The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-11-18
CLEVELAND MAN |S HELD FOR FORGERY C. w. Ott Arrested on Request from Ohio Authorities SAYS HE IS NOT GUILTY Man Went to Telegraph Office to &c., cure a Job and Walked Into the
 Arms of a Detective
 Waiting for Him.
SAYS HE IS NOT GUILTY

through a severe test for a position as operator with the Postal Telegraph com pany yesterday afternoon, c. W. Ott, said to have a number of aliases. was arrest- ed by Detective Bodeker on charge or forgery. The man attempted to destroy a number of papers and letters after he was taken into custody, but was pre- vented from completely destroying them by the officer. who took possession of the remains.
 Ott was arrested on receipt of a tele- gram from the chief of police of Cleve- land, O., which gave minute description of the man, but failed to tell anything about the charge of forgery. Owing to the length of the dispatch the police think Ott may be wanted for very grave of fense. The Cleveland authorities were notified of the arrest and instructed to send for the prisoner, who agreed to re- turn without requisition papers Ott pro- tests his innocence and says he has never been in Cleveland
 The following is the telegram which caused Ott's arrest:
 .Cleveland, O., Nov. 16, 1905. "w. F. Wier, Chief of Police, Birming-
 ham, Ala.
 Arrest on charge of forgery Jesse P. Reinck, alias J. F. Dunlap, alias Ott, who is about 35 years old. fair complexion, D feet inches in height, rather small, squinty eyes, smooth face, left shoulder lower than right. He is a telegraph op- orator and will seek employment with the Western Union or Postal. Left word with the postmaster at Jacksonville, Fla, to forward his mail to Birmingham Ala. Arrest and ascertain If he Will return without acquisition papers. If not pa- pers will be forwarded.
 FIRED KELLER,
 "Chief of Police"
 As soon as the telegram was received Chief Weir put the case in the hands of Detective Bodeker. He visited the tele- graph offices several times yesterday morning but was told that no such man had applied for a position.
 Wanted a Job.
 At o'clock yesterday afternoon well dressed man of about 20 years of age en- tered the Postal office and said he was looking for job as operator. As is the rule when a new man wants a place he is sent to the operating room and is given an opportunity to show what he can do. The test is usually very hard, one of the swiftest operators in the establishment being selected to send messages which the applicant Is required to receive. It WAS said that Ott showed himself to be fair operator, and after taking an examination of about 20 minutes he left the office. When Ott reached the corner of First avenue and Twentieth street Detective Bodelxer placed him under arrest. It was then the man pulled several letters from his pocket and tried to tear them up. After the man had been placed in the city jail, the detective put the pieces of four letters together. One of them was a letter introducing S. M. Mason and bears the signature of J. D. Welsh. chief dis patcher and division operator of the Wabash railroad at Decatur. III. The let | ter follows:
 Decatur, H., November ', 1905 "To Whom It May Concern: The gen. | tleman presenting this letter is MT. s. M l Mason, who is employed in our Hannibal Mo. offices as clerk to the agent at that l point. He has a sixty day leave of ab sence and on account of his being most | excellent young man and sober, reliable | employe, I take liberty asking that other roads extend to him the courtesy | of transportation over their divisions. Very respectfully yours,
 U. D. Welsh, | "ChIef Dispatcher and Division Operator" !" l The letter was written on Wabash sta | tionery printed especially for the dis patcher's office The police say that only MT. Welsh can say whether or not the signature is genuine.
 Had Health Certificate.
 One of the envelopes contains a health | certificate dated, Jacksonville, Fla, | November 13, 1905,' and signed by F. D. Miller. the health officer of that city. It was made out in the name of "C. w. Ott," and gave the following description which was given the health officer by Ott: Age 25. weight 15O complexion fair, hair light eyes gray
 l In the same envelope was a blank rail- road pass over the Atlantic Coast Line. It Is signed in the regular way by the of- fcers and countersigned by the proper person. The police say 1t Is something un- usual for any railroad to give pass to oe filled in by the person to whom It :s I issued.
 | One of the letters bears the postmark | of Los Angeles, Cal, while the other was | stamped at Wharton, Texas, November g.. 1 They were addressed to "C. w. Ott, Cin- cinnati. Ohio," and forwarded from that | city to Birmingham. Both bear the sigma ture of women.' and were In reply to letters he had written them. They threw | no light on the forgery charge After all the facts in the case were in the hands of Chief Wier he sent the fol- | lowing dispatch to Cleveland: l Birmingham, Ala, November 1T. 1905 "C. w. Ott is in custody Will return | without requisition. Send for him. 'W. F. WEIR, "Chief of Police" | Besides the letters Ott had a number of cards on his person showing that he had belonged to a number of branches of the Commercial Photographers Union of l America
 | The only point in the telegram from Cleveland asking for his detention was the age. The telegram gave it as 8. while Ott says he is only 25. The police think | this an error on the part Of the sender of the telegram, and are sure the man held is the one wanted in Cleveland. GRATEFUL, REFRESHING, DELIGHTFUL THE GENUINE n D