The Monmouth inquirer., 1924-12-04

OF the SECURITIES kney nelos Ine Trip
was unsuccessful and Chapman re-
turned to America he evidently had
no fear whatever of arrest.
But he was finally arrested In
July of 1922, eight months after their
crime, Chapman and his two accom-
plices were caught In a luxurious
apartment they occupied at No. IL
Gramercy park. Their apprehension
came about as the result Of excellent
detective work by inspectors of the
Post Office department and detectives
Of the Pinkerton agency and the
American Express company.
One Of the orders stolen In Niagara
Falls trapped them. They gave it to
their landlady while they hved there.
A detective, Gordon T. Mccarthy, had
to win their confidence and friendship.
He did, posing as safe blower. He
had to talk, eat, rest and move about
as a safe blower In every action, as
a single slip In his .inpersonatiDn
would have disclosed his deceit to his
crafty crime-wise quarry.
Arsenal In Apartment.
Chapman's apartment showed that
he was hardly the man his mild man
ners proclaimed him to be. In 1t, 10
addition to 100000 In securities, were
several automatic pistols of American
and German make, Maxim silencers,
ammunition and the materials needed
for intricate forgery. Some bonds
were found neatly altered. Later
some of the forgeries were found to
be so clever that they went through
the Treasury department
But there, too, was the other side
Of him. There were more than TWEEN
ty suits in the apartment. There
were overcoats of all sorts, sport toys,
shirts innumerable and all the aces
series.
Daring7 Perhaps yes. No sooner
had Chapman been caught than he
made his first attempt to escape.
While he was in the post Office build
ing west of Pennsylvania station In
room with several officials, he sud-
denly made dash for an open win
dow. He went through 1t In such
manner that his captors thought GER
tainly he must have plunged himself
to death three stories below. But he
only stepped on the broad coping out
side the window and quickly ran
around the building jammed tightly 20
the wall until he found vacant room.
where he hid. But he was soon caught
This was really ChaEsnan's only
conscious attempt at melodrama. He
said later:
81 jumped because you had my wits
in room grilling her for hours and
hours until she was nearly wreck"
At his trial, Chapman acted. the
professor. He was studious of all
that happened, watching proceedings
through dignified shell-rimmed glasses
and taking notes with a weH-sharp-
ened pencil. He had a man and
a woman for his counsel, and when
ever the woman spoke to him he rose.
Low, Soft Voice.
When he spoke, he revealed voice
that was JOY to listen to. 1t was
low pitched and soft and he knew how
to use it. He was careful In his
enunciation, something quite unknown
where thief meets thief He was free
spoken and pleasant, yet never effu-
sive. He was as graceful and quick of
voice and as gentle as he was Of man
ner.
Well, he got rs years. He was SEN
fenced August, 1922, to Atlanta
March q, 1923, he escaped. With an
other prisoner ne overpowered a guard
In the hospital ward, sawed through
steel-grated window, made rope lad
ground-some 80 feet-and climbed
two high walls.
Chapman was Immediately pursued
and when he gave fight he was not
only recaptured but shot three times
In the bargain. AS his wounds were
serious he was put In a hospital at
Athens, Ga. not far from the peniten-
tiary and on the night Of April 4 he
again escaped.
This time, taking advantage of the
momentary absence of a guard, Chap
man used his bedclothes as a rope and
slid out the window to the ground
But before he left he donned the
clothes of the absent guard. A check
up showed that at best he had 40 min
utes to make his getaway, but they
put bloodhounds and innumerable de-
tectives on his trail In vain
Two nights later nurse told Harry
Bishop, a special guard, she had been
hearing strange sounds in the neigh
borhood of the basement. Bishop and
the nurse went to the basement.
When the guard switched on the light
there was Chapman, In his guards
suit, sitting on pipe. He was bare
footed and quite a frightful looking
object compared with the immaculate
Gerald Chapman of New York. The
guard grabbed him and told him to
put on his shoes. Then the nurse
shrieked, Don't let him get mel" and
promptly had Mysteries, falling into
t-k.N IL 80 4f,@&