Iron County news. [volume] (Hurley, Wis.) 1913-1950, 1922-03-04
True
Detective Stories
MASTER CRIMINAL

Nl4Cn was ueSlLleu % De reared
by so many criminals, number of
banks and financial Institutions
throughout the country We're made the
victims OF a particularly clever gang
Of crooks headed by Waiter Eastman
sheridan, the man whom Piukerton
in his memoirs declares was the cley-
crest criminal he ever tracked.
The operations Of the Sheridan or
ganization were marked 10y a simple
ity which was almost startling. Their
favorite trick was to plant one of their
members in line leading 10 the win
dow Of the receiving teller uf q prom
inent bank shortly before the closing
hour. The man so planted would take
up a position behind someone who held
in his hands ii large roll of bills. and
would wait until The depositor had a.
most reached the window. Then he
would tap him on the shoulder call
his attention to a bin which lie had
dropped oil the floor" and the man
would naturally stoop to pick it up,
III nine cases out OF ten placing his
money or the teller's shelf as he 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,-
600 as the result of less than five
minutes work at "A Baltimore bank.
After several other coups of a 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 Pinkertun heard of
him was when he assisted at the rob
berry of q Cleveland bank which net
ted The gang some $4,000. This was
followed by raid upon the Mechan-
les bank of Scranton, Pa, where
Sheridan aud 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 footing 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 smewd manner in
which he had invested his money,
Sheridan was worth fully $25O,0O0.
Feeling certain that his past ex-
ploits had left no clue 10 his connec-
tion with the robberies. and having
obtained bis ncquittal OF The only
charge on which BE bad been urrest-
ed, Sheridan joined IN series of The
most gigantic frauds ever known In
America issuance of bonds pur-
porting 10 be worth more than $1,000
000. These forgeries were So clever
" executed as 20 deceive even the
officers of the companies involved. and
the discovery Of the swiudle ruined
scores OF WaIl street brokers and prl-
yate investors.
On the eve Of the day on which the
bubble burst, sheridan quietly cashed
all his assets closed his Office at SO.
go Broadway, and sailed for Belgium,
which at chat time provided 81 safe
refuge from eXtradltion Had he re-
manned there, he would have died a
free man. But he 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 la business iii Denver,
and finally opening q bank Of his own
in Rositai Colo
Even up to this time Pintertn had
no idea chat the master criminal had
returned to the states Pmhortou,
however chaneed to have bust.
ness which carried him into Che min
ing districts Of Colorado, and it WIS
on the streets Of Denver Thar he came
face TO face with The man whom he
was certain was sheridan
Investigation developed the fact
that stewart had been leading an
apparently upright and honest life,
and beyond his arrival in Denver short
" after Sheridan had left Brussels,
there was nothing to connect him with
the bank robber and bond forger.
Realizing that Identification audcr
the circumstances would be extremely
difficult Pinbeuon determined 70 re-
sort 70 ruse which would serve a
double purpose fhat Of proving
whether Stewart ond Sheridan we're
one and the same man. and at the
same time lmpEeatlng him, if guilty,
IN the planning Of a new crime Ac-
cordiugly pinEerton sent two Of Ills
hes. men To Colorado Win inaruc-
tlpus to make the acquaintance of the
bank president at RosIta, ana finally
to lay before him tHe details of "a
huge swindle which they were sup
posed 10 be planning
III Stewart is really honest" ar
gupd the detective. "he viii not listen
10 such proposal Bot II be Il the
man I think he IS. lie wsH not BE able
70 resist the bait. and win come to
New York to participate in TIE fraud"
The plan worked out precisely as
Pinkeron had figured Stewart net
only agreed IT, HlaIa some If So,
more difficult details of the proposed
bond forging but suggested Improve
me1t5 Identical with those which had
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