Akron daily Democrat. [volume] (Akron, Ohio) 1892-1902, 1900-12-04

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and successful campaign against the
treasury of the Baltimore & Ohio rail.
road has, it Is said, succeeded in giving
the company's detectives the slip. The
operations are the more remarkable
in that they have been 1t is claimed,
carried out against railway company
for long time.
Early in the year man who gave
his name as II. J. Coach wrote to the
chief officials of the Baltimore G. Ohio
railroad, in Baltimore, saying that he
was a special agent or detective, and
that while at work for another rail-
way, the Wheeling & Lake Erie, run
ming down frauds against that COM
pany, in the Justification and theft of
tickets, he had learned that the Baltl-
more & Ohio Company was also being
defrauded enormously He submitted
what seemed to be evidence of fraud
Baltimore & Ohio, and, on the strength
of his letters and this evidence, the
company made a contract with him to
work up the cases. His arrangement
was that he was to furnish operatives,
as he called them, for whose work
the company should pay SO a day and
their expenses.
Coach went to work at once and be-
gan sending in the reports of his oper-
atives. They were interesting and
beautifully written. They told how
the operatives had shadowed the sup
posed swindlers, ticket forgers and
thieves from town to town, and were
always on the point of making an ar
rest, but never making one. Some
times, tickets that were said to have
been stolen or "sweated," the process
by which the destination shown on
ticket is changed to one a great deal
farther away, were said to have been
obtained f-om the men who were
swindling the company. This encour-
aged the officials of the company to
believe that the swindlers would soon
be caught.
For the work claimed to have been
done during February, the company
paid $1,O9605. The bill for March was
as large, but before paying it the Off
cials of the railroad turned the reports
from the National Secret. Service. con-
Germ over to f. g. Shaw, file company's
own special agent for the detection
Of frauds, for his report on them. |
Capt. Shaw, who is one of the best
known railroad detectives in the east, |
said that he thought the detective and |
not believe that the work, as shown by
the reports, had been done, and said
that the whole thing was a scheme to
cheat the company. One of the things
that made him say this was that some
IF the tickets, which were said to
nave been obtained from employees of
he company who had stolen them,
we're shown by the dates on them to
nave been bought the same day the
eports accompanying them were writ
en-.
Captain Shaw was put ut work on
he case at once. He came to Cieve.
and, bringing with him s. j. Block,
# Washington, ID. c., n retired detec-
I've of the Washington police force,
Who is only employed from time to time
low in cases of especial Importance.
When they got to Cleveland they
ound that Coach was ont on the road
altering material for his reports to
he company. Captain Shaw and
'lock followed Coach from city to
ity, they say, including Columbus,
incinnati, Wheeling, Dayton, Zanes.
lille and other places. Sometimes
would enter ticket scalpers office,
hey claim, and watch their man buy
ticket, and then buy one just like II.
When Coach sent in tickets with the
tatcment that he had captured them
rom swindlers, Shaw and Block claim
hey had the evidence to dsprove what