05
ARRESTS IN RICE CASE.
PATRICK AND THE VALET
CHARGED WITH FORGERY
THREE EXPERTS AGREE AS TO THE
HANDWRITING MEASUREMENTS BY
BAKER AND PATRICK.

last night and taken to Police Headquarters
charged with forgery.
They are accused of having forged signatures
10 checks and assignments drawn by Mr. Rice
who died in his apartments. at No 500 Madison
ave. week ago last Sunday.
On the following day Mr. Patrick took 10 the
| banking house of s M. Swenson & Sons. No Is
Wal-st., q check drawn in his favor and signed
! by Mr. Rice, for $4,000, another for S65OO0
and two checks on the Fifth Avenue Trust Com
pany for $4,000 and S135.O00 respectively. All
these checks were submitted separately to hand
writing experts William A Kingsley. David NJ
Carvalho and Mr.. Hagen of Troy, N Y They
all examined the checks separately. They agreed
in the conclusion that the signatures were
forged.
The experts found that an assignment pur-
porting TO have been signed by Mr.. Rice was a
| forgery. On the findings Of the experts the ar
rests We're made, Jones was arrested in his
room Patrick was arrested at the Office of the
New-York Safe Deposit Company. where the
vault containing Mr. Rice's securities was
opened
It appears that Mr.. Rice made two wills. The
! first was executed in September. 1896, and was
sent to Mr.. Rice's attorney at Houston, Tex,
| Captain James A Baker Mr.. Patrick produced
a copy of a second will drawn by him on June
90 1900 In this second will, it is alleged, he
Patrick received about nine-tenths of the mill
ionaires win.
The second will contained all the benehciaries
mentioned in the first and gave to them more
money than they had been bequeathed in the
! first Will The William NJ. Rice Institute for
the Advancement of Literature. Science and
Art. at Houston, Tex which to get nearly
nine-tenths Of the property by the first will,
cut out largely in the second will
The prosecutors allege that subsequent to the
signing of the second viii Mr.. Rice assigned
and transferred to Patrick absolutely all his
estate. and that he, Patrick agreed to pay
him an annuity of $4,000 year. and to erect
a monument costing $1,000 over his grave
Captain James A. Baker was at Police Head
quarters when Captain McClusky gave out the
story of the arrest
After arrived here on Thursday morning"
said Captain Baker Il investigated as fully as
I could all of the facts in connection with the
case. After making my investigation received
invitation from Captain McClusky TO call
upon him. and he told me that the two checks
presented to Swenson & Sons were suspected
by that firm of being forgeries. secured the
ehecks from Mr. Patrick and turned them over
to Captain McClusky. They were then submit
ted to the experts. who have reported their sus-
picous character"
Captain Baker said that he had known Mr..
Rice intimately for many years and had long
been his attorney.
There were in Captain McClusky's room at
the time he gave out the story Captain Baker
and James Watson Gerard, of Bowers & Sands.
q law firm, who appeared for Captain Baker as
counsel and also for Swenson & Sons.
PATRICK MAKES A STATEMENT
Mr.. Patrick. the prisoner. permitted by
Captain McCusky. in the presence of his coun-
sci, John R. Potts to make a statement for
publication of his own defence. He said:
All of the transactions l had with Mr.. Rice
Fnr tHe nGrTlf nf pyinI a n tar TNaI
which / had with him. The assignment of the
account at the Fifth Avenue Trust Company
and the account at SwensOn & Sons were pre-
pared in my office. and were sent to him by a
trusted messenger for execution. On the day
when the messenger took them there he re-
ported that Mr. Rice would not sign them on
the SPOT it being contrary to his custom to sign
papers of that kind without due consideration |
Two DAYS later l was requested by Mr.. Rice |
to have the witnesses sent up to his house He
acknowledged and they witnessed the assign |
ment It was then brought back to me-
If indeed. these checks which were brought |
to me the Saturday before his death are forg- |
cries I cannot conceive that they are so. The |
checks which Swenson & Sons did not certify |
when informed Of Mr.. Rice's death by my in !
structions I freely and willingly turned over to |
Captain Baker for his investigation and nave
lnever made any request to him other than that |
he probe the matter to the bottom. On the same |
day that the 100000 check was certified to by |
the Fifth Avenue Trust Company | offered the /
lcashier of that company receive them back |
Iif he thought they were irregular. He ex-
Ipressed himself as perfectly satisfied with them.
subsequently. on the application Of Thomas |
IRushmore. of counsel for the trust company, he |
Ireceived the checks from me for SI5oOOO as
custodian, they being given freely TO MIN oy me.
! The animus of this prosecution against me is
las follows:
| In 1896 Mr. Rice's wife died, and her executors
lcIai lined under the Texas law that she was en-
titled 70 one-half of his estate. We had always
ineen friends but I was retained by Mrs. Rice'S
Executors and succeeded in securing for MT.
IRice the promise to settle the case against him
Ifor S25O0OO Captain Baker refused to sane
Ition this settlement. saying he was afraid or
| CAPTAIN Baker therefore bundled the old man
Ioff TO New-York where he left him to live alone
I'm 1896 Mr. Rice made d will, giving the entire
estate to the William NJ Rice institute at
Houston. a paper corporation of which James
Ia. Baker jr., made president MI Rice
opened communication with me. In the mean
kline he began TO discuss his private af1alrs
with me- and proposed to prepare a bill by
(which the friends and relatives would be bet
er provided for. He afterWard concluded that
ls affairs should be turned over wholly to me-
and that his property should be turned over TO
in trust. that ] should carry out the pro-
He intended that 1 should lay out money for
such persons he wished to benent before MS
leath thus including many relatives and
friends was 10 give him an annuity or $40
600 up 10 the time of his death. He dlrected
that none of these conclusions as 10 MS prop
erty should be made public until the claim
against his estate by his wifes executors
should he settled II was understood that as
soon as 7 got the matter ready for payment the
@25ooGo should he paid
WILL TRY 4 WRIT OF HABEAs CORPUS
Mr. Rice was unable to get downtown 10
transact his business for several weeks and, al
though he was ailing. his health seemed TO grow
better, and l know that he did not anticipate
his death Only night two before he died
his doctor assured me that he would get down
town the next week. On Saturday morning l
received the checks from him. but as had other
matters 70 attend 10 did not go downtown to
get them certified. His death fell on US like
thunderbolt I did the best I could under the