The Washington herald., 1907-04-22

New York, April a.-within thFee-qusr-
ters Of an hour after W. o. Douglass.
assistant to the loan clerk for the Trust
Company OF America, had hurriediy left
the FIRMS offices. 1877 Broadway. satur-
day morning. it was discovered that $5O,-
900 worth Of Chicago. Rock Island and
Pacific coupon bonds. held by the firm
as collateral, were missing Immediately
President Oakleigh Thorne organized
! twenty -eight men OF the Office stan. who
knew Douglass. into an amateur detective
force TO guard every railroad exit from
the city, and the president himself. be-
sides directing the sleuth.ng Of the clerks
under him. kept watch over the Grand
Central station for over six hours.
After Mr.. Thorne had called of the
vigil for the day, past midnight on sun
day, by chance two of the Office force
stumbled onto the missing clerks trail,
and located him at the Hotel Portland, iS0
West Forty-seventh street, where he was
registered with his wife under an assumed
name. When Mr.. Thorne and some police
officers knocked at Douglass door near
O'Clock this morning. the defaulter him
self answered.
COnfesses 10 Heavy Thefts.
MY God, has it come 70 this so soon2''
he asked. Then he confessed to the rob
bepy OF the bonds and told the president
of the trust company where he could put
his hands on them. He was locked up
in the West Seventeenth street station.
charged with grand larceny. He was sub
sequentiy taken before Magistrate Fine
lite and remanded 10 the West Forty
seventh street station without bail 20
await examination tomorrow morning.
Robertson Honey. OF % Nassau street,
counsel for Douglass. refused yesterday 10
give out any statement iu behalf # his
client The police said that Douglass said
that his pecuiations amounted 10 S250009,
but the president OF the Trust Company
Of America asserted emphaticaIly that
the $1,000 worth Of bonds we're ali THAI
had been missed.
The police also said that Douglass re-
marked that he had lost all of his money
in bucket-shOp speculation, and that
Commissioner Bingham should clean out
Wall street before he tried to purge the
Tenderloin.
There remains only one end OF the rob
berry not yet cleared up II is the identity
of third party, not known either TO the
Pinkerton detectives or 20 the amateur
force Of trust company sieulhs.
How SIeuths Beat the Pinkertons.
It was only by the merest chance that /
A. NJ Ostrand and ". F. Black. two OF
the trust company's hastily organized de- !
tective force, got the clew 10 Douglass /
While the two men were !
waiting on the platform of the Grand I
Central subway station TO take train /
down town they saw Mrs. Douglass and /
a man who was a stranger to them, step
of the train that the two men /
were purposiBg To take. and after gaining /
the street enter a cab in waiting near /
the station entrance and roll up Madison /
avenue at a fast trot. The two Office /
clerks lost no time in following in an
other cab and thus traced Douglass 10 the |
hotel
President Thorne, who played chief OF 1
his own detective force, even after he
had turned the case over to the Pinker-
tons. and who was outside OF the de-
faulters room within half an hour after /
his detectives had traced him there, to-
day told the story OF the conversion of /
bank clerks into bawkshaws and the sys-
iematic covering Of all avenues of es-
cape from the city which his force so
prosecuted. It was a new
experience for all of them, he said but
be believed that it proved the value of
common sense in practical fashion.
Unusual Lunch Hour Suspicious.
Douglass was for three years head loan
clerk of the old Trust Company of Amer
Ca before the consolidation of that firm
with the City Trust Company and the
North American Trust Company two
years ago" said Mr., Thorne, sand while
n that position he was always thorough
81 trusted, as he had been under the
management In fact, there
vas some question raised when the eonl-
'anies united whether he or Mr.. Ostrand
should be head loan clerk There was
never any question raised as TO his integ-
1ty.
Douglass came down to work on Satur-
lay morning as usual at $50 O'Clock. At
wenty minutes to II o'clock Douglass said
hat be was going out then to get his
unch, and that he would be back i'm half
IN hour Ostrand noted that the hour
vas early for Douglass to take for his
inch, but he said nothing more of the
until three-quarters of an
lour had passed. Then he spoke to Col.
Herman Dowd, vice president of the com
ANY. Col Dowd ordered Ostrand to 20
through the bonds Immediately under the
supervision of Douglass Within a short
ime the loss of Chicago, Rock island and
Pacific per cent coupon bonds of 1913.
leld as collateral, was discovered.
When this was reported to me
rdered the whole Office force to go over
II bond accounts in the office. whether in
he province Of Douglass or not, and to :
heck up any further loss Aside from,
he missing per cent bonds all other
ccounts Tailed correctly.
As soon as we knew where we stood. I I
OF the PinkertOns on the case. and then I
rganized the Office stan TO blanket every s
erry exit and train depot in the CITY in | I
rider to insure against Douglass leaving G
be city"
Aged HF,EFda- Da.T