The age-herald., 1900-10-05
TWO ARRESTS MADE
 IN THE RICE CASE
Lawyer Patrick and His Valet
 Taken Into Custody.
ARE CHARGED WITH FORGERY
Strong Box of the Dead Millionaire Opened in Presence of Witnesses.
 Sensational Developments.
 Patrick Makes Statement

New York, October 4-Captain McCloskey, chief of the detective bureau, announced that his men had arrested Lawyer Patrick and his valet Jones' for forgery in connec- ton with the case of William M. Rice, the
 Texas millionaire who died suddenly in this city a week ago Sunday.
 The strong box of the dead man was opened tonight. In the vaults of the safe
 deposit company of New York where the
 box was located were present at the time | Captain James A. Baker of Texas, who is one of the executors of the estate of the dead millionaire, James W. Gerard his le- gal representative, F. Moldrum, a high of- fcial of a Texas railroad in which the late l MT Rice was interested and Albert T. Pat I rick, the lawyer who figured so largely in | the case. MT. Moldrum was there in the l capacity of friend of Captain Baker. l George Vose, secretary of the Safe Deposit Company, was present as a representative
 of the latter No will was found, but there were securities which seemed to be worth
 about sl,oOO,oOO The property will remain In the custody of the safe deposit company until such time as the company shall feel l authorized to deliver them to some one en- | titled to receive them. This, MT. Gerard | said tonight. may nave u pe ueSAoSo ih court. On the question of litigation MT. l Gerard declined to speak.
 I The exact charge against Patrick and 1 Jones is that they forged signatures to checks and assignments drawn by the late millionaire. On the day following the death of MT. Rice, MT. Patrick took to the bank ing house of Swenzon and Sons check drawn in his favor and signed by MT. Rice
 for $25, 900; another for s65,0O0 and two
 checks on the Fifth Avenue Trust Com
 f1,, o,,1
 Declared Forgeries
 All these checks were submitted separete- ly to hand writing experts William A. Kingsley, David M. Carvalho and MT. Hegen 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 | purporting to have been signed by MT. | Rice was a forgery. On the findings of the experts the arrests were made. MT. Jones l was arrested in his room. MT. Patrick was arrested at the office of the New York l Safe Deposit Company, where the vault l containing MT. Rices securities were open ed.
 It appears that MT. Rice made two wills. 1 The first was executed in September, 1S96 l and was sent to MT. Rices attorney at l Houston Capt, James A. Baker. MT. Pat l rick produced copy of second will l drawn by him on June 30 1900. In the sec | ond will 1t is alleged he (Patrick) received | about nine-tenths of the millionaire's es- l tate. The second will contained all the 1 benef1ciarfes mentioned in the first and gave to them more money than they had | been bequeathed in the first will. The William A. Rice Institute for the Advance ment of Literature Science and Art, at Houston, which was to get nearly nine tenths of the property by the first will, l was cut out largely in the second will. The l prosecutors claim that subsequent to the signing of the second will MT. Rice as- l signed and transferred to Mr. Patrick ab- l solutely all his estate, and he, Patrick, 1 agreed to pay him an annuity of $10,000 year and to erect a monument costing $5O00 over his remains.
 | After arrived here on Thursday morn- 1 ing" said Captain Baker tonight q in- 1 vestigated as fully as I could all the facts | in connection with the case After mak- | ing my investigation I received an invita- ton from Captain MeCloskey to call on | him, and he told me that the checks pre- | sented to Swanson & Sons were suspected | by that firm of being forgeries. I secured | the checks from MT. Patrick and turned I them over to Captain McCloskey They | were then submitted to the experts, who I have reported their suspicious character" Patrick Makes statement l MT. Patrick was permitted by Captain l McCioskey in the presence of his counsel l to make a statement for publication of his 1 own defense. He said:
 l "All the transactions I had with MT. l Rice were the result of a previous acquaint- | ance which I had with him. The assign | ment of the account of the Fifth Avenue | Trust Company and the account at Swen- | son 6 Sons were prepared in my office and l were sent to him by trusted messenger | for examination. On the day when the | messenger took them there he reported | that Mir Rice would not sign them on the | spot. it being contrary to custom to sign | papers of that kind without due considera- | tion.
 | 1.-Two days later was asked by MT. Rice l to have the witnesses sent up to his house. | He acknowledged and they witnessed the | assignment
 l "It was then brought back to me.
 "If, indeed, these checks which were | brought to me the Saturday before his
 death are forgeries, I cannot conceive that | they are so. The checks which Swanson 6 | Sons did not certify when informed of MT. | Rices death by my instructions, I freely | and willingly turned over to Captain Ba- | ker for his keeping and have never made | any request of him other than he probe the | matter to the bottom. On the same day
 that the S160,090 checks were certified to
 by the Fifth Avenue Trust Company off, | fered the cashier of that company to re-
 ceive them back if he thought they were | irregular. He expressed himself as per- | fectly satisfied with them. Subsequently, | on the application of Thomas RuShmore
 of counsel for the trust company he re- l ceived the checks from me for S135,0 900 as | custodian, they being given freely by me i to him."
 1 Mr. Patrick then went into a long ex- l planation of his dealings with MT. Rice, 1 all of which have been published except | the statement that MT. Rice turned over 1 the property to him in trust to pay out to | relatives and friends and to settle his wife's | law suit, and MT. Rice was to receive an
 annuity of $10,OO0. MT. Patrick declared he | would come out all right in the end.
 Miners win Go Back to Work
 Mddlesboro Ky, October 1.-The miners