Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1920-08-19
"a Chance
Order
o0
BY WALTER ]. DEIANrY
copyright. 1919. by the Western NsWp.
paper UnOAj


ure. as fate might decide. de had
married pretty, Industrious Nettie
Lane and they had settled down In
diminutive, but neatly.furnished
three-room- fiat. which Nettie deemed
q palace and Bruce real home, which
made 1t to him the dearest spot on
earth.
ITS just beginning" declared the
ambitious Bruce "The mansion comes
later. 1t all depends on the self-lock-
ing cage door,"
Not bird cage, nor prison cage.
was it to which Bruces cherished In
vention applied, but the doors of those
bank cages in which. safely immured,
the teller or the cashier is surrounded
with plies of opulent bank notes and
rouleauX of gold and silver. The de-
vice tnat was the coin of Bruce's In.
genious brain had real merit.
his dream was to get the merits of
the device before bankers assOcia-
tons, and especially in use in some
Of the leading banks. Then others
would follow. but with neither capt.
tai nor influence, Bruce knew that 1t
must be SLOW, patient up hill work
One day shrewd- faced, keen-eyed
man came into Bruces little shop and
looked over It's equipment, especially
q stamping machine for cutting out
fled with this cursory investigation
and said to Bruce:
II can give you quite profitable
little contract, young man. if you have
the ability to turn out what l want"
Bruce nodded in a receptive way
and the man drew from his pocket
round piece of iron the exact size of
a twenty-dolar gold piece. It had a
cavity in its center and this was filled
in with lead
II will take mutually two thousand
of those discs" went on the chance
customer, "only they must be accurate
ly made. Your main task is making
the hollow indentation and each one
must be tested and tally to a certain
uniform weight"
A bargain was struck and at the
end of month the man came around,
paid for the completed discs and went
away. A trifiing circumstance attach
ed to the final visit Of the mysterious
customer. Nettie made fad of pho
Biography and, happening to have her
/, camera with her as she passed through
the shop, she snapped husband and
/ client in q desultory way. Both Bruce
and Nettie puzzled themselves many
times after that wondering as to the
intended use of the discs, but could
surmise no plausible solution and
soon forgot all about the circum-
stance.
Meantime in the great world OF
finance there was in progress new
! swindlng scheme that was vastly
troubling the National Bankers Pro.
tective association and the general po-
lice service. Perhaps half dozer
times a week sets of two men In wide.
ly separated districts visited banks
instance the sum Of five hundred dol
lars in gold. They seemed to be work
ing from coast to coast and their meth
cd was identical In each case anG
never unsuccessful.
What happened at bank at Spring
field was a sample of what transpiret
at four banks in the country in sin
gle day. A wel-appearing young maj
entered that institution. and presented
check for five hundred dollars dull,
certified by Chicago bank The tell
er consulted the signature Of the cash
Ter In the possession of the bank
found it all right and accepted tn,
check
Il want to draw the money in gold,
said the payee-"twenties, five in
ROLL" and receiving this tossed tn
gold into little satchel he carried
Just as he was about to leave,
stranger entered the bank and caugh
him by the arm, with the words:
"I've found you at last, my mar
have ~" and he exhibited a star
Then to the teller: "That check l
forged. Give it to me for evidence
and you" to his prisoner, 'retur
the money paid you"
The latter produced the five paper
covered rolls and the teller was to
excited to particularly notice ther
until after the confederates had es
capped, when there was disclosed twer
ty-tive iron discs each precisely tn
size and weight of twenty-dolla
gold piece.
read about in newspaper one da!
1t set him thinking and then int
action. He went to one Of tn
swndled banks and told his story an
showed the photograph Of the pul
chaser of the metal discs. His infol
nation was received with great sati.
faction, the bankers protective agenc
sent him to their detective depar
ment and within a nhOrt time til
brains of the gang of bank rait
ers was apprehended and his ban
of assistants broken up.
The connection of Bruce with tn
case attracted the attention of tn
banking community. He gained man
influential friends, anl within yea
his door device was adopted by tn
National Bankers association q
standard.
Cur dream has come true, Netti'
J dear" he said to his wife one da,
, "Forty new contracts in weak, an
the mansion is fast looming In ,Ssei
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