The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-04-22

That Though Arrested Fifty Times He
Vas Convicted Only Twtce-Now His
Pals Have been Rounded Up and They /,
Are Peaching on Him-An Educated
Crook With q Genius for Mathematics
His swindles, Big and Little.
Wall Street shed no tears when AL Goslin
Jumped his bail. 1t was a matter Of in
difference to the stock brokerage firms,
the bankers and the bond houses, great
and small. whether he was put behind
the bars or whether he spent the rest Of
his active life in some foreign cline. The
main point was that the Street was rid
Of Goslin and that reputable firms in the
financial district had no longer to fear
the secret Vaccinations Of the slipperiest
swlndler of the age.
In spite of his VIGOROUSLY bad reputation
Goslin was a terror to Wall Street. This
was due largely to the fact that he never
worked in the open. His schemes were in
variably carried on through agents, who
rarely shared to a greater extent in the
plumber than a small weekly salary.
He kept out of prison for the most part
because he was able to get other people
10 do the crooked work which he planned.
He has for years been a sort OF adviser
TO crooks. He was also an Industrious
blackmailer and forgery was one Of his
most remunerative side lines. He had a
number of agents around him who were
his nlaves, his method being to fasten some
criminal act en- them and then press them
into his service.
His skill in putting up jobs on reputable
firms was we'll illustrated in the case Of
De Coppet d Doremus, from whom a 100
share certificate Of preferred Steel stock
was stolen by Charles Milton Dunn. This
steal was deliberately planned by Goslin,
but his connection with the transaction
would never nave been disclosed had Dunn
not confessed years afterward when caught
in another swindle which his master had
engineered against the Western Gold Min
ing Company.
Goslin's police record is a striking testi-
monial to his skill in extricating himself
from dangerous situations. Although he
has been arrested fifty-two times and was
known TO be, beyond question, the master
mind Of swindlee whose proceeds are esti-
mated in the millions, he was convicted
but twice, and neither Of these convictions
related to any Of his important operations.
Back In the early 'e0s he was sent to
the Elmira Reformatory for forgery. Later
he was sent to Blackwell's Island for six
months for circulating false statements
about the financial condition Of the Brook
lyn Rapid Transit Company, with a view
to depressing the value Of the stock on the
market.
Yet before his last sentence and after he
left the Island he spent his days devising
schemes to separate innocent investors
and people with a consuming desire to get
rich in a hurry from their cash. There was
the Dean syndicate, the American Finance
and Mortgage Company, the bogus medi-
cine frauds, Light, Fuel and Power, in
which he cleaned the bucketshop men out
Of $3.50, 900 by pure triokery, the $40 per
cent. Miller syndicate and a host of others,
the mere catalogue Of which would fill a
column.
In spite Of his activity in these opera
the crash came. AS a matter of fact, it
was not known until the Western Gold
Mining conspiracy was unearthed that
Goslin was connected with two OF the most
remarkable swindles Of recen mt times. They
were the Hanover Bank" Of Boston
swindle and the forgery Of 500 100 share
certificates of the Norfolk and Western
Railroad. Evidence Of his connection with
these transactions was discovered only after
his safes were broken open.
aosLIN's SLIPPERY WAYS.
Prior to that time Goslin had naturally
been suspected, but the authorities were
unable to connect him even remotely with
Charles Augustus Seton or the Leary crowd.
The head of a famous detective agency
laughed when it was suggested that Goslin
was behind Seton and Leary.
why said he. we watch Goelin 80
closely that he does not dare to make a
move in Wall Street. We have had our
eyes on him ever since he left the p~eniten-
tiary for the B. r. T. job. We are paid to
watch him by the banks and he can't make
a move without our knowing Of IT,"
At the same time Goslin himself wa pro-
Tossing to lead a life far away from the old
paths. Yet it was during this time that he
planned and put through some Of his most
successful operations. 1t wa during this
time also that he sent Dunn nto De Coppet
d Doremus's office to steal stock.
On this point Frederick Jobelmann, one Of
Goslin's former agents, has given some
interesting testimony. 1t shows that there
was nothing too desperate for Goslin to
undertake, from bilking innocent investors
in fake blind pools down to plain larceny.
JOB" the witness swore Goslin said,
Il NOV Of an excellent opportunity for
bright young men to make a good thing for
themselves in the Street. II can get hold
Of the right ones and they do as | tell them
! sill fix them out handsomely.
Il want to put them in some Of the big
brokerage houses, 1t is like taking tafy
from a baby or getting money from home
to steal stock certificates in most Of them,
Then these young fellows can mail the
stuff to me in addressed envelopes I will
give them and / car dispose Of the stock
out Of town"
According to Dunn's confession, this was
the exact procedure, that was followed when
he stole a stock certificate worth 500, 900
from De Copret Il Doremus's Office So
neatly was the trick done that the members
Of the firm never suspected Dunn. On the
contrary, his salary was increased. and he
remained with them for months afterwsrd.