Gunnison news-champion., 1924-03-14
True
Detective Stories
MASTER CRIMINAL

By 90 many criminals. number 0i
banks and financial Institutions
throughout the country were made the
victims Of particularly clever gang
OF crooks headed by Waiter Eastman
Sheridan. the man whom Pinkerton
III his memoirs declares vas the clev-
eres; criminal he ever tracked
The operations of tle Sheridan or
SaEizarion were marked by simple
iry which was almost startling. Their
favor!ie trick was TO plant one of their
members In a line leading 10 the win
dow OF the receiving teller Of n prom
Ineni bank shortly before the closing
hour. The man 50 planted would take
up position behind someone who held
In his hands 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 Ia bin which "he had
dropped ON the 1Oor." and the man
would naturally stoop to pick IL up,
In nine cases our OF ten placing his
money on the teiler's shelf as he bent
over. The criminal would then snatch
the money and make on
While ia. hams secured in this man
ner were, of course. Of varying sizes,
Sheridan and his men picked up sT5,-
10 as the result OF less than five
minutes work at baltimore bank.
After several other coups Of 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 hsird of
him WIS when he assisted at the rob
bcry Of Cleveland bank which net
ted the gang some $4,000. This was
followed 10y raid upon the Mechan-
les bank Of Scranton. Pa, where
Sheridan and one Of his men got away
with $4,000 worth Of negotiable bonds.
His next eSploit-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 S3o0OOO was se-
cured.
As result Of these operations, to-
seiher with the shrewd manner in
which he had invested his money,
Sheridan was worth fully $2J0,OOO.
Feeling certain that his past ex-
pioits had left no clue to his connec-
zion with the robberies. and having
obtained his ncquittal Of the only
charge on which he had been arrest
ed. Sheridan Joined In a series OF the
most gigantic frauds ever known in
America-the issuance OF bonds pur-
porting 10 be worth more than 1900.
GOO. 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-
vate investors.
On the eve of the day on which the
bubble burst. Sheridan quietly cashed
All his assets. closed his office at No.
GO Broadway. and sailed for Belgium,
which at that time provided a safe
refuge from extraditiOn. Had he re-
mained 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 In business In Denver,
and finally opening 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 to have bust
ness which carried him into the min
Ing districts of Colorado, and il was
OH the streets of Denver that he came
face to face with the man whom he
WIS certain was Sheridan.
Investigation developed the fact
that Stewart" had been Leading nm
apparently upright and honest life,
and beyond his arrival in Denver short.
ly after Sheridan had left Brussels.
there was nothing TO connect him with
the bank robber and bond fOrger.
Realizing that Identification cnder
the circumstances would be extremely
difficult. Pinkerton determined to re.
sort 10 q ruse which would serve 4
uouhle purpose-that Of proving
whether Stewart and Sheridan were
one and the same man, and at the
same time duplicating him, IL guilty.
In the planning Of new crime. Ac-
cordinsiy. PinkertOn sent two Of his
bes, men TO Colorado with instruc-
tons to make the acquaintance OF the
bank president at Rosita, and finally
to lay before him the details Of =
huge swindie which they were sup
posed to be planning.
h Stewart Is really honest" ar
sued the detective, "he will NOT listen
10 such proposal. But II he Is the
man think he is, he will not be able
to resist the bait. and will come to
New York to participate in the fraud
The plan worked out precisely MS
Pinkerton had figured. Stewart not
only agreed to handle some Of the
more difficult details Of the proposed
bond forging. but suggested Improve
ments Identical with those which had
previously. proved successful. He