Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-04-02

WASHINGTON. y. c.. April THE
country seems TO be afflicted just now
with Il plague OF bad checks. Although
somewhat worse than usual. this is
nothing new. In fact, the methods are
sinsularly old The wonder is that
| they still work.
The president OF a bank In a small
M!ddl" Western town recently was In
terrupted In the perusai OF his morn
inSs mail hy the sudden entrance into
MS Office OF a tall wcll-dressed man
VINO siapped him fainilarly on the
shoulder aud called him, BILL
Don't YOU remember me-" he de-
! mahded. Met YOU over at Smiths the
o'her night The banker could not
remember ever having seen the man
before. but there had been several pco-
pic NJ the Smiths that night with bank
accounts. The man went on 10 explain
that he was In :, hurry TO catch a
train and IL had just occurred to him
10 stop in and ask bits" bank 10
, cash check for him. lie cooll, ex-
t'acted chcckbook from his vest pock :
az ana wrote out check FOR hum
dred and fiEy dollars Although N.
mans signature suggested nothing to
the banker. the check was OH we'll
known bank. Il all seemed perfectly
regular, so the banker cashed Il
Now large number Of Chicago de-
tcctives are searching for this same
ta!l, wcil-dressed stranger. who ha.
successfully worked this fimsy story
In nearly every state In the Union and
20 far AZ records show has never been
inside police station The thing j.
ridichiousiy simple. The man merely
trades upon the name OF the bankers
most influential acQuaintance-so,ne
one whose friend the banker would
not care 10 offend. The rest is easy.
oi cours" he must rely a great deal on
ms ability as an actor, and still moro
on the characteristic American care
iessness which has no patience with
small suspiclons. For instance II,
would have been comparatively easy
Tor the banker to hav. called Smith
or the telephone and made n few per
tincnt inquiries concerning The alleged
friend. bat he did not do it, What -
more. II what the detectives say ~
true. f"rtY-eigh; other banlScrs didn',
do u either. Tho american Bankers
Association figures that this part!cular
sw!ndlcr averages about nve hundred
dollars q month from this and other
ingenious StOries
Old Gnmes StiII Work.
II Is curious fact tina; the older
and more unlikely Il story. the more
cr"dence Is usually placed IN ii, swim
dies that were we'll known when our
Trandiathcrs were boys stlil flourish
ana make q large annual dent in bank
Ing profits. Americans. as rule are
slow 10 suspect people We do not
bite coins 10 SEQ II they are spurious
We do not weigh til. lamh chops and
come az Us do not ALWAYS coun, ou.
change. i!ut with = large army OF
crooks constantly pcrpetratius banI,
frauds or one Kind or another Ger
tain amount OF healthy suspicion seems
permissible, even advisable The bank
Il
own employees. but every once In a
while some cashier or paving teller
finds lie was mistaken.
Not long ago. Il stranger entered
hank IN new lumber town after
banking hours on Saturday afternoon.
He asked TO see the cashier To whom
he presented a letter stating that he
had thirty-four hundred dollars on de-
posit in certain city bank about a
hundred miles from there. Tn" letter
bore the !ettcrhead OF the bank aud
va. signed by it's cashier The man
explained that he needed fifteen hun
bred dollars Immediately to place as
an option on grocery store in the
new town and requested a draft for
that amount on the strength or tho let
ter.
Tie cashier looked up the cashier
OF til" city bank ia the register and
found tie signature 20 Ice correct. so.
a draft for fifteen hundred dollars. But
later in the afternoon, in the seciusion
Of his own home. the cashier began to
feel a tribe nervous. why had he felt
any hesitation at all i'll paying the
draft" Surely. the mans manner had
been peculiar All the next day. which
, was sunday. the cashier worried about
it, and by Monday morning he was in
a cold Dcrspiration. He could hardly
wait 10 get 10 the bank to send wire
TO that city cashier. An hour later
his worst fears were confirmed. The
bank replied that they had never heard
of such an individual and that their
cashier knew nothing of the letter It
was plain case of forgery.
In this instance, however. il not
too late to act. The cashier immcdi-
atciy wired every clearing house in
the district to stop payment the
draft and to apprehcnd the drawer.
caught.
While the law holds bank respon-
! siblc for accepting forged signature.
on the ground that ii is its business
10 know tho signatures OF its deposi-
tors. IL is not held liable for raised
| check which il pays by mistake Of fact
| and in good faith
Law Points Involved.
An unusual case. involving both these
! town not long ago. Two firms OF Who'll
ly unrelated businesses were in part
! ncrship with each other. One was n
| small mercantile shop in the business
| section, managed by woman, and the
| other was a sawmill on the outskirts
| of the town. Both were dcpOsitors in
| certain bank. Tho employees OF the
| sawmili were in the habit OF cashinS
their checks for the weeks work on
| Saturday night at the store OF the mer
| camille company, which checks were