The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1905-02-09

STOLEN BOND
A CURIOSITY
Paper Stolen In 1878 in the
S2,H7,7OO Bank Robbery
LANDS THE HOLDER IN JAIL
One Of Thirty $4,000 Registered U. S.
Bonds Stolen More Tim ss Years
Ago-GOvernment Cancelled
Them After Robbery.
LANDS THE HOLDER In JAIL

New York, Feb. 9.--Treasury and Sc
cret service circles are talking Of nothing
else but the strange relic Of a crime
committed generation ago, when with
S@,747,70o worth Of plumber was taken
$4,000 registered United States bond
which yesterday, after twenty.six years,
turned up once more.
Chief Flynn Of the New York district
OF the secret service had several callers
curious 70 see the silken bit Of paper
which had figured in one OF the most
sensational robberies Of history.
lt Is . cleker piece Of work. said
Shiei tlynn. You should see the name
q the Manhattan Savings Institution,
70 which the note was originally made
out, has been erased and the name of
Samuel Warren Miller substituted. But
tne efasure was done so skilfully that
me silk iibre OF the paper is unchanged.
Moreover, the ink has faded ia CORE
spondence TO the elapsed time since the
note was dated. should not be sur
pFlsed II the forgery was done twenty
years ago
DR.. Lewis O. Wilcoxon, who was ar
rested yesterday for trying to negotiate
the bond, through Joseph A. Taylor
q White Plains, N VI, and James Al.
Smith, living at the Broadway Central
Hotel, who were also arrested but re-
leased on small bail, being palpably in
noeent, was still seeking bail and de-
claring his innocence
HIS story Of the bond, which was one
Of those taken in the famous rihing of
the safes Of the Manhattan Savings
Institution, was that it had been given
him in return for shares iii an Alaskan
copper mine on Monday by a man rep
resenting himself to be Miller, the man
whose name is signed to the note.
DIR. Wilcoxon says that he met Miller
in Alaska eight years ago at Valdes and
year or two later on the Klondike
trail. The doctor says he struck it rich
IN the klondike and came back the
owner Of some fine copper property.
few days ago Miller called ut the
Waldorf Astoria, where Wilcoxson lives,
and offered to buy some of the stock in
the mines. Arrangements were made
for the transfer Of 100000 in govern
ment bonds.
The $4,000 bond was only to secure
the deal, and secret service men are
inclined to believe that If the deal had
been consummated some more of the
loot would have come to light
Or. Lewis O. Wilcoxson, who il under
arrest in Connection with the recovery
of tile $4,000 United States govern
Inent bond, has resided with his wife
and child at one Of the leading uptown
hotels here the greater part Of the time
for nearly three years He claims to
own extensive mining interests ia Alas
ka, and have an income Of $4,000 a
month. Nevertheless, he spent the night
in prison in default Of $4,000 bonds
required by tho Federal authorities.
The recovery Of the bond was made
through the ub-treasury in Wall street,
where it had been delivered by bank
messenger. Thirty Of the same series
were taken in the Manhattan robbery,
and this is only the third one found.
Two others We're recovered by Inspector
Byrnes in 1880 In addition to the
three prisoners mentioned, all Of whom
claim To Be capitalists and promoters,
the complaint on which they were arrest
ed served also as the basis for warrant
for the arrest Of one Samuel Warren
Miller. James A. Smith, who had pre-
scented the bond at the suh-treasury,
and who had been asked to wait while
it was referred to the treasury officials,
was arrested ct the Aetna Bank Smith
said Joseph A. Taylor il friend, had
brought him into contact with DIR. Viii
coxson, and that the latter had author
lied him to negotiate a loan for 50 500,
with the bond as collateral. Smith and
Taylor were to receive commission.
On the back of the security it ap
peared that Miller had on Monday trans
ferred the bond TO Wilcoxson in the
presence Of President Meyer Of the Shoe
and Leather National Bank, as required
by law. The secret service agents pro-
ceeded to the Waldorf Astoria Hotel and
arrested Taylor. He expressed astonish
ment, as did also Wilcoxson, who came
in after an evening at the theatre to
find himself under arrest. The doctor
said he made large fortune in Alaska
and Dutch Guiana mining property and
that Miller recently entered upon ne
gotiations for some Of the former, Mil
Ter, he said, offered to make the entire
payment in United States per cent
bonds. II accepted the bond, said VIII
coxson, "and went with Miller to the
Shoe and Leather Bank, whore / have
had an account for some time. in
PRODUCED Miller to President Meyer, who
remarked that the security was gilt (
edged and affixed his signature aud the
banks seal to certify the transfer. | |
have not seen Miller since Monday af-
ternoon Our understanding was then I
that he WIS to see me again in few
days, when he would turn over the 9TH
er nineteen bonds, and receive from me \
his stock. The description Of Miller
tailed with that given BY Mfr. Meyer,
but no trace Of him has yet been dis
cororeH