The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1913-03-06

perhaps because it can be copied too
readily.
1t was this that brought Masling
! to his present plight. AS long as the
head of the large manufacturing
concern in which he had held trust
ed position for more than two years
attached his signature to the firms S
checks, Masling remained honest.
The signature was simple one and
one that even a tyro might have
copied successfully. Therefore Mas
ling had no desire to initiate it.
Speaking five languages fuently,
able and discreet, Masling speedily
became the firms confidential man.
His employers knew nothing of his
prison record and counted him val
liable addition to their organization.
They paid him handsomely and this,
with some private means which Mas
ling possessed, made his position an
enviable one from every point of
view.
Then the head of the concern de-
cided to relinquish some Of the re-
sponsibilities of the business and
turned over the detail of attending
to the checks to one of his partners.
At once Masling became restless and
discontented. He eyed the new sig
nature apprehensively and with
dread, for he knew that his fatal
weakness would compel him to essay
! its imitation.
Every time check passed through
his hands, which was frequently, in
! his position of trust, he pored over
the signature. Then he would re-
cover himself with an effort and send
the checks to- the bank before the
temptation became too great to bear.
All these things he has told both
his former employers and the police,
and the former have confirmed them
in nearly ever particular, in so far
as it is possible for them to do so.
For two months Masling resisted
temptation. Then he commenced to
practice his employers signature. For
awhile the mere act of initiating it
satisfied this strange criminal, and
then he began placing it on the firm S
blank checks.
Having full charge of the books
and enjoying the complete confidence
of his employers, it was an easy thing
to obtain money, whenever he wish
ed, without exciting suspicion. He
had no need of the money himself,
and what he gained in this way he
usually squandered or gave away.
Yet, with his own money, Masllng
was always frugal and economical.
All the time that he persisted in
his illegal operations he had COM
Portable balance at his own bank. The
salary that he received from his en-
ployers was more than ample for all
his needs. And in addition to all this
he was left a legacy of close to SlO,-
900 by a relative in Germany.
Yet he could not resist the tempta-
ton to counterfeit the signature that
fascinated him. He knew it was
wrong. He suffered agonies of ap-
prehension and regret for the wrong
he was doing men who trusted and
had been kind to him. But he could
not stop.
The very danger that attended his
efforts to deceive, held the secret OF
the fascination, which led him again
and again to pursue his nefarious
practices. He grew bolder and bold
er.
If his employers had not trusted
him so implicitly they must have be-
come suspicious of him long before.
Even when they knew that some
thing was wrong they did not sus-
pect him.
Instead they took him into their
confidence and asked his advice as to
the best way of discovering the cul-
prit.
This final proof of their regard for
him was too much for Masling. With
out formality he made clean breast
of the whole matter. He feared to
wait, lest his suddenly formed reso-
luton should forsake him.
At first his employers refused to
believe him. His action seemed in
credible to them. Then they called
in an expert accountant and his init
al investigation showed that Mas
ling's statement was correct in every
essential detail. His operations, ex,
tending over half a dozen months, to-
tailed many thousands of dollars.
Yet they were 10th to prosecute
Masling agreed to make restitution
in so far as his private means per