New-York tribune., 1912-03-31
SUNDAY MAGAZINE FOX MARCh 3 1917

aCtcr. NliIlOn, OH JllC OlllNl li''''N' '
neering and forceful in the extreme; j.,
at happened one day that Noland needed
the services of a lawyer in some detail OF
ncrfccting the title of property. Knowing
Simon as patron of the bank, he called upon
him. Simon arranged the matter in hand,
and refused any payment IRON the Dailk
cIorl, for thc small service rendered.
"Somc weeks later Simon met Noand ana
told him that he was putting through a real
estate deal in which he needed a few hun
drod more than he had on deposit at the
hanl, He said that he was giving check
for the amount, and asked holland to pro
tect him on the books for few days until
he made good holland protested; but the
force of the other man and the previous
favor finally persuaded him, and that night
he falsifcd his accounts in such way as TO
hide the ovcrdraft.
@This placed him in the hands OF Simon.
The LAWYER made the oycrdraft good; but
he soon followed it with others which kept
on increasing until the discrepancy amounted
to many thousands of dollars. holland went
TO him and protested begged, wcpt. The
| lawyer told the bank clerk that there was no
occasion for worry. He urged that ne knew
the law and was not gong to lay hiillSch
liable. and that the clerk was safe as long as
the LAWYER had a whole skin. In the mean.
time he drew more heavily on the bank, ana
the clerk did not dare refuse to hide the
@Noland and LaSallc stood side by side
all this time, and nothing was ever learned
70 indicate that either knew aught OF the
! illicit operations of the other. Noland IN his
confession maintained stanchly that there
was no collusion between them. But falsi-
| fying the accounts required much extra
| work and the officers of the bank observed
that the two bookkccpcrs came early, worked
late. and often curtailcd their lunch hours
Finally a third bookkccpcr was put on to
relieve them and to this man fell the ac-
count of Simon. His ovcrdrafts ceased from
that time. Noland had not offended Tor
many months before an examination showed
! his shortage to be something near one hum
drcd and fifty thousand dollars through TINS
one account.
"Whcn Noland and Simon were brought
! to trial the former made clean breast OF
the whole transaction. He convinced the
! Jury, and in fact everybody connected with
! the case, that he was telling the whole truth
! He stated that he had never received a
penny Of the stolen money. HIS only re-
/ ward for the whole transaction had been the
! present OF 4 business suit costing Twelve uOl-
| lars. He had been looking in a show window
one day when Simon had come along. lie
had remarked upon a certain suit in the
window and expressed liking for it. Simon
had taken him into the store and bought the
suit for him, and he had weakly accepted.
After hearing Noland's story the jury
was for turning him loose but under the
law he was the principal in the crime, and
| the lawyer was the accessory. II the prlnCi-
pal were freed, the accessory must likewise
be turned loose Indignation ran high
against the lawyer and a verdict OF guilty
was brought in that he might be punished.
and mercy was recommended in the case OF
the bookkccpcr. Noland got five years, and
Simon six.
"Thcsc bookkccpcrs are unimportant men
about the bank; but this case illustrates the
possibility of fraud on their part when work
ing through an accomplce on the outside.
This is of course when the system OF the
bank is not what it ought to be and inspcc-
ton Of the books not sufficiently frequent
and thorough. Efficiency will block all such
possibilities and the banks are moving all
the time toward this sort Of protection
There are, however, hundreds OF banks IN
the country today that are open to Just this
sort Of looting and looting is probably going
mcrrilv on. Yet anv bank that cares to