Putnam patriot., 1914-03-13
a TRAIL OF INK
uo,y Clever Bank "kiter" Was Run
Gown on a Slender Clue

The National Bankers Protective
association is an organization formed
hv the bankers of this country to pro-
tect themselves and the money in
mir care from the onslaughts OF that
considerable class of sharp-witted and
rosEless men who live by working
banks"
This class is divided into two minor
e1asses-the trough workers" and the
.kiters." The former phrase is used
On detective parlance to designate the
gentlemen who travel around the
country and blow bank safes. The
"kiters" are the persons who obtain
money by forgery, raised checks, al
tered drafts, false identifications, and
ether misrepresentation. Although
the safe-blowers get more space in the
naners. because of the spectacular
character of their achievements, they
orc the least troublesome of these
two types of criminals. A couple OF
veggmen will blow safe In coun-
trv hank in Painted Post, Neb., shoot
the town marshal in the leg, and get
away with $4,000, and the press OF
the country will ring with the news.
Rpt all the time there is going on the
ebrewd silent work of the 'kiter,"
which seldom gets into the papers,
but which continually is costing bank
ers and depositors thousands OF dol
lars.
To catch a ''yeggman''-a safe-blow-
er-is nothing more or less than
straight police work. To catch a
DkItere is a problem of intricate de-
tectiye work. for the "kiter" is man
Of brains. where the ''yegg" is merely
one of force, and the former knows
hotter than anyone in the world how
ia cover his tracks to escape detec-
tion. There is living in California at
the nresent time an old gentleman
who retired on a pension granted him
several years ago by combination OF
bankers who calculated that 1t would
be better to pay him to remain honest
than to risk losses from his sk1lfui
methods of forgery.
II is hardly likely that banking his
tory of this country will see such an
other incident. The National Bank
ers' Protective Agency employs the
Rurns Detective Agency to do all its
work now, and no matter how shrewd
A forger may be, how scientific his
methods, the Burns system, backed by
the Bankers association, is sure to
get him in the long run. At the same
de- of
mostly young fellows In desperate
financial straits-who tempt fate by
passing bad bank paper. Such GRIM
finals are soon run to earth. 1t Is the
Old scientific fox, the man who has
made "kiting" a profession, VINO
makes trouble; and the first one OF
these gentlemen that l ran down While
working as a Burns detective was the
best OF the lot
in Medallion, n. Y, there are three
banks, the Old National, the First Ma
tianal and the Farmers and Mer-
chants. One Monday morning the Of
fee manager of our agency came down
to the office to find on his desk tel
egram from each of these banks re-
Questing that a man be sent up at
once.
"A Job for you, Cornell" said the
manager, handing me the messages.
Beat it up there as soon as you can.
caught a Lackawanna train at
1890, and at seven in the evening
was registering in the best hotel In
Medillion. a town of $500 people.
After three days work l had unrav-
eled the following tale of what had
happened to the banks of Medallion:
A month before man named Claw
son, who conducted the most pros
porous coal yard of the town, had de-
cided to sell out and retire from busi-
ness. He had advertised the sale In
retail coal trade publication that cir
eulated among coal dealers through
out the country. In few days, or to
be precise, just three weeks before
arrived in town, a prosperous, ener-
getie looking man had appeared in an
sWer to the advertisement. He intro
dueed himself as Milton K. jenkins,
said he had been in the coal business
Years before, in Chicago, had quit 1t
and gone to New York, where he had
been working as coal salesman Tor
the last five years. The death of an
uncle, said he, recently had placed
him in possession of a little money.
He wanted to get into business Tor
himself. He wanted to get out of the
grind and worry of the city. He
wanted to be his own boss. He had
been in Medallion once before and
liked the town. AS soon as he had
seen Clawson's advertisement he had
said 10 his wife, There's the place for
US, Jennie, If the business is any
good and had HE'D himself straight
away to the town.
Now" said he theoretically, "show
me what you've got to sell"
The mans knowledge of the coal
business was so complete as to as
sure Clawson at once that he was
talking to an old and shrewd hand In
that line. His bearing and address
had all the earmarks of success and
torcefulness. He knew how much
coal cost at the mines down in Penn
sylvania. how much freight rates
We're. and what coal ought to sell for
in Medallion. He smiled appreciatiye-
~ when Clawson showed him his
books and demonstrated that the peo-
pie of Medallion were willing to pay
even little more than what coal
ought to sell for in that town.
I see you know the game, too ne
said: and CIawson naturally vas
little fattered.
Clawson named a price of $500 on