The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-10
DEATH IF WOMAN RECALLS FORGERY Large Operation Of The Bid-
 well Brothers ROB BANK OF ENGLAND Devotion of a Faithful Sister-PaII Tells Plan of Robbing Bank of
 England of One Million
 Dollars.

From the Washington Herald.
 remarkable life of sisterly devotion was brought to a close at Muskegon, Mich, last week, by the death of Mrs. Harriet c. Mott, sister of the notorious Bidwell brothers, who made themselves the most famous forgers of the 18th cen tury by their s1,OOo,000 swindle on the Bank of England.
 Mrs. Mott, who outlived her brothers, and was IS years old, died practically penniless, although she had once owned one of the finest farms in Muskegon coun- ty. and valuable property in New York state. All went to promote the cause of her brothers freedom.
 When Austin and George Bidwell per petrated their famous swindle in 1873, Mrs. Mott vigorously entered into the fight to get them liberty and carried her cause to the White House and before the nobility of England. She went every where raising funds and made nine trips across the Atlantic She refused to look upon her brothers as great criminals and declared that their sentences of life inn prisonment were miscarriages of justice.
 When at length she triumphed and saw the second of the brothers, Austin Bid well, leave old Newgate in 1893. she re- turned to Muskegon and set about rais- ing money to pay off the debts of her campaign. The brothers died in the west while on featuring tour. but she kept on. A book written by Austin Bd- well on his experiences was her chief as- set. She boasted that she had paid back every penny borrowed in her long fight.
 Edwin Noyes antigambling missionary, is attracting much attention in London by telling of the attempt to defraud the Bank of England of cool s5,000.000 that brought his name to the front as star criminal.
 About this time of year there are shoals of American sharpers preying on. travel CTS and unsuspicious folk in London and other capitals. Moves knows their 'con" games and fits about from one center to another putting spokes in bad mems wheels Hundreds of business men on this side already have cause to thank him for stepping in just in time to save their wads of bank notes from slipping across to the willy tricksters who had laid their traps for unsuspecting gambling pigeons.
 Day by day city men pass the alert old man in the streets around the Mansion house, but few realize the sensational part he once played in a drama that thrilled England from end to end. British CTS often speak of impregnable securi- ties as being "as safe as the Bank of England,' It was Moves and three ac- compices who came within an ace of proving that tne safety was a mere name and the big walls, armed guards, and iron gates could not sh'it out clever men bent on a colossal swindle. Austin and George Bidwell, two broth ers and George Mcdonnell were in the scheme. and though they got away with s50O,000 with the help of Moves, a little slip or two spoiled the game for the $5,000,000 haul.
 Moves himself, after the lapse Of many years, tells the story of the crime. Aus tin Bdwell." he says was one or the ceverest and most daring men Of his time. He came to us one day and said 1 Boys, I have planned to touch the Bank of England for million sterilng. The vaults are open to those who are bold enough to try
 Such a reward was enough to qticken the pulse of desperate men, so We planned an elaborate system of forged letters or | credit and bills of exchange. Austin Bid we'll was a skilled penman and false let ters of credit were cashed readiiy at banks in Berlin. Dresden. Bordeaux Mar seilles and Lyons. ~aidwali then opened an account at the