The Newark star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1909, 1909-10-06
ONCE WEALTHY He
|. IS ARRESTED HERE
AS $500 FORGER
Eugene II. Schlange, Employed
by F. Matt & Co., Accused of
Passing Bad Checks.
WAS FORMER HEAD OF BIG
LEAF TOBACCO CONCERN
Prisoner Said to Have Confessed
and Declares 81 Must Have
Been Crazy"

From the enviable position of sole
proprietor of one of the largest leaf
tobacco concerns in the Southwest to
that of a prisoner charged with forgery.
Eugene H. Schlange. 81 years old, who
will be arraigned tomorrow in the First
Precinct Court, has Travelled, accord
ing to the detectives who arrested him
last night.
Schlange, who was employed as a
bookkeeper by F. Matt & Co., dealers
in automobile tops, at 491 Washington
street, was arrested after his employ
ers discovered that their balance Of
$500 in the Union National Bank had
been exhausted. Sergeants Tuite and
Horter of the detective bureau, who
were assigned to the case, found that
the trail of the forged checks which
explained the melting away of the ball
ance, led toward the bookkeeper,
Schlange. He was arrested last night
in Broad street, near the Lackawanna
railroad station, and locked up at po-
lice headquarters.
1t is alleged that Schlange, when he
found himself under arrest. confirmed
the conclusions of the detectives to the
extent of saying that the only explana-
ton he could give for his offenses was
that he was crazy.
In addition to the $500 which he is
accused of receiving from the Union
| National Bank, Tuite and Horter as
sert that he secured $500 from Peach
& Co., tailors, of 239 Broadway, New
|
! prietor of the Hotel Brostel, in West
Twenty eighth street, New York. He
is also alleged to have given worthless
checks to his landlady, Mrs. Clapp. OF
62 North Clinton street, East Orange
Up to a year ago Schlange was a
member of Schlange Sons of ST. Louis.
Mo-, business that had been intrusted
/ to him and his brother at the death of
their fatner. The concern was one OF
the largest of its kind in the country
and was a financial power in. the South
west. His fathers death was followed
| by that of his mother and brother,
leaving him in sole charge of the con-
| Germ.
| Under his management the business
is said to have experienced financial
difficulties and finally went to the wall.
Schlange, the police say, spent $4,000
in one year and was compelled to come
North, where he secured employment
with Matt & Co.
Three years ago he married a Miss
Schubert, of St Louis, who is a niece
of one of the members of the Ann
heuser-B Busch firm, the wealthy St
Louis brewers 1t is said by the police
that his wife got divorce short time
before he came North.
Schlange, according to statement
given out last night by Detective
Sergeants Tuite and Horter. knew last
Thursday that he had reached the end
of his rope, owing to the fact that
Mats balance at the bank had dwin-
died to almost nothing. In his desire
to stave off the inevitable he drew up
a check for $275 and deposited it at the
Union National Bank. 1t is believed
that he intended to draw on this
| amount and then leave the city.
He left his boarding house in East
Orange Sunday, giving Mrs. Clapp an
other forged check for the amount due
her. but fearing that this transaction
would be discovered, he sent her an
other check from New York, where he
was then staying. This check was for
$50 and was made payable at Ho-
boSen bank It bore the signature OF
a man named keron.
AS bookkeeper for f. Matt q Co he
! handled all the checks, both when they
were sent to the bank and upon their
return His method of operation, the
police say was to appropriate the
! checks sent out by the firm, indorse
them with the name of his employer,
secure the money on them and gam
possession OF them when they were
returned. Had the balance in the bank
been large enough he could have cen
tinued his peculations indefinitely.
Schlange is graduate of st Louis
University 1900 The following year hs
entered Cornell College which he lelt
at the time of his fathers death 70
assume control of the immense business
interests intrusted to him and his brolh-
en- Not only the local police. but the
New York police and Pinkerton de-
tectives have been looking for him fpr
the last few days.
1t was only when Mr.. Matt Vlslteu
the bank last Friday and was Informed
by the cashier that his account had
been overdrawn that the alleged peeu-
lations of young Schange became
known Matt insisted that he had about
$500 in the bank An investigation by
the bank officials revealed a number
of checks which Matt had never petois
seen, but which bore his signature.
The bank officials Immediately com
munieated with Captain Carroll, OF the
detective bureau. and Tuite and Horter
We're assigned to the case.
1t was declared today that Schlange
had been sought by New York central
office men since last December on
December 8, 1903. ne is alleged to have
deposited a check for $500 in the Chel-
sea Bank at Thirty-eighth st eet and
Eighth avenue. He drew almost all OF
the money out in two days, and later
the signature was found to have been
forged.