The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-06-06
FLOOD OF COLOMBIAN DRAFTS.
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sounding M nta In Washington h said ~ h@
h~hind tho arrest hsrr TODAY ~ Everest,
" Latham on tho chsrsr n afand larceny
VIZ Latham IL n tall man, w"il proprF
tionel and ~ distinguished appearance"
handsomely drrS-ssi. with cloae c'opTed side.
hounds and u face otherwise clean ahnven
H. made y favorable impression upon many
prrsons IN New York and Washington,
hut he H. aaid 10 ahine particularly ~ tho
Colombian capital
Latham became known to aevnfll men In
New York and Washington within the last
two ye1rt through his South American
mining schemes. His arrest today was
brought about by Whitman Osgood Of Wash
ington. who informed IN" prosecuting at
torney here that he had cashed n bogus
draft for Latham while they werr inter
epted In u mining scheme In Colombit.
Latham had represented to several per-
sons. including Mr. Osgood. that placer
gold In great quantities was tn b. ob.a ined
from the River Mel, which IL a tributary Of
the Magdalena and that even the natives
by using the.CrudeSt methods had extracted
wealth from the rivers bed for many years.
The mining promoter happened to be in
Washington to-day and Osgood had n war;
rant sworn out for his arrest on II charge OF
grand larceny. When his arrest became
known to-day several citizens of Washing
ton called at the District Attorneys o tfice
to tell what they knew of Latham.
Last fall some Of the banks of Washington
received from their New York correspond
ents finely printed drafts drawn in Bogota.
The drafts were drawn payable ninety days
after acceptance on the information Ex-
change Bank of Washington, d. G.. The
Washington bankers had some difficulty in
locating this institution, OF which they had
never heard. but it was finally found in a
room Of the Corcoran Building at the corner
Of Pennsylvania avenue and Fifteenth street,
opposite the United Statcs Treasury. Ac-
cording to what was said to-day, a runner
for one Of the banks found the room ocou-
pied by a desk, a typewriting machine and a
chair or two, and presided over by a woman.
This woman 1t is said, turned out to be the
wife of Latham.
Upon being asked by the banks runner
International Exchange Bank Mrs. Latham
replied that it was. One OF the drafts was
presented to her for acceptance and it is
alleged that she stamped an acceptance
across the paper. She was asked what
aut hority she had to accept the draft and
know, but that her husband, who was in
South America, had provided a rubber
stamp and had told her to accept all drafts
that were presented.
The draft in question was followed by
others, all on yellow paper printed in Span
ish. They came in great profusion, the
amounts ranging from $50 to 5000 Spanish
gold, and bore the name sometimes OF
Latham, sometimes OF a man named Dixon
and sometimes even that OF Gen. Reyes
Some of the banks asked their New York
correspondents il they should recognize
the acceptance of Mrs. Latham. Some
said yes n others said no. The noes
were in the majority and the refusa! in
volved a good deal of expense by the Wash
ington banks, it being necessary to comply
strictly with legal forms by making a copy
Of all papers and observing other formali-
ties.
Some of the banks recognized Mrs. La
tham's acceptance, and before ninety days
had expired Latham himself showed up
in Washington. He went to som of the
leading banks and rebuked the officers
for refusing to recognize Mrs. Latham's
acceptance of the drafts. He threatened
to institute legal proceedings, but when
ton Of his bank, the identity Of its board
OF directors and other questions, he refused
to answer.
1t is alleged that when the ninety day
period expired the drafts were not paid by
the bank located in the sin gle room OF the
Corcoran Building and were sent back TO
South America protested, Most Of the
drafts bore the Endorsement OF leading
banking houses in South America.
Latham told a story in Washington some
time ago hat he was engaged with Presi-
dent Reyes in an effort to establish the gold
standard in Colombia. In some vague
fashion, not understood by bankers in
Washington, the yellow Spanish drafts were
said to be corrected with the Columbian
gold standard scheme.