Sunday morning globe., 1901-12-08

The NindicatiOn OF the Reputable
Washington Citizens Messrs Pick
ford and Walter ct a. and the In
dictment by the District Grand Jury
Of Two Of the Conspirators-A sem
sational Case which I2Xemplifies the
old Adage That Truth Is stranger
Than Fiction
The people of Washington city were
somewhat surprised ou learning from
press dispatch IN the early part of last
March that four respectable citizens of the
District of Columbia had been indicted by
the grand jury of Montgomery county
Maryland, on the charge of arson This Is
one of the most abhouent of crimes. and at
common law Is punishable with death
Any man who has seen the flames of
burning house redden the sky at night viii
recall That the face of every spectator of the
lurid scene looked like a tragedy
The gentlemen who were thus gravcly ac.
cused were Thomas II pickford the we'll
known grocer and provision dellcr John
II Walter. one of our leading operators 200
C. Shaw, also highly respected business
men. That our readers may clearly see the
true u,vardness Of the criminal scheme that
eliminated Ia this nefarious indictment and
that the actors in II may be unmaskcd we
shall state the facts as we have learned them
after a thorough investigation. In so doing
we shall follow our invariable rule to hew
close to the line Of truth ii matters not
,-fts.gr fo... f1ts chine fttgv nv
In May 1907, Messrs Pickfotd and
Walter purchased spacious mansion built
of brick and stone, with the ground on
which Il was located at -Four Corners in
Montgomery County Nd II was an ann
bilious structure, Oh hch, It's owner had
expended as he claim "a, about fifty thous-
and dollars, and Il was unfinished when he
sold IT, but insured for thirty thousand
dollars, the risk being divided between
seven OF eight companies in Baltimore u
was burned down on the night of Scptcm-
bcf - 1907, during he temporary absence
Of the man who occupied IL as caretakcr
Iu due course OF time M-ssis. Pi,sfoId
and Walter claimed the insurance under
the policies which had been legally as.
signed 10 them as owners Of the premises.
the aggregate amount of which they had ON
renewal of some Of them reduced To- twenty
seven thousand dollars. although they had
expended considerable sum ON the build
ing
The companies, as usual, demured TO
payment on the ground that there had been
an ovcrvaluation of the property, and after
some delay Messrs pickford and Walter. TO
avoid long and costly litigation, agreed TO
settle for twenty.oue thousand dollars,
which sum was paid. Two years later one
James Hudson, an old man of cloudy
reputation who had been connected with
several schemes In this city, one Of which
led to his being severely drubbed by a.
member of the District bar stated TO an
adiuster of one Of the companies that he
could prove that the house was burned at
the instance of Messrs. pickford and Walter.
and that Messrs Bradshaw and Shaw were
parties to the criminal scheme. The com
panies laid the matter before MI Klgore,
then District attorney i'm Montgomery
County, Md. an able lawyer and man of
honor, who. ON examination of Hudson and
his pretended proofs. decided that there
was no legal evidence 10 support the charge
and ne refused TO institute prosecution of
the parties accused.
Mr. kilgore was succeeded by Maurice
II Talbot Tie conferred with the uusavorv
iu Washington, and the latter was heard TO
say that something was about TO drop" on
Messrs. Pickford and Walter About April
cd, ono r. Hopp then proprietor of the
goth Century Cafe, called upon Mr.. pickford
at his office, and told him that DE could ar
range matters with Hudson, SO he would
not appear and testify iu the arson case
and would retract the charge that Doe had
made for "a consideration Hudson IL should
be stated had a small printing plant. and
was printing the menus for Hopp's Cafe
aud he held a mortgage for seventy five
dollars on the plant on the other hand
Hopp who had been buying groceries and
provisions at Mr. Pickford's store, had
become indebted TO him so far that Mr.
Pickford refused TO credit him any
further, and held his note for $3.50 for the
balance due on his account To draw him
on and develop the scheme Of back-mail
that Mr.. Pickford suspected lay at the bot
tom of Hopp's proposal, he gave him at the
latter's instance a receipt in full for his ac-
count, but prudently retained his note
The following day Hopp and Hudson
were seen riding out of town together in
buggy, going into Montgomery county. On
their return Mr.. pickford made an engage
meut for Hopp TO call at his Office on the
next day In the meantime he consulted
the district attorney, and by his advice saw
Captain Boardman, the chief Of the detect
i've bureau, and arranged with him TO have
two skilled detectives secreted behind a
screen, so as TO ovcrhear Hopps proposal
That mercenary arrived on time and stated
that the insurance companies were 10 pay
Hudson sII 900 TO secure the conviction of
Pickford, that Talbot would also be paid
and that Hudson had agreed TO settle up the
whole matter for $4,000. MI. Pickford
stated that he had not that sum lon hand, and
after some adroit parleyng on his part. in
which Hopp made the admission that all
but 81 500, which was for himself, was TO
be divided between Maurice Talbot and
Hudson, Hopp accepted 5000 and a note for
$1,000 payable iu thirty days The money
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