Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1906-08-17
.STENSLAND'S SON
SCENTS SUICIDE.
TELLS STORY OF HOW DEFALCA-
TON CAME TO LIGHT AND
OF THE ESCAPE.
GoTLETTERs FROM MINNESOTA
Last Word of Fugitive by Vice President
of Chicago Defunct Bank Came
from Gopher State.

une today says that Theodore StenSland,
son of the fugitive Milwaukee Avenue
bank wrecker, has made a full statement
of his knowledge of the circumstances
surrounding the fight of his father and
touching the colossal forgery fraud in
the bank.
He declares absolutely that he was not
only ignorant of the steals perpetrated
but that he never protted in any way
from them.
Thinks His Father Is Dead.
The young man advanced the belief
that his father has not fed the country,
but has committed suicide. He also adj
vanced the theory that his father could
not himself have committed the forgerles
OF notes because of an impeachment
| through a street car accident in his con-
| troll OF the pen in recent years.
He thinks also that Cashier Henry w.
Herring could not have sufficiently dis
| guised his own distinctive chirography to
| perform the limitations and that, there
| fore. an outside expert was employed for
the purpose of copying signatures on
| blank checks.
1t became known in the evening that
| young Stensland late on Saturday had
| given to Receiver John c. Fetzer for the
! benefit of the bank depositors q deed to
| I'LL Tie COOk county real estate uclu ny
| his father, who had given him power of
| attorney.
Tells the Whole Story.
Young Stensland is a man Of giant
frame. "pll tell you just how it was
from start to fnish," he said. I'm the
| first place, / never knew anything was
| wrong in the bank with the exception of
| the stealings of Walter Frantzen, the re-
ceiving teller in 1901. When they were
| discovered Frantzen was discharged.
His tnefts were about $4,000.
"My father shouldered the responsible
| ity for the shortage and refusing to pros
ecute Frantzen hushed up the whole
matter, because he feared a run on the
| bank.
Conference with His Father.
"Now, to come down to present times,
let us go back to the Saturday before my
| father went away-that was July IA,
| believe. My father sent for me to come
| to the bank late that afternoon. | found
him busy near the safety deposit vaults.
It appears that he had been telling Her
| ing and Aalbery and some others that
day that he was going away for a short
vacation. He left me power of attorney.
| Then my father called Boedeker, Gus
| todian of the vaults, and said:
| 'Boedeker, | guess Theodore had bet
! ter give up his small box, and you can
| put him down as part owner of mine. I
| will give him one of my keys
He started to hand the key to me,
and then hesitated in an absent-minded
sort of way. | was in q hurry to get
lily.
| Departure of the Banker.
''The next day-Sunday-I received
an urgent telephone message from my
| father to come to his house in Irving
Park Immediately. When | got there
all my father wanted was to know if |
knew where he would find a certain
shawl strap. l thought this was a
peculiar thing and got him one. When
returned | found my father had
packed his effects in big grip and no
longer wanted the shawl strap.
"When I came to go away my father
babe me goodbye, saying he would be
away only a short time and that he
would go to Duluth to look at some dock
property"
Young Stensland said he returned
| home and heard nothing more of his
father until the next morning, when he
had been mailed before he left Chicago.
Letter from Minnesota.
''That letter." continued the young
man, "cautioned me again concerning
the Curtis property deal My father
|
in the deposit box and added, I inclose
! the key to the box The funny thing
about it was that there was no key in
closed. l suppose he forgot. The real
estate deal was postponed. Later l got
the key in a letter."
The letter which young stensland
| thereupon drew from a sheaf of papers
| was an undated sheet of hotel paper
bearing the letter head of the Golden
| West hotel Royalton, Mimi. The let
ter read:
Dear Theodore: Just in from the woods
| and have to go back with the team when
| ready to start. / hope everything is O.. K.
at the bank. Ask Herring to put in some
| hard strokes and l will take hold with re-
newed yigor when back from my trip. More
| later
After this, said Stensland, things ran
along smoothly at the bank, though he
heard nothing more from his father I'M
til on Friday, August 3.
Debt Memorandum Mentioned.
con that day." continued the young
man, Il received a letter from my ia
| Their which was postmarked st. Paul.
A safety deposit box key dropped from
| the envelope. 1t was the companion key
| to the one father had sent me in the pre-
vious letter.
In the letter father asked me how
things were at the bank. Then he re-
ferred to having had bad luck in the real
| estate deals and the loss OF money gen
orally. He said that things at the bank
had not gone as they should have gone,
and finally he said that l would find in
his vault box a memorandum of his in
| debtedness to the bank. After that he
| devoted Il couple of paragraphs to re-
marks on the relation of father and son.
List Shows 100000 "owed"
II went right over to the bank that
| afternoon and opened the box. In the
midst of the mass | found long enve.
| lope addressed Theodore Stensland.
| Above the address was notation i'll my
| fathers handwriting:
1.-The list of names in nay own writ
ing is taken from notes which Herring
claims are my Obligations
Below the address was this notation:
'"The little red memorandum book
will show my Indebtedness in December,
| 1901. This Of course includes FrantZen' S
stealings.'
Lists Do Not Agree.