Omaha daily bee., 1901-02-20
POKER AND A BOGUS BILL
May Involve Charles Bennett in 4 Tangle
with the Law.
SAY WOMAN FIGURES IN THE CASE
Has Him Arrested for Pawning Her
Clothes and Then Defends Him
from More serious Charge of
Passing COunterfeits.

| Mayor Jennings ordered all the poker
| rooms in the city closed and Chief of Po-
| lice Albro is authority for the statement
! that they had been closed. Charles Ben
nett, who was bound over to the federal
grand jury by Commissioner Wright yes
terday on the chareg Of passing a coun-
| terfeit s. bill. wishes there had been more
| foundation for Chief Albros statement.
! II was his anxiety to get into a poker game
4 over the Manhattan saloon that induced
| Bennett to pass the counterfeit bill after
he had been warned that II was bogus.
I He is now playing seven-up with the other
, federal prisoners at the county jail with
a serious charge hanging over his head.
Bennett Is laborer, whose home is at
3O7 South Ninth street with a family
named Zentz, who with Bennett came TO
this city from Cherokee. la. Bennett up to
a few weeks ago worked with Union Pa =
cinc bridge gang but has since been idle.
He was arrested Monday night on complaint
OF Miss Laura Zentz, who charged him
! with pawning a coat which she had sent
to be cleaned and spending the money.
While Bennett was behind the bars at the
! city jail the passing of the counterfeit bill
was reported and all the sleuths OF the
force were started out TO hunt for the man
who had done It. About midnight 1t dawned
upon one OF the officers that the man ar
rested during the evening under the name
Of Bennett answered the description of the
individual who had showed the queer and
little investigation proved him to be
I the party.
/ Bennett had on several occasions re-
Gently sat in" the poker game which, de-
| spite the assertions Of Chief Albro to the
| contrary, fourishes unmolested over the
Manhattan saloon on Broadway, and on
Monday afternoon offered the bill in pay
ment for stack Of chips" Ed Ander-
son, who runs the place, questioned the
| genuineness OF the greenback and sent an
employe named Dan North to the bank
with it. North returned with the informa-
tion that the bill was counterfeit and a
| poor one at that. Bennett had to return
| the chips and left the saloon. He returned
| In few minutes with nearly IS in silver
and again bought into the game. Later de-
veopments showed that he went to the
! grocery store OF f. G.. Lloyd, where he
rendered the bill in payment for some to-
! bacco. receiving the change in silver
Lloyd deposited the note at the bank and
was informed that It was a counterfeit
and was the same bill as had been pre-
sented there earlier In the afternoon. He
then reported the matter to the police.
Laura Says II Came from Hank.
! At the hearing before Commiss ioner
Wright yesterday afternoon Miss Laura
Zentz, who had been responsible for Ben
nett's arrest testified that she had given
| the bill to Bennett and that 1t formed part
| OF some money she had drawn from the
| First National bank and she could not see
| how 1t could be counterfeit" During her
testimony 1t developed that she had at
different times given Bennett considerable
| sums OF money. On one occasion she
| loaned him $40 to buy a suit of clothes
with, but Bennett failed to get the clothes
and Is supposed to have exchanged the $40
for poker chips.
Grocer Lloyd testified that when Ben
| nett rendered him the bill he had doubts
about 1t being good and so told Bennett.
| The latter insisted that It was all right
and asked Lloyd II man who lived in the
city would be fool enough to pass bad
| bill. Lloyd thought he might be mistaken
and accepted the bill, giving Bennett the
| change in silver.
| Bennett waived examination and in de-
fault Of bail, which was fxed at $500, was
committed to the county jail.