The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1912-08-30


This ], news turned things upside
down IN Wells & Cos estabn ment
The gold which they had sold had
been broken up into smaller packages
and pretty widely distributed. Some Of
the coin was found and It was pro-
nounced genuine by bank experts, but
the deep interest Of Wells & Co.
aroused the suspicion Of some Of their
customers, and they sent several sam.
pies to the assay ONCE for analysts.
This examination showed that there
was practically only trace of gold
on the face Of each coin, and the
metal was worthless.
Then there was tho deuce to pay.
The customers Of Wells & Co. de-
manded the return OF their money and
the firm was forced to suspend tenn
porarily. l was called into the case
at this juncture and must confess
that it looked like a mountain. Ad-
vices from London showed that all
the papers which had been used by
Nathaniel Storms in this country had
been forged, and the investigation
made by Wells & Co. was just ten days
too late. The plot would have been
exposed If they had made inquiries
concerning Storms at the start. Pri-
+ cn1r0f orko ut
Identification had been obtained from
Frink & Beamen in some way, show
ing that some one in their employ had
been giving information. There was
nothing in this country but good de-
scription of Storms. He wore full
beard, and I knew that he would
shake this at the first opportunity, so
that description of him was useless.
was sent to London to work up
that end with the Scotland Yard peo-
pie. 1 brought them the Information
about the letter blanks and secret
marks, and watch was put upon
everybody in Frink & Beaman's Of
flee. They had twenty clerks working
for them, and it took some time to
pick up our man. We found a young
fellow named Sinclair who had money
to burn on SIS a week, and pinched
him. He sQuealed without delay, and
said that he had been induced to give
up the secrets of the business by two
men who claimed to be Englishmen.
They gave him $500 for his work. He
heard them call each other Andy and
Wary, and this gave the first tip on
the gang. was satisfied that the two
men were Andy Bliss and Wary Nc
Gee, both crooks. I learned that the
bogus coin had been brought from
America on the Cunard line in casks
Of white lead, and had been returned
by the same line.
AS it had been arranged that the
money should be paid in New York.
I knew that it was certain that Wary
and Andy would be on board to get
their whack, and came back. I could
not imagine who this Storms was. and
my only hold was To keep the pipes
running for Bliss and MCGEE, who
naturally would not be much alarmed
over the robbery for the reason that
every end was covered.
knocked around among men and
women I knew to be crooked for about
a month before I got good tip. 1t
was in Nat Cunningham's saloon on
the Bowery that l overheard a con-
versation between a couple OF bank
sneaks, who were telling friend
about trip they had on Andy Bliss
yacht, and the sport at the fishing club
In RavenswOOd.
It took me a couple of hours in
Ravenswood to locate the clubhouse.
It was in an old deserted mansion. i
went there after dark, and was aston
ished to hear regular and very hard
humping in one of the outhouses. !
could not see into the place, but !
heard the sound Of several voices, and
when some one came out I caught a
glimpse of some moving machinery
through a door. I waited till after
daylight, and knew that there was
crooked work going on, for there was
no sign of smoke pipe anywhere.
I made all my arrangements for a
raid, and the next night I had ten
picked men in Ravenswood. kept
tab on the clubhouse and saw that
there were at least five men there.
About o'clock four men left the
clubhouse and went to the barn. Soon
the machinery was going, and went
to the barn with five men, leaving the
others to watch the house. The men
felt so secure that the barn door had
not been locked. l flung it open and
jumped inside with my men. Every
crook was covered by gun and threw
up his hands, except Frenchy Kline,
who was hit on the head and died
afterward from the injury.
Two men in the house, hearing the
confusion in the barn, rushed out to
see what the trouble was, and were
captured by the guard. We got Wary
MCGEE, George Keene, Frenchy Kline
Billy Wallace, Darby Jones and Andy
Bliss, and the best counterfeiters' out
fit in the world.
Dog conquers Elephant.
Gunda, the 7,000-pound elephant in
the Bronx zoo, was taking an elephan.
tine siesta in the Enclosure before his
home when he discovered stranger
in tho ward dog had worked his