The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1903-10-02
WcT|M|zED THE BANK
Stranger FORCES Name Of Well Known
Farmer to Mortgage.
From Wednesdays Daily.

From Wednesdays Daily.
George Klughertz was arrested late
yesterday afternoon by Sheriff Williams
on the charge of victimizing the Mankato
Savings bank out of $1,000, and was
Iplaced in the county jail. A warrant
was gotten out today, charging him with
forgery in the first degree. in uttering a
forged mortgage upon the bank
The officers of the Savings bank give
an interesting account of the manner
in which the bank was victimized. They
lsay that a little over three weeks ago
a middle-aged man came to the bank
and introduced himself as Frank T.
Thinker, who is prosperous farmer of
Mankato township, and said that he de-
| sired to secure loan of 1000 on his
farm of l60 acres in section eleven in or
der to purchase forty acres that lies be-
tween the two eighties, so as to connect
the farm. The matter was looked upon
| favorably as the Thinkers were known
to be first class men, although this par
ticular one was not personally known to
the bank officers. The land was not far
from President Fletcher's farm, and he
knew it to be as represented, and was
| glad to make the loan, asking only one of
the eighties as securely.
The man who purported to be the own
er of the land secured the services of
kJohn N. Hall to prepare an abstract,
and this was examined by the bank
attorney and found to be all right He
then returned to the bank Sept. 18th and
signed the mortgage as Frank L. Thinker,
his signature being witnessed by W. w.
Davis, the cashier, and J.. G.. Diamond.
The money was paid over in cash.
Mr.. Davis overlooked charging for the
abstract and the recording fee, and that
evening dropped letter in the postoffice
to Mr.. Thinker, asking him to pay the
fees This letter went to the right Mr..
| Thinker, and the latter appeared at the
| bank a week later to seee who had plac
ed mortgage ON his land, or whether
there had been some mistake in the de-
scription. In this way the bank ascer-
tanned that it had been victimized out of
Isl 900.
President Fletcherk kept an outlook on the
streets, and yesterday afternoon he To-
Gated a man in a North Front street
saloon who he was positive wac the man
who secured the money. He asked the
man to accompany him to the bank,
where Cashier Davis also identified him,
as did Mr.. Diamond and Mr.. Hall. To
| all of these he claimed that a mistake
had been made, and that he was not the
| man wanted, and he tried to claim an
alibi, saying that he had been working
at GAINESVILLE, and had not returned until
Sept 18th. He gave his name as Geo.
Klughertz
The defendant is half brother of Of
ficer Eli Klughertz, and has always borne
an excellent reputation, so far as can
be ascertained. He is a cooper by trade,
and has worked for various firms, lately
being employed by Doud Sons & Co. His
home is at SIG North Fifth street, and
he has family.
Mr. Fletcher had a long conversation
with the man at the time of the applica-
ton for the loan, and was satisfied and
| introduced him to Mr.. Davis, who sup
posed that everything was all right and
paid the money over when he called for
| it. The day after the loan was made,
| the man paid the charges for the abstract
and recording fee.
w. p Coffin was summoned to the
Savings bank yesterday afternoon while
the conversation between Klughertz and
and he identified Klughertz as man
who ten years ago secured loan of $500
| from a client of his, and who signed the
name of Frank L. Thinker to a mortgage,
| the same as in the present case He then
represented to Mr.. Coffin that he intend
| ed to get married and was building and
needed the money. Mr. Coffin did not
| know Mr.. Thinker personally, but knew
of him and knew the land and was aware
of the building being erected on the
land. He therefore had no hesitation IN
making the loan It soon developed that
the signature to the mortgage was a
| forgery.
| Only once afterwards did Mr.. Coffin
see a man who seemed to be the one who
secured this money, and that was several
wears afterwards, when a man entered
| his office and wanted TO borrow $500 on
| land he said he owned in Iowa, not far
from Fairmont. Mr. Coffin secured the
signature of this man and it was SINH
| lar handwriting to that of the person
who had forged Mr.. Hiniker's name pre-
| yiously. This man was vouched Tor by
Geo. NJ Palmer, who said that he was IN
the employ of the Hubbard Milling COM
pany. The loan was not made, but the
Recommendation threw Mr.. Coffin off the
track. Klughertz claimed to Mr.. Coffin
yesterday that he was not the. man who
| victimized his client, who is lady we'll
known in this city.
| Some eleven years ago prominent
| resident loaned $500 to party who re-
! presented himself to be Chas. Otto, but
7, two years later it was discovered that
the signature was forgery, and that
+, the signer had misrepresented the case
!, when he claimed to be Mr.. Otto The
cases are very similar, and the gentle
man will take look at Klughertz this
afternoon, to see whether there is any
resemblance between him and the man
who secured the $500.
Mr.. Fletcher went to GAINESVILLE this
afternoon, presumably to look into. the
alibi claim set up by Mr.. Klughertz.
! When seen at the Jail this afternoon,
Mr.. Klughedtz refused to say anything.
He acted in dazed condition, and for
this reason the sheriff allowed him to go
into the office and remain there. He is
forty eight years of age, and has resided
in Mankato the past twenty-five years.
He has six children. He has had steady
employment, and the relatives say that
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