Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1909-12-10
BEING A GOOD
FELLOW CAUSED
FALL, F0RGER SAYS
WardelI, Held for Grand Jury,
Blames Desire to Spend
Money for Troubles.

Robert h. Wardell. the repentan
lorger. who was taken from jail b,
George c. Sleeth, head Of the Sleetf
Manufacturing Company. of Belleville
only to fail back into crime again, i.
today awaiting hearing by the grand
jury. When he was ararigned before
Police Justice John c. La Faucherie, OF
Belleville, Sleeth and Louis Snyder, q
clothing dealer; of SO Market street
this city, appeared as compliments
Snyder alleged that on November &C
Nardell obtained clothing valued al
81. 80. under false ptetences. Wardell
admitted his guilt to all the charges,
and he was held without bail for the
grand jury.
Nardell was arrasted in front of the
North Ward National Bank, where, it
is alleged, he had sent a man With
three forged checks.
Being . good fellow, INDUCING a
taste for liquor and the love of spend
ing money arc the three evils to which
Wardell attributes his downfall.
Il was always a good fellow he
said to 4 STAR reporter at the county
jail today. nov I'm here. When /
had money / spent it to provide en-
joynent for my friends. When | was
broke | obtained money. 1t didn't mat
ter how, to buy drinks for the crowd.
] wanted to be a sport. l was. Now
I'm here. and the friends who used to
fawn around me would be insulted if
you asked one if he knew me.
Il was born in Springfield, Mass.
My parents decided that | should fol-
low in the footsteps of my father, who
was a prominent physician there. L
graduated from the Doctors and Sur
geons' College of that city and went,
as an inferno. to practise in the hospi-
tai. Trouble came, not my fault, but
appearances you know, and I was
forced to resign.
Then my father died, leaving me
$4,000. That was the beginning of the
end. 1t tool me nineteen months to
spend it, II I left a trail of friends
from Springfield to Frisco. When it
was gone l could not retur to my home
town and be pointed at as a fool by
the townspeople. / came to Newark,
and when my last trouble anne up l
vas employed at the City Hospital as a
bookkeeper.
There was only one thing the mat
ter with the job didn't get enough
money to spend. a blank check, a pen
and a conhding person t o pass it on
was an easy way of obtaining it. L
never thought Of the consequences. I
needed money.
When l got out of thai trouble I
was through with crooked life and in
tended to start anew. The right path
.-. Il A,... - $780,, a-J I ein.4a1
on it. No, l wasn't a r~epentant forger.
as the papers say; l was just sorry for
what / had done. I gave up drinking
and tried TO repay Messrs. Sleeth and
Snyder's kindness to me by keeping
straight.
II got a cold and liauor was the rem
edy l thought OF. When I had taken
one drink | wanted more. / got it. by
the blank check route. Then I decided
To cave Bel,eville and go to my home
town. But, intending tc be honest, l
tried to borrow money to pay Mr..
Sleeth. The good fellows I had known
refused to recognize me.
As / started back to Belleville. I met
q ma l had never seen before, and we
had Il fcw drinks. What money I had
: a soon gone. and The consequence was
that another worthless check was put
into circulation. a
THE charge of forgery against me is
f~oolishness. l am only guilty of obtain
ing money under false pretenses, be-
cause ] made no attempt to initiate Mr..
Sleeth's signature. I wrote it in back
hand on the face and Endorsed in my
natural hand. If people are foolish
enough to lake Il check of that kind
they ought to suffer. Most people are
fools. anyway.
mo, / have never been acquainted
with many girls. It might have been a
diff story If had. The girl 7 pro-
posed to in Bellevi1le vas a good girl,
and I thought her influence might help
me to refcrm. 1t didn't, and I an glad,
for her sake, that she turned me down."