The Meeker herald., 1922-08-26
True
Detective Stories
MASTER CRIMINAL

CfioRlLl AFTER Allan P!nkertOn
- founded the detective agency
which was destined to be feared
by SO many criminals, u number of
banks and financial Institutions
throughout the country were made the
Victims Of particularly clever gang
of crooks headed by Walter Eastman
Sheridan, the man whom Pinkerton
In his memoirs declares was the clev-
crest criminal he ever tracked.
The operations of the Sheridan or
ganization were marked by simple
ity 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 prom
inent bank shortly before the closing
hour. The man so planted would tnke
up n position behind someone who held
In his hands a large roll of bills, and
would wait until the deposltor had al
most reached the window Then he
would tap him on the shoulder, call
his attention to a bill which "he had
dropped on the floor" and the man
would naturally stoop to pick 1t up,
In nine cases out of ten placing his
money on the tellers shelf us lie bent
over The criminal would then snatch
the money and make Off.
While the hauls secured In this man
ner were, of course. of varying sizes.
Sheridan and his men picked up S75.-
0OO MS the result of less than five
minutes work Mt Baltimore bunk.
After several other coups of Il SIM
liar nature, Sheridan tried the same
game ut the First National bank of
promptly skipped his bail, however.
and the next that Pnkerton heard of
him was when lie assisted at the rob-
berry Of 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
His next cXplolt-one which took
more than four months of careful
plnnning-was the looting of the Falls
City Tobacco bank In Louisville. KY,
when upwards OF 100000 was se-
cured.
As result OF these operations, to-
gether with the shrewd manner In
which he had invested his money.
Sheridan was worth fully S25O,OoO.
Feeling certain that his past ex-
PLOTS had left no clue to his conncc-
tion with the robberies, and having
obtained his acIuittal of the only
charge on which he had been arrest
ed Sheridan Joined in series of the
most gigantic frauds ever known In
An'erica-the Issuance of bonds pur.
porting to be worth more than 5000
700. 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 pri-
On the eve Of the day on which tho
bubble burst, Sheridan quietly cashed
all his assets. closed his office ut No.
90 Broadway. and sailed for Belgium.
which at that time provided safe
refuge from extradltion. Had lie re-
malned there. he would have died II
free man. But lie could not resist the
lure Of gambling with the law. and he
slipped back into America under the
name OF William A. Stewart, estab-
fishing himself In business in Denver,
and finally opening n bank of his own
In ROsIta, Colo.
Even up to this time Pinkerton had
no Idea thnt the muster criminal had
returned to the states. pinker,on.
however, Glanced to have bust.
ness which carried him Into the min
ing districts of Colorado, and IL was
on the streets Of Denver that he came
face to face with the mnn whom he
was certain was sheridan.
Investigation developed the fact
that stewart" had been lending IN
apparently upright and honest life,
and beyond his arrival In Denver short.
liz after Sheridan had left Brussels.