Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-02-05
PLUNGED STOLEN
MILLION In NINE,
DIED A PAUPER
George NJ. Wagner's Dream
Of Great Wealth Lured
Him to Betray Widows
and Orphans.

4 dream of untold wealth to be wrested
ann The earth was the lure that inn
..,,sa George M. Wagner, club and So
.,.,v man. respected custodian of mil
aor dollars belonging TO widows and or
,hans, to violate the confidence reposed
=. hln and risk his honor and their money
an single chance.
wagner took the chance and lost. He
a,sd a pauper few days ago in a New
or,sans charitable institution. He had
,,,np 10 his dream of riches until the
,,s, Of the fortune, with which he fled
,bls city in May, 1918, was gone.
slnce that time Wagner had wandered
.bout the country, a fugitive from JUS
dee He never stayed long in one place;
ho AID not dare. Those he had betrayed
ger. hunting him. Somehow he managed
10 keep Just out of the reach of the law.
MT tho clutch of it was ever just behind
Mn, driving him from city to city and
from state to State until death overlook
him
RIsKED CAPTURE HERE.
This story the truth at last about
George M. Wagner, became known today
through the police. 1t became known also
that on May 16, just seven days after he
had disappeared, Wagner calmly risked
eapture and disgrace by coming back to
this city and going rapidly over papers
IN his office at 20 South 18th street. How
he eluded the police and accomplished
tbis has not been made known. 1t never
will be, in all probability, for the lips OF
the only man who could tell have been
sealed by death.
Wagner died under the assumed name
Of Charles Smith. His body will reach
this city next Monday. Identification was
made today by Joseph Carson, trustee in
bankruptcy for the Wagner estate, and
T. Barton Rettew, an attorney, who went
10 New Orleans when they heard OF
Charles Smiths death. Two aged women
his nearest of kin, will see that his body
"a buried in the Wagner family plot. They
have forgiven him, although they had
much to forgive. Each was tricked by
Wagner. One is his aunt, Miss j. Wag-
ner 1910 Germantown avenue; the other
Is his stepmother, Mrs. Elizabeth A. Wag-
ner, of Lansdowne, with whom he lived
before he fled.
Mrs. Wagner is particularly bitter
AGAINST men she refuses to name whom
she accuses of having led her stepson
astray
"Yes" she said today, I'VE have heard
that George was dead. We were glad to
hear finally something about him. 1t
ended the suspense. There had been no
word from him since he disappeared. We
have forgiven him, but his aunt and
will never forgive the men responsible
for his downfall George sinned against
Ia f, fha
men who put him on the wrong road have
not been apprehended."
few weeks ago Wagner's aunt, who
Is now more than so years old. filed a
petition in Court of Common Pleas before
Judge Breezy asking to have declared
null the transfer OF property worth $4,000
from her name to that of her nephew.
This transfer was Wagner's last desperate
act In his struggle to raise money by
any means that would help him to his
cherished dream OF owning a paying gold
mine. Decision has not yet been made in
the case.
The gold mine in which Wagner is said
to have sunk his stolen fortune is To-
Gated. the police say, on the Indiana
Ranch, three miles north of Doblin Cali
fornia. Two days after Wagner's dlsap-
pearance a telegram for which he had
been waiting In New York came to this
city. 1t made an appointment for him
with men whose names have not been
dlyulged at hotel in San Francisco.
WENT TO COAST.
Wagner returned to this city on the
18th. He got the telegram, but in the
hurry Of his departure left 1t behind In
his desk. He then hurried out TO the
Pacific coast 1t is believed. and made
arrangements with his mysterious corre-
spondents to finance the gold mine that
didn't pan out.
How long 1t was before Wagner learned
ne had lost is not known. Apparently his
nope lived for more than a year, as he
was reported alive in San Francisco about
seven months ago. BY the time local
police got on his trail he had disappeared
again.
HIS route since then has been partially
raced by the police through reports from
Various detective bureaus throughout the
sountry, From time to time scraps of
Information were picked up about him,
him. "" '"'e " Trap
once Wagner's hope in the ultimate
success OF his mine must have risen high.
ie must have felt certain of winning, Tor
~ inaae tentative plans TO return 10 this
~ y ana make settlement with his credit
80 Negouations We're opened, but be-
s',sy uiey mad progressed far they were
seSuehly broken on. Wagner's dream
1u - oeeh shattered. The mine had failed