The San Francisco call., 1905-08-02

. BY inveigltng cTedulous investors. into
his wildcat schemes Allan Howard, con-
ductor. Of a lean office III. the ST., AIMS
O. building, has. defrauded his: patrons out
OF about S50Q0o and .sneaked. TO- that *har-
Dor OF criminals Honduras Behind him
70 face the scorn Of xthe world he. left a
loving wife TO bear. the disgrace. ? =
For twelve years Howard has been In
business. Il was a. byword THAT his. note
Wes. as good as gold many taking IT
without seclgfty* :: -. =: = 49,: -:
:. The. absconder. left San Francisco y July.
q, telling his wife. he was :goihg TO :Palo
Alto and Atviso to collect $500 on a chat
tel mortgage which he IS said TO have
held on cattle and. machinery: :: He. de-
parted on. the 4: 20 train: fn the afternoon
and his wife. accomraaiedS him. on the
street car from tfleir home at. 1857 Oak
street down to Fillmore. No thought OF
bis thefts was entertained by Mrs How
R-rd and the farewell. was not 5one TO. In
oicate his departure. foE a long period.
Saturday afternoon a letter was receiv-
ed, much to. the surprisesof. the wife.
from Howard written tn2the. Commercial
Hotel, New Orleans. Init he made a full
confession of his wrongs and said that
he was en- route TO Honduras" The letter
said that he was not in: need of funds, in
dicating that he made. away WI tn a large
amount. - :
The. losers. in the .deal: by which he Sc
cured the most OF his coin are SAID. TO be
hard working women. and people: who
could Ill AFFORD: to give. their money but to
the. best of lenders : Mrs. Howard says
that the. Continental. .InHestment' Com
pany- is the heaviest single loser, Its loss
Is about $50 700. Many. hundreds Of others
were interested ia sums ranging from $50
20 $4,000: - : - " >. =. :. :,
EXTENT. OF. STEALING UNKNOWN.
Miss A. B. "Hunsaker,. bookkeeper for
the absconder.: did not: know the extent
OF hss steals for she did: not. know. the
names OF Investors or: amounts invested.
II is ssjd.-tllat Howard only. kept. a day
book. and papers, but with these was able
10 DO a phenomenal business. He had Oc-
Cupied the same office during =. all the
time he was IN the trade in. San Fran
cisco = -; "
3. News OF his. .peculations came out when
he did not appear in court yesterday
morning andTanswer the. charge of+feIony
embezzleuaent for AefEaldfn Mrs. Ida de
Long, who lives. at -262 Devisadero street.
Of 500. The case. was brought up in
court and .postpons6 several times owing
10 MS Inability to appear. on the morn
ing Of his depatture~ che W-as arrested on a
bench warrant and -Teleased on $3.50 hail.
That bail was declared: forfeited syester-
Gay morning ID: Judge -Cabaniss' court,
s=lthouga. aRother. delay was requested by
Attorney Arthur. Mack, representing the
defendant =. =. = - .:
8 Howard =defrauded his wife out Of
5000 that She had given to him TO.
place" Mrs. Howard is a woman Of
some means. and the. home they lived
in was furnished at her expense In
the letter: from her husband he says
he. mertgaged It before leaving and
took the money with~him.
10 reason is forthcoming for this act Of
Howard'S s except that he was engaged in
some enormous deal which would leave
him. peuniless.
In the letter to his. wife Howard says
'.It VIII be Z surprise to you to receive
this letter from me at this point-but- that
Is not the only surprise in store for
you. BY the time YOU receive this 1. will !
be In Honduras as the boat sails within
the hour. For the last three months
have deceived you, making you think that
I was to realize about $4,000 on a big
coal deaI but I was simply getting my
business in shape and all my money to-
gether so could leave this country.
4 could stand the strain no longer. It
was either this or suicide. 1 have no
fear about you. for know you will be
loyal and share my fate in this new coun-
try, for now I VIII be able TO DO more
for YOU than before The only thing that
worries me is your disappointment in my
conduct For the rest 1 DO not care;
theirs were only business interests-but
vou.. dear wife, hold You as a possession
that cannot be considered so lightly
Then he. gets sarcastic and says: mo
mere wind and fog for me. The new eli i
mate is warm and will do NE good
WIFE DENIES KNOWLEDGE.
Mrs. Howard denies that she was an
accomplice' in the theft and says that she
viii not consider his proposition TO go TO
him. She says il is her desire to stay in 1
San Francisco. She declares that she
wss as ignorapt Of. his business opera
tons as an outsider and that she was
totally Unaware Of his Intentions when
he left. Tor an alleged trip to Alviso.
She was perfectly free in discussing the
situation as far as she knew and did not
express any sympathy. for her husband. /
When speaking OF the years they had