Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1900-04-16

land, O., and has fed TO escape ar
rest. The information upon which
his indictment was based, was supplied
by the B. & o. secret service agency,
and the case was worked up by F. c..
Shaw, chief of the department, who
was materially assisted by John
Shorts, of this city.
About February LIST person sign
ing the name of R. j. Coach, and
claiming to be the general manager
of the National Secret Service" OF
Cleveland, O., represented in letters
to the B. & o. railroad officials, that
while operating on another railroad,
he discovered frauds upon the revenue
of the B. & o. which should be inves-
tigated. The result of the CORE
spondence was the authorization of
Coach to make the Investigations He
made frequent reports of progress,
and at the end of month rendered
a bill for his services, including
charges for number of operatives at
the rate of $6 day, the bill amount
ing in the aggregate to $1.096. He
received a check for the sum, and con-
tinued in his work. The company
was about to remit for the second
months services, when some little
irregularities led to the suspicion that
matters were not as they were repre-
scented. The company's own secret
service department. took UP an inves-
tigation. Exposure followed, Koch or
Coach, was indicted, and is now fugi-
tive from justice.
Koch is evidently very slick indi-
vidual, and his schemes are very in
genious. One of the representations
was that tickets were bought for GER
tain destinations, and that the desti-
nation was sweated out and another, at
a greater distance, substituted. The
charges, by implication at least, at
tackled the honesty Of ticket agents
and conductors. Koch sent in reports
of alleged operatives, including one
named Dixon. These were all very
interesting. They told how the sup
posed operatives Swallowed the thieves
and forgers, and were frequently just
at the point of getting information
which would lead to arrests, but they
never developed anything. Tickets,
some altered and others purchased,
were sent with the reports as evidence.
The agents of the B. & 0. secret
service trailed the supposed crooks
from point to point, as indicated in the
reports of the National Secret Ser
vice." and by means of statements,
hotel registers, and observation, were
led to believe that the operatives ex-
listed solely in the mind of Koch. 1t
was learned that Koch and
confederate signed the names of
the supposed crooks to hotel regis
tiers, and in various ways managed to
doctor up the reports so as to prevent
detection.
The special agent of the B. & o.
confronted Koch in his Office in the
American Trust building in Cleve-
land, and told him that the work done
by the agency had developed such a
condition that it was necessary for an
agent of the company to cooperate
with him in bringing the swindlers to
justice. Koch was unable to show
receipts, or documents of any kind
from his operatives, and could not
tell their names. He acknowledged
that he and Dixon were one and the
same man.
The facts were next submitted to B.
& o. attorneys, and a warrant was
sworn out for the arrest of Koch, but
the arrival of the special agent was
his cue for departure. He fed. No
difficulty was experienced in indict-
ing him by the grand jury for Cuya-
uOSd COuutys hCh uC 10 lOSdIcuy uO
will be arrested, and it is understood
that the u. S. postal authorities will
charge him with using the mails for
improper purposes.
The information secured by Mr..
Shaw and Mr.. Shorts proves Koch
to be an ex-convict He served a
term in Joliet, where he was known
as prisoner No. 1886. He has been
engaged in similar transactions all
over the country, working railroads
and large corporations by means OF
fake detective agencies. He is a man
of good appearance, and more than
ordinary intelligence, aged 35 years,
5 feet 10 inches, dark brown hair,
small moustache, wears eyeglasses
and dresses faultlessly, wearing a
large diamond in his shirt front. His
forehead and jaw are SCARED, and he
habitually smokes cigarettes.
1t is understood that the Wheeling
and Lake Erie, and five western rail-
roads have been victimized by the
fake detective agency.
A man who is believed to have been
confederate OF Koch, registered at
the Mcclure House from Pittsburg,
under the name of Pennington, and