Weekly journal-miner., 1918-03-06
YOUNG FORGER
 SAYS HE WILL PLEAD GUILTY
NEW YORK LAD WHO RE- CEIVED s5,000 ON BAD
 CHECK FROM BANK AR RIVES H E R E AND IS WILLING TO FACE MUSIC

"Yes, sir, I played the game, and had a good time hitting the high spots while the dough lasted, and now l am ready to face the court with a plea of guilty, get my pun ishment over and get back into the ranks of the United States army" said youthful Joseph Burton to a Journal-Miner representative at the county jail last night. What be- came of the girl on whom l blew the coin?-Oh, she quit me as soon as she heard that I'd gotten in trouble. just like they all do." remarked the cynical Mir. Burton when asked as to the whereabouts of the young Los Angeles woman upon whom he had lavished most of the SS.O00 which he obtained from the Prescott State Bank last November by means of a forged check.
 Burton was brought to Prescott yesterday afternoon by Undersheriff Robinson. who made a special trip to the Prcsidio to claim the young law-brcakcr The prisoner is lad of apparently 2l or 2 years of age, seemingly we'll educated. and of pro- nounccd Jewish features. Burton, or Blaichcr, as he was known during the time he remained in this city in No vcmber, came here from New York. He had worked for a manufacturing jeweler on Fifth Avenue, the head of the firm being Robert Chapin. Bur ton drew a check for S5.000 and signed Chapin's name to it. So clever was the imitation, that when the local bank sent the check to a Gotham clearing house, it passed the genuine and the local bank was di- rectcd to pay the amount. Burton left Prescott as soon as he had sc- cured the money, and went to Phoc- .mix Here he purchased Sl,5OO car and headed for the coast. The check shortly afterwards came into the hands of Chapin, and the fraud was discovered, and the Burns operators took up the trail of the young man. Arriving in Los Angeles, Burton made the acquaintance of young woman whom he says he met on Broadway. He went to jcwelry store in the coast town and pur- chased 3-carat diamond ring for the girl, giving in exchange for it bo- gus check. Hiring driver, Burton and his sweetheart set out for San Francisco. It was there that the girl agreed to marry him, and just when the love affair was at white heat, the Los Angeles jewellers, hay ing found that the check was bad one, traced the young woman to the Golden Gate city and seized the dia- mond ring and the gold mesh bag which her lover has fraudulcntly pro- cured for her. The jewellers also took possession of the big auto owned by the boy, and arc still hold ing it. Apparently in an effort to escape punishment for his shortcom- ings, Burton joined the army, his lady friend having quit him cold when she learned of the crooked operations which Burton had been engaged in. A few days later the Burns people located the lad in the Presidio, and caused his arrest and confinement in the military guard house there
 When he reached Prescott ycster- day, Burton was clad in the military uniform, and seemed to be not at all disheartcncd at the plight into which he had gotten himself. He was not hcsitant in discussing his case, and stated that right now the big idea was to plead guilty. get off as easily as possible and get back into the army and make an attempt to square up for his misdeeds of the past few months.