The sun., 1903-12-25
ARSON LAID TO BOND RORGER.
"RANkER" CHiS. p. HALL rs THE
NOTORIOUS WILLIAMSON.
Once Set Fire to Sing Sing-insurance
Companies Run Him Down After His
House In New Hamburg IL Burned
Surprise for New Hrunswlck, =. j.

Surprise for New nr,inswIck, y. }.
One of the Bank of England forgers.
the man who in 1877 set fire to Sing Sing
prison and escaped in the confusion, has
just been arrested In this city at the age OF
90 on charge of arson in the first degree.
| He is best known as Charles Williamson,
alias Perrine, but he has passed lately as
| Charles P. Hail. which is said to be his real
name. Posing as a retired banker he was
| posing as an active banker when in 1873
he flooded Wall Street with forged Buffalo
| and Erie, New York Central and Chicago
| and Northwestern bonds-he bought the
Van Allen place at New Hamburg Dutchess
county, agreeing to pay $4,000 for it. He
paid $500 down and insured the house for
$4,000. Four days later. on Feb. IA last
the house. which was inhabited, was burned
down at 10 o'clock in the morning. Circum-
stances discovered led to the Withholding
Of payment upon the policies, and Hall
disappeared.
Three insurance companies the Royal,
the Pennsylvania and the Dutchess set
to work actively to investigate the fire,
and meanwhile, at the request Of Cardozo
& Nathan Of this city. Detective Charles
A. Oliver began to hunt for Hall. y
1t had been discovered that on July 20
Hall and his wife had bought tickets at
New York for New Brunswick But they
went to Franklin Park instead. Late in
August they did go to New Brunswlck
and put up at the Bulls Head Hotel. Hall
got desk room in the law office of George
Berdine, ass George street. He professed
to he engaged in the business of investing
funds. and had long list Of stocks which
he offered TO possible customers: he
was also concerned in number of real
estate and promotion enterprises: Hall
is OF such striking, appearance that ne
soon became widely known He is nearly
feet tall, broad shouldered, slightly.
stopped with gray hair and mus'ache and
remarkably bright eyes. He was u good
mixer" and had bowing acquaintance
with every business and professional man
in the city. He received Il large mail,
and seemed to have correspondents in all
parts of the country.
Some time ago he began to fall behind
in payments for his board and on Dec. Z,
when pressed for pa yment. he disappeared.
| Two days later Mrs. Hall left the hotel and
went to Spottswood.
Halls disappearance was complete until
Wednesday, when, through the surveil-
lance that had been maintained upon his
wife. it was learned that he was at Smith
this city The November Grand Jury
in Dutchess county had indicted him, and
Oliver and Chief of Police McCabe OF Pough
keepse met at the hotel at o'clock Wednes-
day afternoon and arrested Hall. By o
o'clock he was in the Duchess county jail
The delay in ARE esting him was due TO the
desire to learn if anybody was associated
with him In the insurance case. State
Detective jackson Of Sing Sing has denti-.
fled him as Williamson.
in Inspector Byrnes's book. He has passed
twenty2eight years TN prison He was
born In Malone, NJ Y, began as burglar
in this city in 1871, got out OF Sing Sing IN
flooding Wall Street with counterfeit bonds.
| He went to London with 100000 profits,
but came back, and in 1876, having been ar
| rested here for similar offence got fifteen
| spending eight months in prison. he set
! fire to the bakehouse and escaped in the
! confusion.
Going to England again he soon found
! himself in prison for raising Bank OF
7 England notes After serving four years
OF ten years sentence he turned Queens
| evidence against the Dan Noble gang OF
| forgers, securing Mobiles conviction. He
| also showed the Bank of England officials
| how their notes could be raised and how
| to prevent it. His sentence was commuted.
He came back here, was arrested in ST
Louis in 1884 for Offering forged drafts
| and after serving time there was sent back
to Sing Sing TO servo his fourteen years
| and four months. from sing Ding ne "as
transferred to Dannemora, where he was
| released on Feb. 10, 1902. On the day OF
| his release he was married at Albany to
woman who called herself kmily Van,
Pderbilt, but whom the police called
Deaf Emma
About two weeks ago while in New York
! Hall crossed the Wall Street dead line,
and he was arrested and warned to leave
| town. The incident was noted in the New
| York papers, but no one in New Brunswick
imagined that it was the Hall who was
making friends right and left in that city
1t il said that the insurance companies
and underwriters have been after Hall
for some time, and expect by securing him
| to get on the track of several men in New
York who have secured hundreds Of thou
sands of dollars from the insurance COM
panies by the employment of Hall and other
! men.
In New Brunswick Hall interested a num-
Der of people in his schemes, one of which
was method of note shaving which he
made believe could be employed with large
profit. He tried to form company to estab-
lsh big sewage removing plant He
| brought 10 New Brunswick pal, said
| to be well known bank robber,
|