The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1922-08-31
True
Detective Stories
MASTER CRIMINAL

sstE1s4@Iv%Ht<
copyraEht ~ The whesier syndicafs. IND.
CHoRTLY after Allan Pinkerton
~ founded the detective agency
which was destined to be feared
by 30 many criminals, a number q
banks and financial institutions
throughout the country were made tie
victims of q particularly clever gang
Of crooks headed by Walter Eastman
Sheridan, the man whom Pinkerton
In his memoirs declares was the cley-
crest criminal he eyer tracked.
The operations of the sheridan on
ganization were marked BY d sinapIic-
ify which was almost startling. Their
favorite trick was to plant one OF their
members In a line leading to the win
dow OF the receiving teller of d prom
inent bank shortly before the closing
hour. The man so planted would take
up 4 position behind someone who held
In his hands a large roll OF bills, and
would wait until the depositor had al
most reached the window. Then he
would tap him on the shoulder, call
his attention to q bill which che had
dropped on the foor,r and the man
would naturally sto0p to pick it up,
in nine cases out of ten placing his
money on the teller's shelf as he bent
over. The criminal would then snatch
the money and make of.
While the hauls secured in this man
ner were, of course, of varying sizes.
Sheridan and Ids men picked up $75,-
600 az the result OF less than five
minutes work at q Baltimore bank
After several other coups OF q sim
liar nature, Sheridan tried the same
game at the First National bank of
Springfield, Ill, but was arrested. He
promptly skipped his bail, however,
and the next that Pinkerton heard of
him was when he assisted at the rob-
berry Of a Cleveland bank which net
ted the gang some $4,000. This was
followed by a raid upon the Mechan-
les bank Of Scranton, Pa, where
Sheridan and one of his men got away
with 10000 worth Of negotiable bonds.
His next exploit-one which took
more than four months OF careful
planning-was the looting Of the Falls
City Tobacco bank in Louisville, KY.
when upwards of 100000 was Sc
cured.
As a result of these operations, to-
gether with the shrewd manner In
which he had invested his money,
Sheridan was worth fully $250,OoO.
Feeling certain that his past ex-
ploits had left no clue to his connec-
ton with the robberies, and having
obtained his acquittal of the only
charge on which he had been arrest
cd, Sheridan Joined in a series OF the
most gigantic frauds ever known In
America-the issuance OF bonds pur-
porting to be worth more than $5,OOO,-
OO0. These forgeries were SO clever
~ executed as to deceive even the
officers Of the companies involved, and
the discovery of the swindle ruined
scores of Wall street brokers and uri-
vate investors
On the v Of the day ON which the
bubble burst, Sheridan quietly cashed
ali his assets, closed his office at No.
90 Broadway, and sailed for Belgium,
which at that time provided a safe
refuge from extradition. Had he re-
manned there, he would have died 4
free man But he could not resist the
lure Of gambling with the law, and he
siipped back Int America under the
name Of William 4. Stewart, estab-
fishing himself I'm business In Denver.
and enaIly opening q bank OF his own
In Rosita, Colo.
Even up to this time Pinkerton had
no idea that the master criminal had
returned 10 the states. Pinkerton,
however, Glanced 30 have bust
ness which carried him into the min
ing districts Of ColUEade,, and II was
en the streets Of~Denver that 10 cana
fAce TO face with the mar whom no
was certain was Sheridan.
Investigation developed the fncf
that Stewart had been leadzAg IN
apparently upright and honest Liz,
and beyond his arrival In Denves short.
u after Sheridan had left Brussolg
there was nothing % connect him VIII
the bank robber and bond forxer.
Realizing that identiicatton Andee
the circumstances would be a0tremeay
6if1cult, Pinkerton deto4minod 20 -
sort to a ruse which wostd 1870 !
double purpose-fhaf d prsxlng
whether Stewart ana Shssfdan wsro
n and the same man, and ~ the
same time duplicating him, IL guilty,
IN the planning q q new crime. Ae-
cordingly, Pinkerton sent two " III
best men to Colorado with instruc.
lions 70 make the acquaintance 0f IL
bank president at Rosita, ana nnalls
% lay before him the details Of
huge swindIe which they were -
posed 10 be pi9nnlnG.
'f Stewart q really honest.s -
gued the detective. .'he WIN mo- llstea
TO such d proposal. hut III Ne i tie
man / think he II. he WIN not be shls
TO resist the bali, ana win come =
New York to participate in the fraud
The plan worked out precisely -
Pinkerton had figured. stewart moi
only agreef TO handle og he
more aificult details of the proposed
boiad forcing. hui suggested Improve
menfs Identical with those which bad
previously proved sneeessa HN
halked on coming east but Bis
~sociafes' finally persuaded him to de
=, With the result THAT ire was ~
rested the moment he stepped oft o.
ferry III New Terk.
~ spite of the fact that the xrand
i1ry refs,rnfsd mn loss thnn - f-ntA