Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1903-09-04
CLEVER fORGER.
HUNDREDS or DOLLARS RAkED
IN HY SMOOTH RASCAL WHO
PASSED HIMSELF AS
DR.. Z. II. CHAMBER
LIN.
Old Town of Albuquerque to lncorpor-
ate.-The Browns off For Fl Paso
fleet the Remnants.

Fleet the Remnants.
Special to The Optic.
ALBUQUERQUE, N. Nj, Sept a.
A series OF yery clever focgeries per-
petrated In Pueblo, Denver and ST.
Louis, in which the name OF DR.. l.. II.
~Chamberlin, a dentist and prominent
Mason Of Albuquerque, was used, came
to light yesterday when three drafts
all forged arrived i the local banks
in the course Of business from 81.
Louis.
Some two months ago there was a
railroad machinist in Albuquerque
who went under the name OF Frank
G. Thayer. He was introduced to Or,
! C%hamberlin and represented himself
as a prominent Mason, He vent often
to DR.. C~hamberlin's office but always
when the doctor was not in, and dur.
ing one of these visits 1t Is supposed
that he secured a bank book OIL the
First National bank and a number OF
checks of that institution. Certain
It is that a few days later. checks
to which DR.. Chamberlin's name was
forged began to come in from Pueblo
and Colorado Springs, then from Den,
yer, in amounts ranging from SO 70
$50, the whole amounting to several
hundred dollars. The police In the
cities named began to investigate and
found that in every case the man ans
wered the description given ut T.hayer
and that he represented himself as DR..
Chamberlin Of Albuquerque and show
ed his bank book with its balance Of
81, 500 in the First National bank 81
this city. The game worked and Thay-
er got away with the coin. But the
police got active and he went into hid
ing for awhile.
Then he suddenly bobbed up in st.
Louis this time working a holder game
with equal success. He has secured
in some way some blank checks OF the
Santa Rita Copper company which
has its headquarters here, and again
representing himself as DR.. Chamber
lin, he drew freely on the Bank Of
Commerce Of this city, eve using a
bogus rubber stamp Of c~ertifcation
bearing the signature of w. s. Strick-
Ter, cashier OF the bank. Three OF
these drafts came in today. One for
$3.50 and two for 5000 each. All were
cashed by st. Louis retail houses. De-
scriptions have been wired to st. Louis
and broadcast over the country and It
is hoped that Thayer's operations may
be stopped. He is a clever talker. well
educated and with polished manners.
is about ~forty-five years old, five feet,
eight inches tall with dark brown hair,
smooth face and weighs $50 pounds.
He was only in Albuquerque for about
q month. The bogus drafts and
checks have Of course been refused
and will be returned to their respec-
tive owners.
Old Albuquerque Is all stirred up
these days. The old pueblo with Its
quaint streets and Its famous old
church is to be Incorporated. The
spirit Of progress has come home to
stay and the people are getting very
busy. First the people over there
have voted to issue $1,000 in school
bonds with which to build a modern
school house. Next they propose to
incorporate and a petition to the coun-
ty commissioners Is nov being circu-
lated to obtain the requisite number
OF taxpayers. This it is believed will
be accomplished and then the old town
will assume the name Of the town OF
Albuquerque. establish a vallige gov.
eminent and proceed I o clean up.
The Albuquerque Browns will go to
El Paso tonight to meet the famous
FL Paso Remnants in a series Of three
base ball games tomorrow, Sunday
and Monday. The games are Of i'm
portance since they will determine the
relative strength Of the twb teams In
the tournament at the territorial fair.
Both Of these teams are out in earnest
for the first money and both are work
ing hard.
Bruno Dieckman son Of a well known
albuquerque real estate man gave a
farewell concert to a large crowd
there last night preparatory for his
departure to Germany where he goes
to complete his musical education.
The young man is already a violinist
OF merit and possesses unusual talent.
He will remain abroad for at least
two years.