The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-03-30

AANE t& tAAGAl G4AAs LlE oaNNAAEA WIT
 tained nine registered letters from
 various banks throughout the country
 besides other mail addressed to the
 bank.
 Several days after the robbery oc- cured a telephone by some unknown
 person was received by us that this property could be recovered, describ- ling at the same time where it was hidden, that the person who ''found'
 it did not know it belonged to a man. tber of the American Bankers assOcia- tion. We endeavored to determine who telephoned this information, but could obtain no trace of the informant, but we at once telephoned it to the Merchants National Bank and Police Department, Baltimore. The presi- dent of the bank carried out the in structions, resulting in recovering the stolen securities.
 Some time in January there was stolen from the Fourth National Bank (member), Atlanta, Ga., a tin box | containing 50 bonds, issued by the So- cial Arch Cotton Mills, Social Arch, (Ga), dated January 1, 1904, valued at $1, 900 each, some insurance policies on the plant, a receipt book, which were subsequently, received by express from Milwaukee with the following slip inclosed:
 Please place your sign where your customers can see it and save them trouble"
 The report reads like a Who's Who' of criminals. It tells la vie, in time of the notorious Knox-Whiteman band of bank draft raisers and swim dlers six of whom were brought to jus Itjce through the efforts of the detec- tice agency. The story of the indenti- fication and capture of F. H. Crosby, a m mofessional forger and mail pouch thief, is characteristic:
 On September United States mail pouch, en route from Philadelphia to
 Pittsburg, was stolen from truck at Philadelphia and rified of it's contents over $500,000 worth of banking pa- lper. Early last summer a couple reg istered at a fashionable Asbury Park (N. J.) hotel as MT. and Mrs F. H Crosby, Crews, Eng. Crosby was somewhat of an invalid and was away considerably: said he had been in America before. and claimed to be a speeulator. His wife, with winning ways, was soon accepted in Asbury Park society, and through some of the acquaintances she made her hus- band was introduced at the Asbury Park and Ocean Grove Bank (mem- ber), where he opened an account with currency and subsequently, deposited a number of checks, which he drew against and disappeared September 12. The checks proved to be from the mail pouch stolen at Philadelphia.
 We again began the search for Cros- by, tracing him to New York, to Chi Icago, to Denver, where, when ar- rested, he was living with the woman who had accompanied him in all his operations, as MT and Mrs. George Murray, Crosby confessed ito all his swindles. Through an understanding between the United States Govern ment and ourselves, he was surren- dered to the Government for prosecu- tion at Philadelphia for the mail- pouch robbery in that city, and ar iiNCN liCtS HI Nltt FGuSluuy LNu uGp~ uty United States narshals on October l9, 1903, but escaped from them shortly after arrival. April 5, i9os. he was arrested by the police of Tacoma, Wash, for the theft, on April ,, of q mail pouch, from the depot iii that city, and preparing to again commit numerous swindles. At the May term Iof the United States Court, Seattle. Wash, on his plea. of guilty, Crosby was sentenced to two years in the United States penitentiary, McNeil's Island. Wash, and to pay a fine of s25. We have cause warrants to be lodged against him so that when his term expires he can be taken for trial to St. Louis, Asbury Park, or Philidel- phia, Crosby is an old offender. The report gives the impression that there exists in the United States large class of persons who engaged in the occupation of swindling in as mat ter-of-fact spirit as a grocer sells bad butter or a lawyer defends bad case.
 The system by which the Pinkertons keep track of the crooks is wonder fully complete. They possess a full rogues' gallery of their own; keep record fthe handwriting of profess sional forgers, and have 8 personal &C., quaintance with their victims that helps them penetrate the confusion of disguises and aliases. Nevertheless. the professional forger has not been suppressed. "The professional forger," says the report, has during the past year been unusually active,. but through our efforts for your assoeia- tion we have caused the arrest of S5 forgers, whose operations were re- ported to us, convicted 20. who were sentenced to 54 years and months, in addition to which were sentenced to indeterminate terms in prison, es- capped, sentance suspended, while 10 are awaiting trial, and were re- leased"
 Extremely interesting is what the report has to offer in regard to the ''yegg" burglars:
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