The Ordway new era., 1922-02-03


most reached the window. Then he
would tap him Oh the shoulder. call
his attention to a bill which he had
dropped On the noor. and The man
would naturally stOop 10 pick II up.
IL nine cases OUT Of ten placing his
money On the teller's shelf as he bent
over The criminal would the1 snatch
the money and make OF.
While the hauls secured IN this man
ner were. OF course, Of varying sizes.
Sheridan and his men picked up sIj.-
60 Is the result OF less than hye
minutes work al Baltimore bank
After several other c0gps of . sim
liar larure, Sheridan tried the same
game al the First National bank Of
Springfield, III, but was arrested. He
promptly skipped his ban. however
and the next that Piukerron heard u
HIN Va. when he assisted al the rob
beTy Of q Cleveland bank which ne--
ted the gang some $1,000. This was
followed by raid upon the Mechan-
les bank OF Scranton. Pa. where
Sheridan and one Of lis men got away
with $50 60 worth Of negotiable bonds.
His next eIploit-one which took
more than four months ot careful
planning-6as The iootiug q The Falls
City Tobacco bank IL Louisville. Ky.
when upwards Of S5vo.OvO was Sc
cured.
As result u these operations. To-
g=rher with the shreTd manner IL
ah.c1 hz had invested nls money
Sheridan was worth fully $50 80
Feelins certain that hi, past er-
plots had le1t 10 clue 10 his cOnnec-
ton With the rObb-ri-s. and hzyln.
obtained his scqulttzI Of me only
charge Oh which ne had been arrest
ed. Sheridan joined il series Of the
most gigantic frauds ever known In
AueE!cs-rne Issuance u bonds pur-
porting 70 be worth more than s. co.
90. These .orgeri=s we're 20 cleyer-
ly executed a. 10 deceive even IIS
officers 5f the companies invoiyel and
the discovery Of the s1indle ruined
scores Of Wall street brokers and pri-
Tete investors.
On the eve OF The day On which the
bubble burst. Sheridan quietly ca.hed
all his assets. closed his Office a. No.
90 Broadway, and sailed for Bel GUM
which at that time provided safe
refuge from eirrsdiTion. Had he re.
manned there ne would have died a
free man. But ne could not resist the
lure of gambling with the law. and he
slipped back into America under the
name Of William A Stewart, estsb-
fishing himself In business In Denver,
aud finally opening bank Of his own
In kosits, Colo
Even up to this time PinkerIou had
no idea that the master criminal had
returned to the states PInke erton.
however. ehanced 10 have bust
ness which carried hin into the min
ing districts OF Colorado, and ii was
On the streets Of Denver that ne came
face % 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,
ana beyond mis- arrival In Denver short.
ly after Sheridan had LEFT Brussels
thers Was uOthing TO connect him with
the bank sObber and bond forger.
Realizing that identihcari0n Gnder
the circumstances would be extremely
difficult. Pinkerton determined to re-
sort 10 ruse which would serve
double purpose-that Of proving
whether Stewart and Sheridan nero
one and the same man, and al the
same time duplicating him, II guilty,
In THE planning OF q new crime Ae-
cordingiy, PinkertOn sent two Of his
Dest men TO Colorado with instrue-
lions to make the acquaintance Of the
bank president at Rosita, and finally
to lay before him the details Of
huge swindle which they we're sup
posed to De planning.
II Stewart Is really honest" ar
gued the detective, ne will not listen
10 sush proposal. But II he Is the
man | think he is, he will not be abls
to resist the bait, and will come TO
New York to participate In the fraud" ="
The plan worked out precisely as
PiHkerfon mad figured. Stewart" not
only agreed TO handle some Of the
zncrs difficult details Of the proposed
bond forging but suggested improve
msnts identical with those which had
previously proved SUCCESSFUL, He
baked on coming east, but his "as-
soeiates" finally persuaded MIN to do
80, with the result that he was ar.
rested the moment he stepped Of ths
ferry al New York.
In spite Of the fact that the grand
jury returned no less than So indict.
fnenD against him, Sheridan escaped
with . dve-year sentence in Sing Sing
but 10 died befeS tbs expiration o1
his tsrm.