Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-02-25
Miseellaneons Reaaina.
A CRIMINAL FROM CHOICE
Man Of Culture and Refinement Be.
comes Forger.

| A criminal Tor the pure love or II!
A crook who played the game" no
from desire for gain, nor through tn,
demands Of dire necessity, but from
sheer longing for the zest and excite
ment Of the chase.
Originally from an excellent family
with Independent means, equipped will
a splendid education and with abilitie,
that would have insured a success ir
almost any branch of honest endeavor
1t seems almost unbelievable that any
one would choose instead a career ol
crime merely for the thrill that accom-
panied the deception Of his victims and
that he gained in eluding the officers OF
i the law.
i Yet such, in brief, Is the record OF
Rudolph Masling, linguist. artist, ex-
pert accountant and mining engineer
/ man of letters, and last, but by no
means least, master forger, lately ar
rested in New York after series of
spectacular swindles successfully exc
cuted, says the Pittsburg Leader.
His case has attracted the attention
Of medical men and psychologists,
who are striving to ascertain the fun
damental causes that lie behind his
peculiar crinkle. They have found that
there is no apparent outward cause for
the mans evident moral deformity.
| He is sober, Industrious and addict
ed to none Of the dangerous drugs that
make their victims morally, II not le-
over, his medical history shows moth
ing, either in his own life or in that Of
his immediate ancestry, which might
offer an explanation for his strange
criminal tendencies.
His case seems to be entirely unique.
According to his own statement
this Is borne out by the records Of the
police-it ia no more possible for Mas
ling to refrain from his illegal acts
than It would be possible for morphine
victim to renounce the drug which en-
slaves him. He recognizes his danger
and knows that disgrace must inevi-
tably follow continuance Of the habit
but Is utterly unable to forego its de-
lights.
So 1t seems to be with Masling. He
recognized that his ultimate discovery
and conviction were absolutely certain,
yet declared 1t to be impossible for
him to reform.
Perhaps the best that can be said of
him is that apparently he is anxious to
make every amend In his power for his
misdeeds, the best proof Of which is,
that he voluntarily gave himself up
to the police. Had he wished he could
4 easily have escaped-at least for a
time-and he could speedily have sat
tisfed the demands Of his dupes and
made restitution Of the money his big
Operations had cost them.
TITS the only thing for me to do" he
ttold the police lieutenant to whom he
Isurrendered himself "As long as I'm
but I can't help being q crook I don't
know why It is, I don't need the money
I have every reason to keep straight
But I love the excitement Of 1t. It's
like the dope habit with me. I've lost
a wife and friends through my weak
ness, but 1 can't stop being crooked.
So guess maybe the best thing for me
Is to do another stretch This one
will be a long one and it may cure
me-"
The police, however, have some
doubts Of this, for Masling's record OF
wrongdoing is long one. He is now 81
years old and has served at least three
terms in prison. On each occasion af-
ter being liberated he has lived honest
ly for some time. and then the fatal
fascination for the excitement Of his
illegal art has claimed him.
Even II he is now convicted under
the "habitual criminal act and given
a ten-year sentence, the police declare
he will resume his old-time operations
once he has served his time. They look
upon his criminal failing as form OF
mania, and 1t is this which the physi-
clans and psychologists who have been
studying Masling are trying to ascer-
tain.
Apparently Masling lacks all sense OF
control when the desire to commit for
gerry assails him. 1t Is like disease
which remains dormant for indeter-
inmate periods, only to return with ar
increased force to wrack and wreck Its
victim, as malaria, in certain forms
returns again and again to those who
have once contracted It.
i According to Masling's statement to
the police, certain signatures have g
fascination for him that is actually un-
canny. He is unable to think Of any
thing else until he has successfully
initiated the handwriting that attracts
him.
And such signatures are usually those
which are considered to offer the
greatest difficulties to the forger. The
average mans chirography does not
interest this unique penman-perhaps
because 1t can be copied too readily.
i It was this that brought Masling to
his present plight. AS long as the head
Of the large manufacturing concern
in which he had held a trusted posi-
ton for more than two years attached
his signature to the firms checks
Masling remained honest. The sigma
ture was a simple one and one that
even a tyro might have copied sue
cessfully. Therefore Masling had nc
desire to initiate 1t.
. | 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 ar
enviable one from every point OF view
Then the head Of the concern decided
to relinquish some Of the responsibility
ties of the business and turned over
the detail Of attending to the checks to
one Of his partners. At once Masline
|