Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-04-22
CLERK ROBS BANK
OF LARGE AMOUNT
w. o. Douglas of Trust Company of
America Caught By It's President
After Long Search.

20 70 thelr MONIES until Sunday morning
Mr. Thorne himself went TO the Grand Cen
trail and returned home with no knowledge
OF douglass whereabouts.
1t was after the amateur Sherlock Holmes
mad started for home that their hard work
was rewarded. w. F. Black. auditor for
the trust company, and Mr.. Ostrum were
waiting for a southbound train in the
Grand Central subway station about
O'Clock when they saw Mrs. Douglass, &C
companied by the man Of mystery aiight
from the very train which they had been
ABOUT to take and hurry to the street. They
followed the two meantime arranging to
have Mr. Thorne notified
into cab which was waiting In the
street Mrs. Douglass and her companion
hurriedly climbed. and the driver cracked
his whip to make his horse gallop up Madi-
son avenue. Into another cab jumped DE
tectives" Black and Ostrum, and they in
duced the driver to keep close behind the
first cab.
Up Madison avenue to 47th street sped
the first cab. There 1t turned west to the
Hotel Portland. The amateur detectives
were surprised to see three PRISONS jump out
OF t-Douglass. well as his wife and the
many of mystery. Led by the man. the
three rushed into the hotel, Douglass with
grip in his hand. Mr.. and Mrs Douglass
were whisked upstairs, while the Third per-
son wrote In the register wv. r. Gray and
wife, Boston,
Called Out to Arrest.
Not long after this development Mr..
AAoiHe arrived Oh the scene. lie telephOned
to the West 47th street police station for
detective and Detective Quinn was sent to
him. Demanding permission to 60 to the
room occupied by Mr.. and Mrs Douglass
the detective and Mr. Thorne were told
they could not go upstairs. Then there was
a long argument with Mrs NJ f. Fritz
proprietor of the hotel The result of this
was that Mr.. Thorne and Quinn went up to
room No. D, rang the bell and heard Doug
lass say:
Who is it?''
We have come to arrest you!' said the
detective
There was a scream from Mrs. Douglass
followed by a comforting word from her
husband, and the door was flung open
douglass stepped into the hall, and, seeing
MIR. Thorne, he said:
Has 1T come to this? Can't it be
stopped?"
Have you got the bonds?' asked Mr.
Thorne
Il haven't got them"
can you tell me where they are?''
douglass then told Mr. Thorne he knew
where the bonds We're, and that he had
taken them merely as security for credit
until Monday. when he intended to return
them He begged for time in which to
stralghten the matter out. but Mr.. Thorne
told him he would have to submit to ar
rest. that there cou,d be no settlement.
douglass denied he was trying to escape
ana said that if matters could be hushed up
until Monday morning the bonds would be
restored. With his wife protesting and
pleading, he walked to the West 47th street
station ana was locked up on a charge of
grand larceny.
Threatens to Keep Bonds
In the station Douglass became vindic
tive and more laxative He pleaded first
with Mr. Thorne to drop the matter in re-
turn for the missing bonds, and when he
was finally told he would be prosecuted he
said:
All right Send me to prison I'll serve
my term without a whimper. and when 7 |
come out III spend the proceeds of the
bonds. l have them and no one else knows
where they are"
To the detective Douglass declared that
the $3orO was only fraction of his steal
lnss He said that off and on for several
months he had taken blocks of bonds until
me aggfesate value was $4,000. All, he
said, except the $4,000 taken on FRIDAY.
had been lost at the races and in the
stock market
You fellows waste your time raidng
pool rooms" he said. What Won ought tn
do is to raid Wall street. No one ever
has chance there. Wall street landed
me-
Douglass inslstence that he had stolen
so large an amount mystified the police
particularly in view of Mr. Thorne's stout
denlals. The prisoner made a long con-
fess.on. in which he said he had taken /
S2'oooO This statement was given to Mr..
ThOrne.
Douglass taken to the West Side |
court yesterday morning and remanded for |
hearing until this morning. His wife de- |
MED herself 10 reporters, and her father !
expressed establishment that his son-n- |
law could have done anything wrong
Douglass. who is thirty-three Years old |
was loan clerk in the old Trust Company |
or America when 1t, with the North Amer |
lean and City Trust companies became the
present Trust Company of America He |
was MADE assistant loan clerk in the new
corporation and was well thought of by his |
employers. He received a salary of $500 |
year. which apparently was all he re-
quired for his mode of living. His father,
now dead was well-known physician in
East New York, where the son has always
been we'll known in society With his wife
he was constant attendant of the Trinity
Episcopal Church, East New York
Praise for His Detectives.
"All the men in the bank" said Mr..
Thorne last night. did excellent work,
and l was proud of them No, l didn't
need to hold out any offers of reward.
They didn't need that. This is the first
time one of my employees has embezZled a
penny, and all my other employees were
just as eager as l to see him arrested
and punished.
Il know where the bonds are and / will
get them. No matter what happened. the
are covered by two sureties We never
had the slightest suspicion that Douglass
was in the market that he was l!v-
ing anything but an exemplary life"
Robertson Honey, an attorney of No. 80
Park row. called on Douglass yesterday
Later he called on Mr.. Thorne The latter
denied that any proposition had been made
for the return Of the bonds.
New Engineering Building.