Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1918-12-17
Brother of Missing Milan
Man Declares He Was Ex-
empIaryI Without Financial
or Other Troubles

/ the youngest DaIk pIeSluehl III NLiS
/ United States, who disappeared mys-
/ teriously a week ago from room No.
| Sit at the Ansley hotel. led out OF
! town Monday morning: and, in the
! opinion Of his brother. p. NJ. Dukes,
will soon disclose what has hap
pened to the missing banker.
| An auditor employed by W. 9.
| Wilcox, vice president and receiver
/ of the Farmers and Merchants bank,
| Of Milan, Ga, of which Clifford c..
Dukes was president and cashier, be-
gan q thorough audit OF the books of
the bank Monday morning.
1--WE have found absolutely moth
| ing wrong," said Mr.. Wilcox, at y
o'clock Monday. over long distance
! telephone to The Journal.
p. N. Dukes. brother of the missing
banker, arrived in Atlanta Sunday
! from Tucson, Ariz. 1885,.
Like my brother's wife, | firmly
/ believe he is in the hands of a gang
| of crooks from Tampa, Hla.s WHO
| have him doped ana are trying 70
make him sign over big sums OIL
money in the shape Of cnecks' salu
| Mr.. Dukes.
! Mrs. Dukes has returned to her
home in Milan. Ca, TO see her emil
dren, one Of whom is three years
| old ana the other l6 months. But
| she probably will be back i'll Atlanta
| by Tuesday TO assist her brother-iu-
law and the Pin6ertonS to solve the
mystery, which presents some OF the
| queerest aspects that ever puzzled
the police here.
| who has gone into the case minutely
since his arrival from Arizona, have
| rejected all theories except that the
missing banker, who is president III
| the Merchants and Farmers Bank,
of Milan, has fallen into the hands
of four confidence men, traced to At
ilanta from Tampa, Fla, and that
| they have taken him out of the city
| in a doped condition.
Other Theories Probed
Detectives who are working on the
| mystery are investigating along these
| lines, but they are also working on
| other theories. They are convinced
| Mr. Dukes has left Atlanta, and have
carried their search for him to other
| southern cities.
| The Farmers and Merchants Bank,
of which he was president, was plac-
/ ed in the hands of the vice president,
| w. +. Wilcox. last week, as receiver.
| But this was simply to prevent a run
| on the bank. a statement made IN
| September had showed it to be IN
| sound condition, with S15, 900 capital,
$4,000 surplus and $4,000 undivided
AZ the state banking department
at the capitol however, il was said
Monday morning that Mr.. Wilcox,
! the receiver, had employed an out
/ side auditor to 20 over the bank s
| books carefully and determine eX-
actly its condition today.
p. NJ. Dukes, Who arrived sun
/ DAY from Tucson. ATiZ., where he
| is a railroad conductor. gave an in
J terview Monday morning which goes
! even more thoroughly into the puz-
cling case than the statement made
| by the missing bankers wife Satur-
| day night.
az know it seems queer" said Mr..
| Dukes, "to think of confidence men
| doping man right here in. the heart
| OF the city and spiriting him away
without a soul knowing a thing
| about il. It's more like tale from
! the underworld than actual reality.
But have investigated every phase
| of the case and it's the only eN-
PLANTATION l can find. I am convinced
my brother is in the hands of crooks
who are trying to bleed him of all
| the money they can.
No Other Trouble
Lets look at the case the way
1 have. First of all, let's look at
| the business reasons. Was there
| anything in the way of finances that
could have made him voluntarily
| disappear?
II know there absolutely isn't. be-
| cause the bank is sound and his
| small investments in cotton were on
an absolutely firm basis.
Gould it have. been domestic
| troubles? That is absolutely out
| OF the question because L have never
seen a more devoted couple than he
| and his wife.
Gould his disappearance have
! been the result of some wild esca-
pade? That's even~mUre impossible.
| He's never touched q drop of liquor
in his life; he's never smoked, or
| used tobacco in any form; he's never
played cards. and he's the most
moral man I've ever known.
You know" he added. there's al
ways a pick in every family and he's
the pick of our family. He didn't
have thing to worry him, thing
| TO make him unhappy, thing TO
cause him TO leave home, and l can
see no possible explanation OF his
| disappearance eXcept that lie mas
been the victim Of crooks.
| Mr.. Dukes was in room NO. Oh
| from which his brother disappeared
| On the floor was a black handpa g:
| open just as the missing banker mad
| left it. This bag and a raincoat were
the only personal efects ne orougnt
| to Atlanta except the clothes on his
| back. Wherever he is now he is
| without even a change of linen. I'M
| less he has bought other clothes. He
| left everything behind him, even ms
| watch, which the maid at the hotel
found Tuesday morning under MS
GAS you've already told" contin-
! ued Mr.. Dukes, my brother left his
| home in Milan, Ga, Monday morn
| ing to come here on business. He in
| tended to return to Milan Tuesday
| afvaer IATNA Il Tu-if
| from him by the Tuesday morning
| train. saying that he had been de-
layed and wouldn't be home until
| Tuesday night.
Suspect Confidence Men
"She tried to reach him Wednes-
| day at the Ansley by long distance
| telephone. but the answer each time
was that he was registered at the
| hotel, but was out just then. When
| she came to Atlanta Thursday she
| found the grip, raincoat and watch
! i'm his room. but no trace of him.
Since thea we've found that four
notorious confidence men had been
| traced to Atlanta from Tampa by
| the police and that they are known
! to have registered at one Of the
Atlanta hotels Monday night. We
| believe those men got him and have
! him in their power now.
From what we can learn, he
must have left the hotel some time
| between midnight Monday and Z
| o'clock Tuesday morning. At any
! rate. the maid made up his room at
| o'clock and he wasn't in then.
II have been able to find only two
| places to which he went while he
| was here. One was an Insurance
| Dltice, where he remarked that he
| had been delayed in finishing the
| business that he had come to At
| lanta to transact The other was a
| hardware store where he went to
| buy n tricycle. as Il Christmas pres
| ent for his little three-year-old boy.
| MY brother is between twenty
| FIVE and twenty-six years old. and
was born and raised at Barlow, in
! Jefferson county. lie was for sew
| eral years a student at Mercer. After