Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1906-03-08
AStute
Mr.. Phillips
By c. B. LEWIS
Copyright, 1903, bu Homer Sprdgtle

Copyright, 1909, bu Homer Spragte


fellow clerks in the bank and by two
or three detectives with whom he had
come in contact. In fact, he had rooms
in the same house with a detective, and
they were on such intimate terms that
the sleuth let him in on some of his
cases and on several occasions had said
to him:
phillips, you would have made a
great detective You have the natural
astuteness of a Vidocq."
There were times when the bank
clerk really thought of resigning his
position and taking up detective work
as a profession. lie had almost made
up his mind in earnest when a brilliant
thought came to him.
He was a young man of twenty-six,
earning salary of 500 per week. Tn
til further promotion should come he
could not hope for any increase. The
place he aspired to was years away,
and there was no way of adding to his
income and getting married and living
as h wanted TO live.
The brilliant thought that flashed
upon him one evening was to turn his
as,rttcncsS into criminal channels and
rcdp Ia, profits. He did not intend
murder n2r highway robbery nor bur
glaly. but simp TO beat the public in
So"lc easy way. As he was Il good pen
man. ana a. h" was we'll acquainted
with the ways 81 banks, it was natural
that he should decide on forgery as his
line
The astuir MIR. Phillips did not rush
into the new business in 81 day or a
month; il was a whole year before he
was ready TO move He first called up
all tie cases of forgery that he had
heard of IN connection with banks and
went over them one by one in the most
methOdical manner Some had succeed
ed, and he satisfied himself as to why
others had sent men to prison. Then
he borrowed the detectives SCrapbooli
and purchased the published reminis-
cences of two or three others and read
every line connected with forgery. His
deductions when he had finished were
that nineteen out of every twenty men
arrested for the crime were burglars.
They had been careless: they had left
lOopholeS: they had neglected the most
ordinary precautions. In some cases
they had lacked nerve-a thing he knew
he possessed 10 Il wonderful degree: in
others they had taken alarm when there
was not the slightest cause for It.
Forgery. he decided after studying ev-
cry phase of it for year, was the very
safest game In the catalogue.
When Mr. Phillips had fully and firm
ly made up his mind to enter into "busi-
ness" he jotted down the following
points in his favor: He had always
borne a good reputation; he was con
nected with a responsible house; he
could initiate any mans chirOgraphy: (
he knew scores of men who banked at
institutions outside his own: he wa an
adept at Disgusting face and voice; he
was Il comradc Of detective who
would keep him informed of what was
going on, and his friendship with the
officer would serve To lull all suspicion.
1t was plain sailing 10 success.
1t Is said that there are plenty Of
men who would beat bank out of a
thousand dollars and yet hesitate to /.
take ten from any other source. Per
sons Of wealth will beat the customs
because Uncle Sam Is considered fair
game. The criminal who gets ahead of
q bank or other corporation does not !.
feel that he has broken the law as If /.
he had robbed Il private house Mr.. /
Phillips intended TO pay all his -atten- !.
ton TO banks and none Of it to private T
individuals. Had any one suggested /
that he beat a corner grocer out of $50 (
by some gum game he would have .
been highly indignant
The detective had told the bank clerk .
that more criminals came to grief I
through confederates than in any other .
way. There IS honor among thieves
only up To a certain point. They stand .
ready to sell each other out at any /
hour when # seems that they can per
sonally benefit by II.
Mr. Phillips natural astuteness i
warned him 10 go ii alone and trust +,
to no man, ANA therefore when he got
ready to put his programme in motion
no living man shared his secret. There
had been certain preparations to make.
He WAS allowed aa hour for lunch. He .
had been in the habit of going to GER
tain place patronized by other bank
clerks He purposely raised row with
the proprietor that he might have some
excuse for going elsewhere. He would
need to be disguised, and he had to rent
room In a convenient location -
make the changes. There must be a
safe place for his money, and he found
it by renting second room half mile
from the other TO both landlords and
to account for his brief stops he claim
ed to be a detective.
Mr.. Phillips was in no hurry, and he
did not propose TO leave any loose ends.
He went over his plans time after time
and finally at!sfed himself that they
We're without a flaw. He had provided
for every contingency likely TO arise.
and 1t only remained TO rake In the
plumber. After going over his list OF
"availables' he finally selected bust
ness house which had formerly banked
with his people. Their signature was
at his disposal, and he knew the size Of
their account at the new bank He
could get $1,000 from them easily. and
the chances were that the crime would
remain undiscovered for at least n
fortnight
One day I've aStute bank clerk was
quite ready To start out. He was not
q bit furricd or excited He left his
do, ,f 49,. r,nupd his