The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-01-02

states. He said that one Goodman
had received $4,000 telegraphed him
from the Boatman's bank in st.
Louis.
INSTANTLY saw my chance. l con-
suited the operator and arranged
deal. He agreed to help me out Tor
on the McMannus brothers of the
Commercial bank of Chihuahua, and
said / had money on deposit in st.
Louis and wanted to get it. | was IN
formed that 1 would have to have 1t
telegraphed thru the Boatman's bank.
That concern was their agent, ana
they had code by which their money
was sent.
1T took the operator a few min
utes to write a fictitious dispatch and
put on all the official earmarks OF a
genuine message. 1t purported to be
from the Boatman's bank in st. Louis,
saying that 1 had deposited $4,000
there On showing this dispatch,
received that amount from the chi
| hauhua bank. The truth is that NC
! Mannus & Co. were anxious to trans
| fer money by Wire--it was Immensely
profitable They should have made
/ about $4,000 in exchange on that one
transaction.
"I gave the operator $4,000 Mexi-
can dollars, and, like fool, he IN
| stantly locked up his office at mid
day and took to the wilderness, leav-
ing the country on foot, when he
! had fully five days time to get, away
before the st. Louis bank could be
heard from by mail. He should have
closed his office later at night. |
took the train that evening for Ell
Paso.
"McMannus, however, happening to
have a telegram to send, and finding
the office closed, concluded something
| was wrong. After waiting five hours,
he notified the police and ordered my
arrest I was Overhauled on the train
l halfway to Ell Paso, taken back and
kept in Il horrible dungeon for five
weeks. 1T was impossible for me to
communicate with any one. the Mex
!. lean law DEGREES that culprit must
be cut off from sthe world to prevent
false testimony or his getting lnf1u'
ence to his aid.
His Mother to the Rescue.
s.Fortunately, during the next three
weeks the news reached my nome
and the Fort Smith papers published
the whole story. My mother secured
strong letters from the governor OF
Arkansas and the supreme cour
Judge of the state, who had known
me from infancy. She also had the
necessary money to repay the $4,000
taken by the operator, and the $1,000
I had used Of the money in paying
my debts. The operator, by the way
is still! fugitive, and has never be &c.
heard from. The case was finally set
, tied, and I was sentenced to three
, years imprisonment
Later, because of my youth am
the refunding of the money, by M.
mother, together with the persona
; appeals from officials in Arkansas,
was paroled in the custody Of tn
E governor Of Chihuahua, Miguel Ahu
: NADIA, whose secretary I became thru
+, knowing how to use the American
' typewriter. In this capacity [ serve
nine months, when, thru petition
from leading men Of Arkansas, I wa
pardoned in the latter part of 1892
I took the train direct for New York
and to this day have never returne
: to Fort Smith.
II reached New York with abou
= $500 in my pocket, but 1 had enoug
experience and knowledge to fill
!, house. During my nine months a
; secretary to the governor there wa
:, little to do, so studied for all l wa
worth. I studied day and night
a rid myself of certain mispronuncia
a tons and mistakes in English gram
= mar I also mastered Spanish, a
s ready knowing Polish, besides gettln
n fair smattering Of French, solely b
v my own. efforts in studying frol
books. Later I studied etiquette an
It prepared myself for a wider fiel
0 abroad.
= Made Money Easily.
o ttTn New York I found employmel
= again in writing advertisements ar
IT reading matter notices for busine
firms, and became expert at the bus
l. ness I determined to make none
l honestly and lead proper life.
l published a guide for shoppers, opel
II ing an office in one of the Broadws
r skyscrapers and taking rooms in {
s. uptown hotel.
is But alas, with money the devil r
re turned IN the shape of evil influence
in and I was soon playing the races al
I in debt up to my neck Like cowal
I went to Baltimore to escape payil
ID my debts, met the proprietor Of
re leading Baltimore paper and pos
l. under the name Of Whitney. He too
n a fancy to me and gave me a chan
lg to write advertisements. I prosper
n and lived at the Rennert Hotel.
ct "a convention of architects w
IN held there about that time, and a CT
es cago firm gave men $4,000 to get it
re contract for building certain impol