New-York tribune., 1905-08-25
WATERS UP FOR THEFTS
Held pith Hotel AstOr Checkers for
Trial.

Five men were ar-agned in the West Side court
yesterday morning. charged with robbing w. C.
Muschenheim lessee OF the Hotel Asor by means
of fraudulent system of checking in the dining
1t alleged that they had stolen altogether
about $500 and that the thefts had extended
period of two months.
The men arraigned were Clarence Sheldon. of No.
s4 West 6Sth-st.; John Campbell, of No lis West
6lstsst; Thomas Greenwood OF No IA Amsterdam
ave: Michael Stohl of No. l34 West 15th-st.. and
Sheridan B. Lewis. of No. 29 East Fth-st Only
two witnesses appeared against the walters They
Mr.. Muschenheim and Ernst Vale. the man
ager of the hotel.
Mr.. Tales evidence only hearsay and was
not admitted Mr. Muschenhe!m learned Of the
operate of the walters and checkers by watch
Ing them from behind a ventilating shaft, in the
walls of which openings had been made. Yesterday
afternoon Fred A. Muschenheim acting as de-
tective when he a checker put a supply Of
short checks in his pocket. He at once insisted
that the checker go upstairs where his pockets
were emptied This gave the desired evidence and
the man broke down and confessed. Soon after
wards other checkers were arrested, as well as
three walters
The five prisoners waived examination. and
held in $500 bail Four witnesses. employees of the
hotel turned States evidence and detained
in the house of detention. They said they were
Henry Van Dyke checker, of No. 266 West S9th-
St; Ernest Richers. of No 2,144 Lexington-ave.;
John s. Seller of No. PA East 26th-st.. and ]. J.
Riley, of No. ~ West u4th-st. The last three
walters.
Mr.. Musehenheim when at the Hotel Astor
last night. said:
All statements printed in yesterday mornings
papers supposed to come from erroneous.
up 10 this present moment have not spoken 10 any
one excepting those connected with the nvestiga-
tion.
The various sums that have been mentioned are
cateG. but merely six Nor did these depredatfons
begin last octooer but only a IL, little over two
the receipts for each waiter If one waiter is much
behind another we know that an investigation is in
order. The customary way for hotels to do has
been, unfortunately. to discharge man If caught.
harm than anything else I do not propose to Oh.
serve mat custom but 70 prosecute every man that
quicker than anything else
These thefts started about two and half months
TO exist l concluded that it was of more interest
detect the system rather than to punish one oF two
men Gradually we saw this system shape itself
checkers desks used means to ascertain Who was
straight and who was crooked, and L no
that the head Checker M Rr Ranf HaWs Sa Was
assisfant Iound reasons 10 believe that his
0ae1aons was interested in and perhaps the origi-
The method employed substantially TO steal
OLD restaurant checks erase the writing on them
confidence Would sell these % old CHECKS to IN the m
walters waters The price paid was 2S cents check. The
waters (siX in number) would take these checks
and get food. and since the checkers stood in with
regular looking Check The only thing that was
missing was a certain coupon that. Of course had
been detached on the day when the check originally
was used The next day of course. the regular
checks having all been accounted for ;nd Since
they obtained the money the fake checks
everything appeared TO be straight-at least.
they thought.
The system" in the mean time had been changed
by them. The checkers after receiving these old
checks gave them to the walters who after having
collected the money from the guest, would have to
return @ ms check to the checker and give him one
mar mar OF the proceeds The checker then had TO
snow this check to Sheldon and divvy with him,
which means that the waiter got 50 per cent the
checker 70 per cent, and Sheldon 25 per cent on
ssaoh Zach transaction % One waiter, by the name Of
opohr, soon began to pocket everything himself
ana gave the checkers what he felt like giving and
Iney mad various amusing scraps when they
outside of the building
some how or other Sheldon could not get as many
S Sid checks as ne required In the interim they
Degan 10 get bolder, and used regular checks twice
od,1o, and even three times. One waiter was nearly
caught at this last Saturday and as that seemed
70 make them a little more cautious and as I
tnought had learned the whole scheme, I con-
cIuQeo that the time was ripe to corral the gang
When you consider that this thing lasted q little
over Two months and that at first only one or two
Walters were working the scheme, finally increasing
TO not to exceed six men, the total loss based on
the CONFESSIONS and our own observations par
ucuIarly by the showing OF statistics does not
exceed $500. which | consider cheap for the tnfOr-
nation obtained and which 1 am glad TO place at
the disposal Of my business confreres and of the
public. - ~