Mi J M^": 'h^.l^ftlM?: V9l1 the university of Connecticut libraries 2>\*^Ci;^ 07 BRITL 364.92.B475J cj rOWELL* FORGING H,S CHAINS 3 ^153 Q0113E35 fi ■ o TJ > I -< ^ /f*' ?*t ' .v:-? f < '"1 GEORGE BIDWELL. (From Photo, by Numa Blanc. Paris, 1S72.) Fofoing •:• Hi^ •:• GMn^. THE AUTOBIOGEAPHY OF GEOEGE BIDWELL AN AUTHENTIC HISTORY OF HIS UNEXAMPLED CAREER IN AMERICA AND EUROPE, WITH THE STORY OF HIS CONNECTION WITH THE SO-CALLED £1,000,000 FOReERY OIN- THE B^IN^K OF EI^^&L-A.N■r), AND A COMPLETE ACCOUNT OP HIS ARREST, TRIAL, CONVICTION, AND CONFINEMENT FOR FOURTEEN YEARS IN ENGLISH PRISONS. U/itl? f/djm(^roiJ$ Illostratioijs. HARTFORD: S. S. SCR^^JSTTON & COM:P»i^JS^5r. 1888. COPYRIGHT. 1888, By S. S. Scranton & Co. THE CASE, LOCKWOOD A BRAINARD CO., PRINTERS AND BINDERS, HARTFORD, CONN. PEEFACE. The early chapters of this volume were written at a time when I had some misgivings as to the propriety of placing it before the public. It seemed to me likely that such a book would be misunderstood and misjudged by a class of readers, and the real purpose of its publication ignored. My friends disagreed on the subject, and gave dissimilar advice. I was placed in a position not unlike John Bunyan's : Some said, "John, print it;" others said, "Not so." Some said, " It might do good; " others said, " No." But by far the greater number of my friends insisted that I must publish the book ; and it now goes forth upon its mission, I trust, for good. I sincerely hope that no one will regard it as a mere record of crime. It is not a contribution to " flash" literature, or designed for the edification of the vicious. It is intended for honest people, and, I may add, as an enduring injunction for them to remain such. I believe it to be a duty, which I owe my Creator and man- kind, to occupy the remainder of my days in " works meet for repentance." I have come also to believe that in no way can I do so much to atone for past misdeeds as by giving the true story of my life to the world. The most critical reader will scarcely claim that my physical punishment has been insuffi- cient; and yet, through all those weary years, my mental sufferings were by far the greatest. In all ages men have fallen and reformed. If this book shall tend to convince the people of my native land of my own reformation, one of its objects will have been attained. If it shall prove a timely warning to any young business men or those occupying places of trust, who may be startled into a recognition of their own danger, I shall feel that my labor has not been in vain, and that my new life and liberty will not be altogether useless. G. B. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. Explanatory, . . . . . . . .17 CHAPTER n. My Ancestors — My Parents and Their Religion — The Tips and Downs of a Pioneer's Life in Michigan — My Father's Business Failures — I Turn Peddler and Wood-sawyer to Support the Family — Nautical Experiences — The Grand Rapids Disaster — I Go to New York City and Become a ' ' Drummer " — My Untimely Marriage — Signs and Portents, ........ 25 CHAPTER in. Overweighted at the Outset — A Struggle to Support Dependent Ones — My First Dishonest Act — The ' ' Patent Globe Coffee-Roaster " — Arrest on Charge of Embezzlement — Examination at the Tombs Police Court, and Discharge by ' ' Big " Justice Connelly — The Philoso- phy of Crime — Twenty Minutes out of Prison — A Suicidal Re- trospect, ........ 38 CHAPTER IV. In Business on Broadway — A Typographical Villain — Hilton Floods the Confederate States with Spurious Notes and Bonds — His Arrest and Confinement in Fort Lafayette — Life in Ludlow Street Jail — Oils the Wheels of the Judicial Chariot with $40,000 — A Farcical Punishment — A Question for Casuists, . . , .47 CHAPTER V. I Invent a Steam-kettle and Obtain a Patent — The Broadway Business Broken L^p — My Temporary Discouragement — Attempt to Establish a Factory in Toronto — Confidence in U. S. Greenbacks — Gold on the "Rampage"— $10,000 Reduced by Exchange to $3,000 — Retreat to Chicago — Frank Kibbe, the Merchandise Swindler — I Meet him in Buffalo and Baltimore — Kibbe, Fearing Arrest, Induces Me to Collect $1,000 — A "Crook's" Chances of Escaping Imprison- ment, ........ 56 (5) Q CONTENTS. CHAPTER VI. A Swindling Commission House — Kibbe Absconds with $20,000 — I Trace Him a Thousand Miles — The Bogus Firm of Henry Harvey Short & Co., Buffalo — "The Rogue" Run to Earth — His Race for Liberty — Arrested by a Detective — $600 Worth of " Palm-grease " — The Detective Assists Him to " Skip" to Canada — Injured Innocence of the Chief of Police — Kicked Out — I Bring Kibbe to Bay — Some of His "Commercial" Transactions Extracted from the "Nevv^ York Tribune," ........ 64 CHAPTER VII. Partner-swindling — "Doctor" Samuel Bolivar — How He "Raised the Wind" — Up a Tree — The Way He Roped in Greenhorns — The Bogus Reference "Dead Beat" — Jones's Grand Piano — The Empty Box — The Elm City Enterprise comes to an Untimely End — Musical "Notes" — Diamond Cut Diamond — Beaten by an Ex-associate, who Disappears into Obscurity, . . . . .74 CHAPTER VIII. In the Tobacco Business at Wheeling, West Virginia — Eldridge and the Cumberland Swindle — Eldridge's Arrest — Post and Telegraph Offices "Worked" — A "Header" out of a Car Window, and Escape in Irons — An Angel in the Wilderness — A "Rise" taken out of Pender — Eldridge Re-arrested and Lodged in Wheeling Jail, . . 85 CHAPTER IX. My Arrest in Evansville — Delivered Upon a Requisition Charging Me with Felony — Tried for Misdemeanor and Given Two Years in the County Jail — Unequal Sentences — A " Model " Jail — Adams Express Robbers — Shelton Plans an Escape, . . . .91 CHAPTER X. Eldridge, Shelton, Green, and Morgan Break out of Wheehng Jail-- Morgan Shot Dead — Leap and Run for Liberty — Wanderings in the Forest — ' ' Borrowing " a Horse-blanket — Starvation and a Goose- chase— A Dinner Won — Eldridge Loses His Companions in Crossing the Ohio — A Narrow Escape — A Fearful Ride — Freedom at Last and a Pilgrimage — The Good Quaker Lady — Arrival in New Y'ork, ......•• 98 CONTENTS. 7 CHAPTER XI. A Futile Plan — An "Old Saw" — A New Conspiracy to Escape — A Traitor — I am " Bucked " and Horsewhipped — To Heal My Wounded Spirit I Set the Jail on Fire — Christmas Dinner in Jail — My Party Escape — Cross the Ohio in a "Borrowed" Boat — A Stolen Ride — A "Tramp" — Good Luck and Good Samaritans — Meet Peney in New Orleans, ....... 108 CHAPTER XH. Forgers Wilkes and Sheridan — A Big Gold " Operation " in Wall Street Frustrated — Other Gold Forgeries — Engles, "The Terror of Wall Street " — Fighting the "Tiger " — The Forger and Gambler at Home — Further Transactions — A Model Constable, . . . 121 CHAPTER XHI. George McDonald's Early Life — Goes to Harvard College — His Parents — He Leaves Home — Meets Kibbe, "The Rogue "^- Gets into the ' ' Tombs " — I Make His Acquaintance — Sketch of Austin Bidwell — A "Male Quartet" off for Europe — Arrival in London — A "Duet" Visit Ireland — " Freaks " Endorsed on Bank of England Notes — Mr. Green — He Introduces "Warren" to the Bank — Mr. Francis and Mr. Fenwick, Bank Managers — Warren Opens an Account at the Bank of England, . . . . . . .133 CHAPTER XrV. Bordeaux, Marseilles, and Lyons "Donate" $50,000 — A Bad Quarter of an Hour — Eggs and Peasant Women — " Sweets to the Sweet" — A Mysterious Stranger Disappears Among the Tombs — Reunion in London — Cowardice or "Prudence" of George Engles, . . 144 CHAPTER XV. "The Terror of Wall Street" Returns to New York— Takes Parties of Forgers to England and the Continent — He is Arrested — Fruitless Examples — Starts a Faro Bank — Fights Strange "Tigers" — His Premature Death in 1886 — Voyage to Rio Janeiro — The Lady of the Lucitania — A Swedish Colonel's Party of English Engineers — A Bibulous Chaplain — $50,000 on Bogus Letters of Credit — Mr. Solomons — An Anxious Time — Munson in a "Fix" — Strategic Movements to Extricate Him, . . . . .154 8 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XVI. Technicalities of Brazilian Law — In a Tight Spot — I Resolve on a Bold Coup — Efficacy of a Suitable "Douceur" — A "Doctored" Passport — A Detective on Trail, Who Ingratiates Himself into Munson's Confidence — Maneuvers — The Detective on a " Wild Goose CLse" — Safely on Board — A Distinguished Party in a Rowboat — A Stern Chase — Off at Last, . . . . . 165 CHAPTER XVII. Idle Days at Rio — Imperial Honors — Visit to a Coffee Plantation — Slaves — A Trip to the La Plata — Ten Days' Quarantine on the Island De Flores — Montevideo and Buenos Ayres — The "La France " — Out in a Pampero — Return to England, . . . 173 CHAPTER XVIII. I Meet Munson in Paris — His Account of the Voyage From Rio — A Pleasure Trip to Vienna — Orpheus and Eurydice — An Electric Phenomena — I Air My German — Return to London — Incidents of Travel in Germany, ...... 180 CHAPTER XIX. Unsuccessful Attempt to "Beat the Dutch " — London Again — First Inception of tl Forgery — Deductions from McDonald's "Great Discovery" — Verifi- cation of Commercial Notes and Bills of Exchange — Letter From a Bank Manager — I Cable to America for Noyes — Sir Sidney Water- low's Clerks — Mistaken Identity — A Key to the Mystery — No Wood Engravers in Paris — I Put My Neck in the Halter — Horton Account Opened at the Continental Bank — The "Fraud Machine " in Working Order — I Resolve to Give Up the Contemplated Fraud and Go Home — A Fatal Compliance — Don't, ..... 185 CHAPTER XX. A Headlong Marriage — Tragic End of a Bridal Tour — First Letter to the Bank of England — $50,000 a Day — Am Puzzled What to Do With So Much Gold — A Trio at the St. James Hotel, Piccadilly — Forebodings — A Joke on the Prince of Wales — Garraway's, . 199 CHAPTER XXI. The Fraud Discovered — Noyes Arrested — A Clearance — An Important Piece of Blotting Paper — Flight of McDonald — Examination of Noyes at the Mansion House, before Lord Mayor Waterlow — The Bank Solicitor, C. K. Freshfield, M. P. — Dr. Kenealy, . . 210 CONTENTS. 9 CHAPTER XXn. Hunted Through Ireland — $2,500 Reward for My Capture — Detectives " Spot " Me at the Cork Railway Station — Obliged to Abandon Taking Passage by the Ill-fated Atlantic — A Game of "Hare and Hounds " — Ehiding a Detective "Trap" — English Misrule in Ireland — Am Taken for a Priest — A Typographical Thunderbolt at Lismore — An Early Morning Walk — A Ride on an Irish Jaunting-car — "On the Road to Clonmel" — Shelter in a "Shebeen" — How Thirsty Souls Get the "Craythur" in Ireland — A Good Old Irish Lady — Pursuit, and Refuge in a Ruined Cottage at Cahir, , . . 220 CHAPTER XXIII. An Unceremonious Call — "I am a Fenian Leader" — A "Story" Told in the Dark — Maloy Helps my Escape on an Irish Jaunting-car — Eggs — A Policeman Anxious to Obtain the Five Hundred Pounds Reward — Dublin Again — A Jewess's Blessing — I Turn Russian, and Later Become a Frenchman — Belfast Detectives — Escape into Scot- land — The Other Side of the Story — A Bow-street Detective's Adven- tures while Hunting me Through Ireland — Cross-Questioning my Jaunting-car Driver — A "Cold Water Cure" — Hot on the Trail — Not in the Fort — A Fruitless Hunt — Many Innocents Arrested — Maloy Becomes a "Know-Nothing," .... 232 CHAPTER XXIV. Arrival in Edinburgh — A Mystery Unveiled — Editorial from the "Lon- don Times" — I Am Arrested — M'Kelvie and McNab — Diamonds — Bailie Wilson — Crowds to See Me Off — Transferred to London — A Night at Bow-Street Police Station — Before the Lord Mayor of Lon- don — The Mansion House — Consigned to Newgate, . . 244 CHAPTER XXV. Extradition of Austin Bidwell from Cuba and George McDonald from New York — Austin Arrested in Havana — A "New York Herald" Editorial — Sympathy with " Fillibusters " — Cable Dispatches to "The Herald" and "The London Times " — General Sickles's Inter- view with Senor Castelar at Madrid — Bidwell Escapes — Recapture — He is Surrendered to The British Government — Arrival in England — McDonald Arrives in New York — Detectives Irving and Farley Trick Sheriff Judson Jarvis — Board the " Thuringia " at Quarantine — Curious "Search" of McDonald — Sheriffs Jarvis and Curry Too Late — No Bonds Recovered — Seize Watches and Diamonds — Mc- Donald at Ludlow Street Jail — Extradition Proceedings — Startling 10 CONTENTS. Arrest of Superintendent Kelso and Detectives Irving and Farley — McDonald's Ride Down Broadway — In Fort Columbus — Surrendered to the British Government — Exit on Steamship "Minnesota" — The "Dominion's Selfish Protection of Bank Defaulters, Boodlers," etc., ........ 250 CHAPTER XXVI. First Mght in Newgate — Governor Jonas — Exercise at Newgate — Dr. Kenealy — Mr. George Lewis — Mr. Howell, a ' ' Pattern " Solicitor — A Fatal Concession on My Part — Don't " Swap Horses A^Tiile Crossing a Stream '* — Howell " Fees " Barristers For Us — His "Management " of Our Case — Howell "Holds" My Diamond Studs — 108 Witnesses — Visitors at Newgate — Howell's "Benevolent" Calls — Mistaken Identification — London Aldermen — Another Phase of ' ' Life in Newgate," from the London "Times" — Caged Animals — Alfred de Rothschild and One of His "Familiars" — Visit from The Russian Prince Imperial, the Present Czar — Lord Mayor Waterlow Again — The Prince's Retinue — I Contemplate Returning His Call at St. Petersburg, ........ 262 CHAPTER XXVII. Held For Trial — The Fatal "Not Guilty " — A " Times " Editorial — Noyes' Letter To His Brother Read in Court — A Touching Scene — Death of Detective M'Kelvie, Who Secured My Arrest in Edinburgh — The Lords Stirred Up, . . . . . .276 CHAPTER XXVIII. Report of the Trial at the "Old Bailey " — First Day, Monday, August 18, 1873 — The Legal Talent Engaged — Arguments For and Against Postponement — Trial Must Proceed — The Jury — Mr. Giffard, Q. C, Opens the Case for the Prosecution — He Outlines the Plot — Gives an Outline of Financial Transactions — Austin's Letter for Mac — "Your Health" — My Own Letter to Mac— "A Hell's Chase and no Mistake" — Adjourned for Luncheon, .... 280 CHAPTER XXIX. The Trial Continued — Second Day, Tuesday, August 19th — IMr. Edward Hamilton Green, Master Tailor, Testifies — How Detectives Sometimes Manufacture "Evidence" — Mr. Edward Elliot Green also Testifies — Examination of Mr. Robert Bloomfield Fenwick, Sub-Manager— Col. Peregrine Madgwick Francis, Manager of the Western Branch of the Bank of England — Commercial Correspondence — Rothschild's Signature, . . . . . . . .297 CONTENTS. 11 CHAPTER XXX. The Trial Continued — Third Day, Wednesday, August 20th — German '^ Barons and Bankers on the Stand — Operations in Frankfort-on-the- Main — Bank of England Clerks Narrate their Experiences and Dis- bursements — The Manager of the Continental Bank in the Witness- Box — Bank of England Notes Exchanged for Gold, and Vice Versa, ........ 313 CHAPTER XXXI. The Trial Continued— Fourth Day, Thursday, August 21st — Dutch Bankers Who Would Not Be "Beat" Testify — A Hebrew Broker of Amsterdam on the Stand — Operations in German Bills of Exchange — Accident on the Northern Railway of France — Interview Between Baron Alfonse de Rothschild and Austin Bidwell in Paris — A £4,500 Bill — Heavy Transactions in United States Bonds on the Continent, ........ 323 CHAPTER XXXII. The Trial Continued — Fifth Day, Friday, August 22d — A Waiter and " Cabbies " Testify — "Quite Light Even in Birmingham" — A Lady Hotel-Manager's Testimony — Much Correspondence — A Mysterious Box — $220,000, Like Falstaff, Hidden Among " Soiled Linen " — Mr. DaCosta, of New York, Details "The Rape of the Lock" — Another Hotel Waiter Speaks — The Sheriff Takes the Jury for an Airing in a Coach-and-Four, ....... 331 CHAPTER XXXIII. The Trial Continued — Sixth Day, Saturday, August 23d — London Salesmen Remember Good Customers — Bidwell Buys a Hat — An Expensive Cane — Noyes Orders Shirts and Pays for Them — A Cham- bermaid Recollects — A Lady Hotel-Keeper's Story — The Tell-Tale Blotter — Another Mysterious Box — Franz Anton Herold's Curious Evidence — A Remarkably Quick Journey to Paris — More Clothes — "I Thought Him a Perfect Gentleman" — "Superb" Cookery — A Post-Mortem Deposition — "Not Looking for Fenians" — Diamonds — Light Gold — I Purchase Large Sums in Foreign Gold and Notes — References Required to Open Bank Accounts — Testimony of Thomas Straker, Engraver and Printer, .... 338 CHAPTER XXXIV. The Trial Continued — Seventh Day, Monday, August 25th — William Mitchell, Die-Sinker and Stamp-Cutter, Bell Alley, Cross-Examined by George Bidwell — Mr. George Boole Chaloner, Master Printer, Tes- ;[2 CONTENTS. tifies — William Cheshire, Engraver, Paternoster-Row, Does Fancy Work for George Bidwell — Other Witnesses Cross-Examined by George Bidwell — James Dalton, a Deaf and Dmnb Engraver, is Ex- amined — The Bidwell Coat-of-Arms — A Police Constable and a London Detective Sergeant in the Witness-Box — A Scotch Boarding- House Mistress Recognizes — More Detective Testimony — A Glas- gow Fellow Passenger on the Lucitania — Mr. Charles Chabot, the Expert in Hand- Writing, Testifies — Another Hotel- Waiter Gives Evidence, ........ 355 CHAPTER XXXV. The Trial Continued — Eighth and Last Day, Tuesday, August 26th — An Affecting Letter — Noyes Tries to Save The Old Homestead — "He Likes to Stay in Europe '' — A Letter of Condolence — My Letters from Edinburgh — The Case for the Prosecution Closed — Mr. Metcalf, Q. C, Takes a Formal Objection, which is Overruled — Mr. Giffard, Q. C, Sums Up the Evidence on the Part of the Prosecution — McDon- ald's Statement to the Jury — George Bidwell's Remarks Cut Short by Judge Archibald — Mr. Mclntire's Plea for Austin Bidwell — Mr. Rib- ton Addresses the Jury on Behalf of Noyes — Judge Archibald Sums Up — Jury Retires — Bring in a Verdict of " Guilty " — Austin Bidwell Exonerates the Bank Manager — Last Appeal of the Prisoners — Sen- tenced for Life, ....... 365 CHAPTER XXXVI. Plan of Escape From Newgate During the Trial at Old Bailey — Article From London Times — A Tempest in a Teapot — Arrest of Warders Leach, Smidt, and Norris — The "Pattern Solicitor" Howell Again — A Faithful Brother — A Soap Prison Key — 300 Sovereigns Thrown Away — Solicitor Howell's "Benevolent" Visits to Newgate — His Astute Plan — A Prison "Tool" — His Treason and Its Results — A Body-Guard of Policemen — Norris Gets Three Months for Acting as a Postman — John Bright's, Chamberlain's, Spurgeon's, Churchill's, Mor- ley's, Marquises Lymington's and Hartington's Letters — Charles Dud- ley Warner, Mrs. H. Beecher Stowe, and Mark Twain's Petition for Austin Refused — John Bidwell Flies From England — Success of Howell's Rascality — He Is Expelled The Profession, . . 384 CHAPTER XXXVII. Penal Servitude For Life — First Night After the Sentence — Despair — Attempted Suicide — Saved By a Supernatural Warning — In Chains — The Black Maria — Newgate Burying-Ground — Arrival at Penton- ville Prison — An Ominous Reception — Medical Inspection — Picking Oakum — Exercise — Remarks on Prison Life — The Nine Months Soli- tary System an Absurdity — Inequality of Sentences, . . 399 CONTENTS. 13 CHAPTER XXXVm. i^octor Vane C. Clarke — Effects of Solitude on My Mind — A Desperate Plan to Escape — A Convict Imbecile — Star Men — Other Classes of Convicts — Their Dress and Food — Eemission Marks, . . 413 CHAPTER XXXIX. Prison Authorities — Governors — Doctors — Duties of the Chief Warder — Why Warders Are False to Their Duties — A Perfect Convict Sys- tem on Paper — Corrupt Warders — Brutalities — Kill and Leave No Marks — Convict Robinson Kicked to Death — An Honest Warder Discharged as Insane For Exposing It — Result When Convicts Com- plain — Charles Dudley Warner's Opinion — Abstract of Prison Regu- lations — Progressive Stages — Dietaries, .... 427 CHAPTER XL. How (Not) to Obtain "Porridge" — Prospecting For a Plan of Escape — Too Much Heat Evaporates the Idea — Despair Demands Death or Liberty — " Old" Varney, the Snorer — I Dig Out Bricks in Search of Porridge, but Find Chains — Official "Investigation" With a Ven- geance — Chained — Bread and Water — Am Found Insensible — An Electric Shock — How a Convict Can Prove Sickness Not to Be Shammed — Under Observation — In " Hot Water " — A Cold Water Shock — "Old "Bones — Transported to Dartmoor, . . 437 CHAPTER XLL Dartmoor Convict Establishment — Prison Association — Niblo Clark — His Story — Steals Two Coats — Takes Refuge on the Roofs — A Dar- ing Leap — A Terrified Woman — Fifteen Years for ' ' Cheeking " the Judge — The " Pipps " — He is Ambushed by the Medical Officer, 448 CHAPTER XLIL Doctor Power — Governor Harris — Hard Life and Terrible Death of an Italian Convict — Lord Kimberly in My Cell — Phillips, the Con- vict Imposter — A Perambulator — Ingratitude — Another Imposter "Raised" by Galvanic Shocks — Boozer's Story — Soap as an Article of Diet — How Convicts Get Into the Hospital — Beef Steaks as Breastplates — "Reliable" Convicts on the Look Out — "Whopper" — How to Get a Good Dinner in Prison — Sacrificing an Eye for a Few Weeks in Hospital — Taggart, a Prison "Faker" — An Incurable Abscess, ........ 456 CHAPTER XLIII. Kill or Cure — Punishment Cells — The Tailors' Shop — Before the Gov- ernor — Bread and Water — The Crank — Grinding the Wind — Prin- cipal Warder Westlake — I Obtain "Porridge" at Last — On the Bare Boards — Desperation — Cut My Throat — In Handcuffs — Rescued hj 14 CONTENTS, the Chaplain, A. H. Ferris — A Good Samaritan — A Governor's, Chaplains', and Prisoners' Letters — A Prison "Shave" — An Elec- tric Cannonade — In Extremity — Governor Avery and His Noble- Hearted Wife — Warder Westlake Brought to Book — A Convict Shot Dead — Another Badly Wounded, .... 467 CHAPTER XLIV. Doctor Smalley — Transferred to Woking Invalid Palace — A Gang of . Chained Convicts at Plymouth Station — A Delightful Journey to End in a Living Grave — Description of Woking Prison Palace — Major- Gen. Sir Joshua Jebb — Doctor Campbell — Gangs of Living Skeletons from Chatham — Chatham Prison and Great Basins — The Revolt at Chatham — Remorseless Severity Against the Revolters — No Investi- gation as to the Cause of Revolt — Sneaking Part of Our Food to the Skeletons — A Month out of Prison, . . . . 483 CHAPTER XLV. Prison Tortures — The Cat-o'-Nine-Tails — Flogging — The Birch — Squire Morris — How He Obtained Promotion — The Galvanic Battery — The Straight- Jacket — " Screw Him Up" — Unauthorized Brutality — How They Feed a Man in the Jacket — Two Brutes, Warders Vile and James — The Humane Principal Warder Fry — Crippled For Life by the Jacket — The ' ' Cleaner " Mackey — Retribution for Vile, 494 CHAPTER XL VI. Books — Prison Pets — Rat Performs on the Trapeze — Rat Jealousy and Rodent Reasoning — An Intelligent Mouse — Its Betrayal and Death — A Beetle the Sole Companion of My Solitude — Tame Flies — Setting a Fly's Disjointed Leg — Champion Encounters Between Flies — My Mosquito Friends — General Remarks, .... 504 CHAPTER XLVII. Doctor Campbell Retires — Remarks About Warders — Doctor Von Mar- tin — A Four-Bedded Dormitory — Electric Shocks "Restore" Bed- Ridden Cripples — Strange Characters — A Cadger and a Pickpocket — Selwin's Story — Whopper's Life — An Honorable Pickpocket — Lo- comoto Praxis — A Pickpocket's Sons — Ex-Solicitor D Mor- alizing — A Little Light Followed by Deeper Gloom — Doctor Braine — Abbot's Brutality — Governor Bones Again — Under Him Woking Becomes a Den of Horrors — He is Superseded — A Restoration Under Doctor Vane C. Clarke — Pennock, the Epileptic — 34 Years in Prison — His Sad Story — A Promise Yet Unfulfilled, . . ,511 CONTENTS. 15 CHAPTER XL VIII. Woking Convict Lunatic Asjlum — Self-Macle Lunatics — Vile and James Again — Vile's Reception of a Lunatic — "We Can Kill a Man and Leave No Marks" — How They Do It — Lunatic Imposters and Their Doings — The Woking High Priest — "Life's Action" — Robbed of Three Years Remission — Governmental Inconsistencies — Justice vs. Injustice, ....... 523 CHAPTER XLIX. (Not) "Uriah Heep " — A Sketch of His Life — At 15 Escapes From a Lunatic Asylum — Obtains a Situation — Robs His Employer — Es- capes from Raynell Asylum — Steals an Attendant's Suit — Gets Five Years Penal Servitude at Chatham — Sent from Prison Back to The Asylum — Escapes Nude with Shaved and Blistered Head — How He Got a Suit — How He Learned the Painters' Trade — How He Got a Second Term of Seven Years — "Fetches" the Woking Lunatic Wing — Discharge and Departure for America — He Returns — Gets a Third Term of Ten Years — Bleeding — Straight- Jacket — Fourteen Months Without Eating, . . . . . . .533 CHAPTER L. The Ultimate Fate of Forgers— "Old Patch," the First Bank of England Forger — Wilkes, the Railway Man — He First Becomes a Gambler, then a Forger — George Engles' Finale — Wilson, Yanderpool, alias Brockway, Charles Becker, Joe Chapman, George Bell, Robert S. Bal- lard, Thomas Ballard, Walter Sheridan, Frank Kibbe, Little Elliott, W. H. Lyman, Stephen Raymond, Perrine, Dan Noble, Williamson, Rosencranz, alias Wise, etc., Spence Pettis, George Watson, Van Etten, Lewis Cole, Charles Lister, and Johnny Miller, Forgers, . 544 CHAPTER LI. The " Ticket- of-Leave " Man — Facsimile of an Ordinary Ticket-of- Leave — Requirements and Regulations Printed on Its Back — Prisoner's Aid Society — Prisoners' Opinions of That Society — No Chance for Ex-Convicts in England — How Prison Gratuity Money is Used — Buying a New Suit — Prisons the Best Homes Many Ever Had — Ex-Convicts Blackmailed — Welch, "The Truss of Straw," and Parker, "Model" London Detectives — By Perjury They Get Piper and Shaw Fourteen Years — Parker Arrested and the Truth Becomes Known — Piper and Shaw Discharged After Serving Eighteen Months of the Fourteen Years — Piper Leaps From London Bridge — Gets £100 Damages for Wrongful Imprisonment — The Right Honorable Henry Matthews — Conclusion, ..... 550 16 TICKET OF LEAVE. Order of Licence to a Convict made under the Statutes 16 c^ 17 VicL, c. 99, 5. 9, and 21 & 2S Vict., c. 47, ». 4. Whiteh^l, //^day of t?iio was convicted of CTZ^^rr--^,^^-^--^^ on the /f^' day of then and there sentenced to be kept in R iously please(Ho 18^^, and was noTT confined in the il Servitude for lltn htiiiii ilP Convict Prison, Her Rojal Licence to be at large ir^ the day of his liberation under this order, during the remaining portion of hissaid term of Penal Servitude, unless the said ^^^^^e^-g^-^^^-y^^ ^^C^^xJ^^L^^-^^-^^ shall, before the expiration of the said term, be convicted of some indictable offence within the United Kingdom, in which case, such Licence will be immediately forfeited by law, or unless it shall please Her Majesty sooner to revoke or alter such Licence^ This Licence^ is given subject to the conditions endorsed upon the same, npon the breach of any of which it will be liable to be revoked whether such breach is followed by a conviction or not. And Her Majesty hereby orders that the said ^^i^^J^^^l-^.^^^ be set at hber from the date of this Order. Given under my hand and Seal, Sirmed, .J Days TRUE COPY. Licence to he at large. E & 3 C23,57t)a) 500 4-«J } Chairman of the Directc^s of Convict Prisons* \ AFTER IMPRISONMENT. (From Photo, by Stuart, Hartford.) Chapter I. EXPLANATORY. DURING the past twenty years, hundreds of columns have been published in the newspapers throughout the world regarding myself and my transactions. Having been so freely commented upon by press and public, while it was beyond my power to reply, now that I am again free, I feel it incumbent on me to publish the true story of my life, which will not only correct all mistakes or false reports which may have been circulated, but serve as a perpetual warning to the young men of America to avoid the temptations by which I was beset, and to restrain that inordinate thirst for gold which seems fully as insatiable to-day as it was a score of years ago. The alleged 15,000,000 Forgery on the Bank of England, in 1873, is now a matter of history ; and as I have been regarded the principal character in that transaction, I feel sure that no reader will question my ability to " tell the whole truth, and nothing but the truth," regarding the gigantic fraud. My capture, and subsequent incarceration in English prisons, are facts as widely known as the forgery itself. Before commencing the narrative proper, I desire to picture a few of the realities of my prison life, and to explain my pres- ence in America, a free man. Before I had been six months in prison, heavy band-irons were riveted around my ankles. These were connected by a chain, and I was condemned to wear them day and night, in bed and out, for six months. I was also forced to wear a parti-colored dress, one-half of the jacket and knee-breeches 3 (17) Ig IN CHAINS. being yellow and the other buff. I will hereafter describe in full, with illustrations, both the ordinary and the punishment suits worn by prisoners in the English prisons, and give the alleged reasons for my punishment, with an account of what I did to incur such a fate. The ultimate consequence of this treatment was that, throughout the next thirteen years, I was unable to stand upon my feet. During the first five years of that period I was never out of the cell in which I was confined, except once a month to the bath-room in the ward. After the expiration of the five years, I was taken out into the yard for an hour each day. This continued for a month, after which I was again in the solitude of a cell for the space of two years. All this occurred at the Pentonville and Dartmoor prisons. In the month of November, 1881, I was remoA'ed to the Woking male prison, twenty-two miles from London, and con- fined in a cell about three years longer. Throughout these various periods of solitary confinement, I never saw the blue sky, the sun, or the twinkling stars. During the last five years of my imprisonment my friends had been making untiring efforts to obtain my release, but all petitions to that end had been rejected by the English govern- ment. It will be seen that it is exceedingly easy to get into an English prison, but almost impossible to get out again. I had been incarcerated since March, 1873. On the 18th day of July, 1887, I heard hasty steps approaching my cell door. The key grated in the lock — the door opened — and a prison officer, stepping in, said : '' You are free ! and I am going to London by next train with you! A dispatch has come that you are to be sent at once ! " This was about 1 P. M. Officers hurried about to get me fitted with a suit of citizen's clothes, shoes, hat, etc. My photograph was taken. The medical officer was sent for in great haste to examine into my physical condition. In about one hour I was on the railway. Can the reader imagine my delight at this sudden resurrection from a living grave? LIBERTY AT LAST. 19 More than fourteen years ! Few can form an idea of what that means. Fancy yourself being obliged to remain shut up in your own house until you had read the Bible through three and one-half times, at the rate of one chapter a day. It would take 5,231 days. Though I began those years a black- haired, robust young man, at the end I found myself a gray- headed cripple ; yet, on this first opening of the world anew before my ravished eyes, how beautiful everything appeared! Even dull-looking old London seemed glorious. And the throngs of people in the streets ! I could not tire of looking at them. I thought to myself : " These streets have been thronged the same each day through all the years that I have been in solitude ; the lives of these people have been running on in various phases, while mine has been standing still ! " The English authorities sent two officers in citizens' clothes with me to Liverpool. They were very civil and attentive on the journey. They had orders to make the trip without attracting attention. I was taken by them on board the steamer, and they remained on the wharf until she was under way. The Government apparently feared that I, crippled as I was, might give them the slip and remain in England, and these officers were obliged to report that they saw me sail, and to bring a certificate signed by the captain to that effect. On the voyage from Liverpool to Queenstown, I saw a man who landed at the latter place whom I believed to have been sent along to see that I did not leave the steamer there. But I was only too glad to take my last look at the coast of Ire- land, and to see the good steamship Wisconsin in the broad Atlantic with her prow turned toward the loved land of my nativity, so often visited in dreams through all my years of desolation. Capt. Bently was the only one on the steamer who was informed of my history, and I think he kept the secret. When I arrived on board, the warder gave me the first saloon ticket which my friends had purchased and given to the English authorities. This was taken under a false name, as it was not 20 POETRY IN MID-OCEAN. desired that my release should become known to the public. It was done without my own wishes having been consulted on the subject. This proceeding placed me in a false position, and for some time I did not feel like joining with the other passengers in the various plans for wiiiling away the time at sea. For the time of year the voyage was a very rough one, and we were greatly delayed by fogs, so much so that the fog- horn w\as going most of the time for four or five days. The waves washed the length of the deck, and at times poured down upon the steerage passengers. On such occasions the women and children would scream with terror, believing that the ship was going down. I passed most of my time during the voyage in writing out from memory some thousands of lines of verses wdiich I composed in Woking prison. The nature of my occupation had been observed, and on the occasion of an evening concert got up among the saloon passengers, I was asked to compose some verses for the occasion. This request resulted in the production of the " Steamer Wisconsin Squibs ", the same being received with unexpected favor by the good-natured audience. At a subsequent entertainment I was again called upon to take a part. I had sent the committee several pieces to select from, and they put me down for three recitations. I recited " The Sleigh-Ride " and " King Alcohol ", both selec- tions from poems composed b}^ me at Woking, which were vehemently applauded. Passengers at sea are very easily pleased. Upon my arrival in New York, August 4, 1887, I found the question was being considered whether so dangerous a man should be permitted to land on his native soil. The . conclusion appears to have been that, if I once set foot on „ shore, I could make a fight of it to prevent expulsion and exile. I was arrested on board the steamer at the Guion line wharf as I was about to land, in the presence of my wife, son, and sister. The two former had journeyed from New Eng- ILLEGAL ARREST IN NEW YORK. 21 land to meet me ; the latter had accompanied me on the voy- age from Liverpool. The officers had no warrant for my arrest, but had been ordered to bring me to the police head- quarters on Mott street. They performed their duty with as much consideration as the nature of the case permitted. They assured my wife that I should not be long detained. But their protestations gave her no confidence. While wait- ing for the steamer, she had read the articles published in the papers previous to my arrival, and declared they would never let me go free again. She believed that as soon as it became known that I was released, the commotion already excited by the papers would create such a feeling against me that I would be again placed in confinement. It was in vain that I assured her that I had expiated my crime and paid most dearly for my Avrong-doings — that I was, according to the law, a free man, and that no one had a right to molest me. It is impossible for me to depict the disappointment and anguish of that faithful, long-suffering wife, who, after a separation of nearly twenty years, believed it Avas to be in- definitely continued. My wife, sister, and son accompanied me to the police headquarters and stood bravely by me. On our arrival there the sergeant in charge said to them, "You can all go now, we are going to keep him here until to-morrow." They refused to leave me ; but at last being assured they would be permit- ted to see me at 4 p. m. (it being then noon), they reluctantly departed. About 2 o'clock I was taken into a brougham by two detect- ives, driven to a back entrance of the Jefferson Market Police Court, and taken through into a private room. In a few moments Justice Duffy came in from the public court-room where he had been holding examinations, and promptly interrogated the officers as to the cause of my arrest. Upon discovering that there were no charges against me, except that I was considered too dangerous a man to be left at large, the judge spoke substantially as follows : 22 ^ RIGHTEOUS JUDGE. " That is no ground or reason whatever for depriving a man of his liberty ; it is known that the prisoner committed a crime in a foreign country, and has paid the penalty by more than fourteen years' imprisonment. It would be against every principle of justice to interfere with him, so long as he conducts himself like a good citizen. A man may have com- mitted a crime, and while suffering punishment determine to lead an honest life in the future. How unjust, then, as soon as he is free, to arrest him as a suspicious character. Instead of encouraging a man to lead an honest life, such a course as has been taken in this case is the sure way to drive him back into crime. It is bad policy, and I trust no similar case will occur again. " For these reasons, I order that Bidwell be forthwith dis- charged from custody, and be allowed a fair opportunity to take a fresh start in life ! " What a friend I had in that righteous judge ! I was obliged to return to police headquarters to await the arrival of my friends, as I did not know at what hotel they were staying. At the appointed time they came, and I was at last reunited with my family, from whom I had been sepa- rated so many years. The following editorial article, which appeared in the " New York Herald " of August 4, 1887, will serve to show in what manner my arrest was regarded by unprejudiced, influential journals : AN OUTRAGE. The arrest of George Bidwell on his arrival at this port yester- day, by two detectives, as related in another column, was a gross outrage. He was charged with no offense, and, as far as appears, sus- pected of none. There was no legal ground for his arrest, which was made without lawful warrant or authority. The man is an ex-convict just released from a British prison, where he has served a long term of confinement for forgery. That is no excuse for his arrest here. THE ''INSTANTANEOUS PROCESS'' UNCALLED FOE. 23 The only explanation of their action the detectives had to offer in the police court where they took their victim, was that they '' wished to show him to the members of the force so that they would know him in the future if he attempted any * crooked ' opera- tions." Justice Duffy quickly saw that the prisoner was illegally held, and at once discharged him. But he should not have let the detectives off without a scathing reprimand that would serve as a salutary warning to like offenders in the future. There have been too many instances of high-handed doings of this sort on the part of detectives. These officers should be given to understand that arrests are to be made in accordance with, not in violation of the law, and that even an ex-convict has rights that are to be respected. The press dispatches detailing my return and illegal arrest, though containing numerous errors, did much, however, to excite sympathy for me throughout the country. While I was detained at police headquarters, my photograph was taken by the instantaneous process, without my knowl- edge. In the papers the following day, I read of the theft, and that the picture had been given a place in the " Rogues' Gallery." My photograph had never before appeared as a star in that ill-omened galaxy. But, after becoming a thor- oughly repentant man, it was then surreptitiously obtained and I suppose placed there. The portraits of myself which appear among the illustra- tions in this volume wilP show that I no longer shrink from the gaze of honest people. I was discharged from prison in a badly crippled condi- tion, and suffering from great physical exhaustion, the result of a long and terrible incarceration, one almost unexampled in modern times. However, the good blood and strong con- stitution which I had inherited from a long line of pure-living Puritan ancestors, endowed me with the power to undergo sufferings which would have proved mortal to the majority of men. The ensuing pages will contain a cursory history of the cir- cumstances which surrounded my early life in Michigan — 24 A DEVOTED WIFE. an account of my removal to New York city — my marriage to the noble and devoted young lady, who has been spared and preserved to care for and educate our children through all these long years of undeserved mental suffering, brought upon her by my misconduct — my connections with wholesale houses, and business success in New York, and how I over- weighted myself in aiding others — my temptations, and the gradual undermining of my honest business principles, up to and including a true account of the great forgery on the Bank of England, with the events that followed, up to the present time. LEAVING LIVERPOOL. GEORGE BIDWELL S FAREWELL TO JOHN BULL. Chapter II. MY ANCESTORS — MY PARENTS AND THEIR RELIGION — THE UPS AND DOWNS OF A pioneer's LIFE IN MICHIGAN — MY FATHER'S BUSINESS FAILURES — I TURN PEDDLER AND WOOD-SAWYER TO SUPPORT THE FAMILY — NAUTICAL EXPERI- ENCES — THE GRAND RAPIDS DISASTER — I GO TO NEW YORK CITY AND BE- COME A "drummer" — MY UNTIMELY MARRIAGE — SIGNS AND PORTENTS. POSSIBLY some readers may desire to know something about the antecedents of my family. There are hun- dreds of Bidwells scattered over the United States, and it is generally believed that the name is derived from Bridgewell (the well by the bridge). The ancestors on my father's side emigrated from Nor- folk, England, and were among the first who settled in New England. In the Doomsday Book, compiled by order of Wil- liam the Conqueror, between 1066 and 1100, will be found a record of the family and the coat of arms, which is among the most ancient. Whatever may belong to hereditary descent, I have had one practical benefit from it, the sound bodily health before referred to. My ancestors left England, like the other Puritans, not on account of poverty, but to obtain religious freedom, and all down through the generations those of the family who remained at the homestead or in its vicinity, attended the old Congrega- tional or Puritan Church. My great-grandfather, Capt. Zebulon Bidwell, was in the Northern Army during the Revolutionary war, being killed in one of the fights which preceded the capture of the British General Burgoyne, at Saratoga. (25) 2Q PURITANIC WAYS. I pass along down to my father, who, in 1832, married and moved to Bloomfield, Orleans County, New York, where I was born. When my father was a very young man, the Methodists opened a small chapel not far from the homestead ; he became a convert, forsook the old family church, and joined them. My mother also joined them at about the same time, and thus two congenial spirits met. My parents cared but very little about this world, believing it but a place of preparation for the next. From about the time their children could " toddle," they were forced to go to church and sit out hour-long sermons ; and woe to the child that fell asleep. I could not have been four years old when, on one occasion, I fell asleep and was instantly taken out of church by my father and well spanked. Yet, in matters not pertaining to morals and religion, they were ever most loving and indulgent. Sunday was observed by them in the old Puritan way. We children must read only the Bible, Sunday-school books, Baxter's " Saints' Ever- lasting Rest," or Bunyan's " Pilgrim's Progress " ; and indeed Sunday was a " slough of despond " to us. We were debarred from playing with a kitten or a doll. A pack of cards in the house would (we were told) have brought down a judgment from Heaven upon us. Even the game of checkers was looked upon with suspicion, and regarded as a temptation of the devil. Dancing was considered an almost unpardonable sin, and the violin an especially diabolical instrument. Everything in the way of amusement was regarded as time lost in making preparations for eternity. Am I exaggerating ? I am only reproducing from my memory an exact picture as left upon my mind by the events of those days ; and I write with reverence, only desiring to let the attentive and thoughtful reader judge what effect such teaching probably had upon my character and life ; and whether the rebound did not at last carry me as far in the opposite direction. FIRST YEAR IN THE WEST. 27 I have endeavored to describe thus briefly the religious atmosphere which surrounded me in childhood. But, had I lived up to the religion which my parents believed in and taught their children, I should never have been forced to undergo so much disgrace, nor to have passed so many dreary years within the gloomy walls of a prison. In 1837 my father went to the then paper village of Lanes- ville, Mich., which was situated about fifty miles west of Toledo, Ohio ; the Michigan Southern Railroad was afterward built between the latter place and Chicago, passing through the vil- lage. It is now the thriving town of Hudson. He there pur- chased land, and built a house and shop ; then returning east, he took his family by the Erie Canal from Medina, N. Y., to Buffalo ; then by the steamboat " Erie "to Toledo. The Erie was the first steamboat, I believe, that ever ploughed the waters of Lake Erie. At that time the run from Buffalo to Toledo took more than three days ; a journey which is now made in double that number of hours. During the first year after our arrival, all of our family of six, with the exception of myself, were prostrated with fever and ague. As nearly all the other settlers were alike afflicted, it was not possible to hire any one to care for the sick or render any other assistance ; in consequence I, a lad of six years, was the " working force " through the greater part of that long year of deprivation and misery. It seemed mirac- ulous, under the circumstances, that any recovered ; but all did, except the youngest, a two-year-old brother. At the end of the year my father found himself so deeply in debt that his property was all sold for about one-fifth its value. Having had our fill of Lanesville, we removed to Adrian, in the same State, at that time a growing village. We arrived there penniless, but my father soon got a little start and opened business in a small way. After I was fifteen years of age, my father seemed to rely entirely upon me. As before stated, my parents were religious people. Relig- ion was everything to them, all worldly affairs comparatively 28 THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD. nothing. Yet through all their lives both worked very hard, and would make any worldly sacrifice for what, in their opin- ion, was for the benefit of their children. They believed it a religious duty to divide their last crust with the suffering, and preferred rather to make friends with the poor and down-trodden than with the prosperous. My father belonged to the old abolition party. Adrian was a station on the " Underground Railroad," ^. e., the line of travel between the Ohio river and Canada by which fugitive slaves escaped, these being carried by wagon-loads in the night from the house of one abolitionist to that of another, and there secreted during the day. It was often a desperate race for liberty, or chains and death, until they had got one hundred and fifty miles north of the Ohio river. In a village the wagon-load of fugitives would be hastily distributed at the houses of the abolitionists. I remember hearing some of those secreted at our house tell about their marvelous escapes — how they were chased by bloodhounds, etc., before they reached the Ohio. My father seemed to possess no business qualifications whatever. He was honest, simple-hearted, and confiding. He would no sooner get a business established than some stran- ger would come along, worm himself into his confidence, and soon have everything in his own hands, leaving my father penniless. One of these recurring events happened when I was nine years of age ; and as my father was in poor health at the time, I took to peddling molasses candy and apples in a basket, and for a long time brought in enough money to support the family. On the occasions of these periodical downfalls, neighbors would say to me : " Your father is too honest to live in the West." It was not that he was too honest, but too confiding, and deficient in worldly wisdom. Through long years of solitude, while lying crippled in a prison cell, the thought often entered my mind that, had my parents been more worldly-wise, my fate would have been different. In my eleventh year, I bargained with a rich man of the AN UNFORTUNATE DECISION. 29 place to saw four-foot wood twice in two and split it, for fifty cents a cord. I was attending school at the time, and one Saturday I set to work, and by noon had so huge a pile sawed that, when my employer came home to dinner, he, with his wife and daughters, looked at it from the kitchen door with astonishment. Soon afterwards this gentleman offered to take me to his home, give me an education, and start me in a business. His name was Ira Bidwell, a distant cousin. He was well known, especially in Michigan, and in St. Paul, Minn., later, as a merchant and banker. He was, like my parents, a Methodist. His kind offer was not accepted, however, my parents believing that the religious training of their children necessitated their presence at home. I believe this was an unfortunate decision for me. When I was about twelve years of age, my father was again " taken in and done for " by a sharper from Buffalo. Believing there was an opening for him in Toledo, Ohio, in 1845 he removed with the family from Adrian to that place. There I set up a street stall for the sale of periodicals and apples, trashy novels and candy, lemonade and pocket-knives, small-beer and steel watch-chains, etc. I succeeded in supporting the family until my father got into business again, and continued in trade until I had a capital of nearly fifty dollars. With this I bought an old steamboat clinker-built yawl, twenty-three feet long, and had it half-decked and fitted out as a sloop. My father being then in more comfortable circumstances, I passed my summers on the Maumee river, making occasional excursions into Lake Erie. I was so fond of sailing that I used to go off alone, and, after sailing all day, remain in the sloop nights, while she lay anchored near the shore, sleeping in the folds of the sail. When I was about fifteen I took my beloved sloop to a ship-carpenter to get the hull sheathed over. The bill was about eighteen dollars. I had invested all my money in her, but as the carpenter was an old friend of my father, and had 30 J^OSS OF THE "MAYFLOWEE." always treated me kindly, I had not a doubt but that he would trust me for the repairs. To my surprise and mortifi- cation he said I must pay the amount at once. As I could not do so, he had the boat sold at constable's sale without delay. My father refused to interfere or advance me any- thing, and so I lost my dear old " Mayflower." I had no sus- picion at the time, but I have since thought there was an arrangement between my father and the carpenter to get the boat away from me, and thus turn my energies in another direction. Soon after this event a New Orleans boarding-house and hotel ''beat" ingratiated himself into my father's confidence and soon became his right-hand man. It was not long before my father was again moneyless and out of business. I had by this time picked up some knowledge of candy- making, and we heard there was a good opening for the busi- ness at Grand Rapids. The last "ruin" had left us with but a single horse and wagon. My father borrowed a little money, and in December, 1849, he and I left Toledo for Grand Rap- ids. As the country was deeply covered with snow, and the roads but little traveled, and only by sleighs, the track being too narrow for our wagon, it was hard dragging one hundred and fifty miles. However, we arrived at Grand Rapids a day or two before Christmas, rented a small shop, and by working day and night, we made up a stock of sugar toys. We had brought with us a small stove and the moulds in which to cast the toys. On Christmas day we had sold a quantity, which left us a profit of thirty dollars, quite a little fortune in our pockets. Our next step was to sell the horse and wagon for one hundred and fifty dollars. We then rented a larger store, and in five years from our humble start we were doing a large business in confectionery, fancy goods, and jewelry. The business devolved on me alone, my father deferring everything to me because of his belief in my superior judgment in business matters. All others with whom I came in contact seemed to place PROSPERITY. 31 a like confidence in me, and I began to consider myself capa- ble of conducting a much larger business enterprise. It may be that this conceit and overestimation of my abilities puffed me up considerably. It needed but a little imagination to picture to myself a near future in which I should become a rich merchant. Up to our arrival at Grand Rapids in 1849, every enterprise of my father's had resulted disastrously. Now that i was at the helm, everything certainly prospered ; home comforts increased ; better educational advantages for the j^ounger brothers and sisters were enjoyed. I was highly respected by those members of the commu- nity whose good opinion was worth having ; all of whom had unbounded confidence in my integrity and business capacity. I was observant, anxious for improvement, quick to grasp at new ideas, and to ascertain what was in them that might aid me to reach the " El Dorado " of which I had dreamed, since, when in my ninth year, I began to sell apples and candy in a basket. The reader may smile to learn that at this time I was but sixteen years of age, although I looked much older. At eighteen I sported a beard and moustache. Like most boys, I was anxious to appear older than I really was, and the sturdy frame with which Nature had favored me helped out the innocent deception. Our business steadily increased, and in course of three years our credit became so well established with the mer- chants of New York, and other trade-centers, that we could get all the goods required. We now began to run wagons to supply goods to the dealers within a circuit of one hundred miles. Although this system worked successfully in more populous localities where the roads were good, it proved a failure in the newlj^-settled State of Michigan. The towns and villages were widely scattered, and sparsely populated, the roads almost impassable ; and the wear and tear of horses and wagons, with occasional damage to goods, was to us ap- palling. With no knowledge of business save what I had "picked up," I could not understand the necessity of an 32 RESULT OF ''LEGAL ADVICE J* annual inventory, and had no means of judging what our prof- its were, except by the ease with which money came in to meet our bills. After having run the trade-wagons a long time, money matters appeared to tighten up with us, and it became more and more diUficult to make payments. I began to investigate, and, to my dismay, discovered that our assets scarcely equaled our indebtedness. If at this juncture I had consulted with an experienced business man, instead of relying upon my own immature judgment, I should have learned that an established business with good credit is in itself a capital for a young man of energy. To stop the trade-wagons would have been to me a great mortification. But that is exactly what an older head would have advised ; and, as the rest of the busi- ness was profitable, it is likely I should have remained in Grand Rapids to this day. My parents had no suggestions to offer, as they were, like myself, quite overwhelmed by the result of our six years' energetic work. I consulted with a lawyer, who had lately opened an office next door, but as yet having no practice. When I explained the state of affairs he evidently saw that his opportunity had come, and he made the most of it. He advised me to put all the property into the hands of an assignee, the same to be sold and divided as fol- lows : those creditors who had shown me some attention when I had visited their places of business were put in the first class, to be paid in full out of the assets. The second class was composed of those who had favored me less. These came in next if enough were left to pay them. Under such an iniquitous arrangement the third class could of course receive nothing. Experienced readers need not be told the result of such an assignment. As my lawyer doubtless expected, the second and third classes of creditors began law proceedings to break the assignment and get all the creditors put on an equal footing. As a matter of course the lawyers got all that the creditors did not. My lawyer skillfully arranged about two years' practice for himself, which estab- SUSTAINED BY FAITH. 33 lished his position at the bar, and he is to-day one of the wealthiest lawyers in the State of Michigan. That assignment invented by the lawyer has unquestion- ably affected my whole life. Ever afterwards, when trying to get into business, I was haunted by the idea that some claim would be brought forward before I was able to pay it. At the time of the assignment, I had given up some valuable real estate, my own private property, also my gold watch and chain, to pay firm debts. I have gone into this matter some- what in detail because there are many persons still living who, doubtless, believe I acted dishonestly. I look back to this assignment as the direct starting-point of all my misfortunes. My parents also gave up every thing, leaving themselves and children destitute. Amid all, my parents never lost one tittle of their faith in God's providence. In fact, despite the many adverse instances in which the answers to their prayers appeared to " go by contraries," I always had a latent, deeply- rooted conviction that because of their prayers nothing very bad would ever happen to me, and this belief became consola- tory after I began to grow '' crooked ". Many times when lying in the cell of a foreign prison, undergoing dreadful and long-continued tortures, I would say to myself : '' 0, would that I could believe all that my parents did, and possess the same faith and confidence in God ! I should be happy even here." Well, they are gone ; and if they are not now enjoying such a state of everlasting bliss as they anticipated, they richly deserve it. Through all the years of my incarceration it has been a great consolation to feel that, as long as they lived, I did all in my power to assist them, as well as my younger brothers and sisters. After I had turned over all the property into the hands of the assignee, I left for New York city, determined to seek my fortune in a place where so many others had acquired theirs. I felt that I possessed energy, perseverance, and physical capacity to undergo more hardships and to accomplish more work than most young men. Besides this, I was strictly tem- 3 34 ^ TRUE FRIEND. perate, and not addicted to any of the vices so common in large cities. In my various trips to New York and other cities for the purchase of goods, I had learned that the theaters and bar-rooms were well patronized each evening by young busi- ness men. I had also been told that many were addicted to gambling and other vices. I thought to myself : " If such young men give satisfaction to their employers and get on in New York, w^hy cannot I?" At this time I was 23 years'of age. I felt that I ought to succeed. When I turned over my own real estate, I received $300 of its value, which enabled me to go to New York. On my arrival in that city I purchased sugar and shipped it to a younger brother in Grand Rapids, to enable him to carry on the manufacture of confectionery, and thus support the family while I was getting into business. Before he had got fairly started, the creditors of my father and myself attached the sugar for our debts, and he was forced to submit to the loss, which broke up his business. Thus, the family were left destitute in Grand Rapids, and I was in New York, without employment. I rented a small room in Greenwich Street, and eked out my money at the cheapest eating-houses, seldom spending more than twent}^ or twenty-five cents a day for food. Day after day I went from one wholesale house to another, applying for a situation of some kind, but in vain. My money began to run low, and I lived on ten or fifteen cents a day. About this time I made myself known to Mr. J. Milton Smith, Secretary of the Home Fire Insurance Company. I had met this gentleman when on a visit in New England. He proved a true friend to me as long as I remained in New York. If all merchants and business men who are rich and prosperous would treat young men, especially those just from the country, as this gentleman and his excellent wife did me, fewer of them would get among bad associates and be led to ruin. Mr. Smith invited me to his home in Brooklyn, and his hospitable wife insisted that I must dine with them. I ON THE ROAD. 35 had eaten only a ten-cent breakfast that day, and they must have been astonished at the quantity of food which disap- peared. However, I suspect those benevolent, noble-hearted souls understood the situation, and afterward I had frequent invitations to their house. Mr. Smith exerted himself to find an opening for me, and at last succeeded in getting me a position in the wdiolesale grocery house of C & Co. I knew nothing about the business, but very soon I was directed by the firm to make a trip to New London, Norwich, Willimantic, Hartford, and New Haven, all in my ancestral State. As the grocery men in those places were all strangers to me, on my first round I only introduced myself and left my card. Three weeks later I made the trip again, and found that all remembered me. This time I received several orders. I now went around regularly once a month, and the number of my customers and the amount of orders constantly increased. The orders by mail also increased. Every dealer who gave me an order became a regular customer. In 1857 the firm of C & Co. failed ; and as the business was wound up, I had to transfer myself and customers to another house. By this time I had the control of consider- able trade, and had no difficulty in getting into the wholesale grocery house of Messrs. B & H . Upon leaving Grand Rapids, I had arranged with my parents that they should remain there with their other child- ren until I had pushed my way into a position whereby I could support them. But they were induced to remove to the village of Muskegon, to assist in organizing a new society of Metho- dists, and build a church. Muskegon is now a very pleasant city of about 30,000 inhabitants, and one of the lumber emporiums of this conti- nent. In 1857, it was a village of wooden huts, cabins, and small houses, inhabited principally by lumbermen and those " tough and rough " characters usually found on the outskirts of civilization. Whisky-selling, gambling, dog-fighting, and more brutal animal bipeds bruising each other, was the order 35 MARRIAGE. of the day. On hearing about their removal, I was much troubled, but at the time it was out of my power to do any- thing. They were not long there before they found out their mistake. In order to live, they opened a hotel ; some of their customers would come and stay a few days, and when my father asked them to pay up they would invite him out into the street to fight. Evidently they were used to fighting landlords, but I do not think my father ever had even an angry dispute in his life. The account that reached me of the state of affairs hastened my determination to get them out of the place, and I could think of but one way, which was to bring them on to New York. This was a very rash under- taking for a young man not yet receiving more than six hundred dollars a year. But I had a fatal confidence in my own powers to carry any burden. Besides, I expected to get my father a situation of some kind, and my young brother, then a lad of twelve, into an office. I sent for the family, and at the same time hired part of a house in South Brooklyn. They came, and affairs ran smoothly for some months. My income rapidly increased. In 1858, I transferred my business to the house of J H & Co. I had hitherto been working on a percentage ; I was now on a regular salary, with the promise of twelve hundred after October 1st. On the* strength of this expectation, I married a young lady with whom I had made acquaintance while visiting the old homestead in Connecticut. The remarkable prudence she has shown in all affairs of her life — her success in bringing up our children through all the years of separation — and her adherence to me under circumstances which would have irrevocably estranged most women — prove that I made a good choice, if she did not. Her age at that time was seventeen and mine twenty-six. I was already supporting nine persons besides myself, and though sanguine of success in business, I felt almost afraid to assume another responsibility. But I was deeply in love, and I feared that by delay I might lose the dear object of my SIGNS AND PORTENTS. 37 affections. Therefore, I rashly cast all prudential considera- tions to the winds, a customary proceeding among lovers. I have never been a believer in signs and omens, but on my voyage from Rio Janeiro to Marseilles, just previous to the great catastrophe of my life, I lost a valuable diamond ring overboard. Thirty years since I gave the young lady who is now my wife an engagement ring with an opal setting. Owing to a family affliction, she was married in black. While in an English prison, I read in one of the library books that each one of the incidents referred to was ominous of misfortune. Chapter III, OVERWEIGHTED AT THE OUTSET — A STRUGGLE TO SUPPORT DEPENDENT ONES — MY FIRST DISHONEST ACT — THE " PATENT GLOBE COFFEE-ROASTER " — ARREST ON CHARGE OF EMBEZZLEMENT — EXAMINATION AT THE TOMBS POLICE COURT, AND DISCHARGE BY " BIG " JUSTICE CONNELLY — THE PHILOSOPHY OF CRIME — TWENTY MINUTES OUT OF PRISON — A SUICIDAL RETROSPECT. AFTER my marriage I took still more active measures to help some members of the family into a position where they might be able to earn something towards the general support. A man of some ifieans went into the confectionery business with my brother, but the copartnership soon resulted in a failure. This enterprise, instead of easing my financial burdens, only increased them. During this time I was hard pushed for means to pay rent and supply food for those dependent on me. As my account with my employers was kept balanced or slightly overdrawn, on one occasion, after returning from a trip, I purposely withheld fifteen dollars from my collections. Goods were sold on thirty days' credit, any dealer in good standing being allowed that time. On my trips it would frequently happen that I collected the money for goods which had perhaps been purchased only a week instead of a month. It was one of these advance payments that tempted me to retain the amount before mentioned, as a temporary relief for pressing necessities. Previously, when on my trips, in case I made use of any portion of the money collected, for special expenses, I always had the deficiency charged to my account, and this had been satisfactory to the firm. I argued to myself thus : " My brother is now in business, will no longer need my assistance, (38) THE DEFICIENCY INCREASED. 39 and if I overdraw my account, it will place me in a bad posi- tion with the firm. This money is not due for three weeks yet, and the firm will not look for it before. I am really doing them no harm if I pay it over when due. My expenses being reduced, I will be in condition to do so, and will be careful not to get myself into such a predicament again." I was ashamed to tell my bride of three months that I had not money to purchase food for her. Had I frankly explained to her exactly how matters stood, all would have been well. As previously stated, my brother did not succeed in his business, and instead of replacing the fifteen dollars at the end of the month, I felt obliged to increase the deficiency. As the firm had the utmost confidence in my integrity, no inquiry was ever made into the accounts of my customers. Therefore, although during the next few months the deficiency gradually increased until it reached the sum of two hundred and fifty dollars, no discovery was made. Through all this time my mind was filled with apprehensions of exposure, and 1 made desperate efforts to extricate myself from the gulf into which I was slowly but surely sinking. My position was becoming unbearable, and I looked about for some honest means to raise money to make good the amount I had embezzled. One day a man whom I had known at Grand Rapids came into my place of business and showed me a " Patent Globe Coffee-Roaster," of which he owned one- half the patent-right. He said he had come from the West to sell the right, but had not yet been able to do so. He was no business man, and I saw at once it was a thing I could sell, and told him so. He eagerly accepted an offer which I made, and I at once had a cut engraved and some Ijills printed. I also took the sample coffee-roaster to the whole- sale hardware houses, and in a short time had orders for several gross. Soon after I met Mr. Wilcox, of Roys, Wilcox c c H > I— I C r. 5 c > HILTON'S PLAN. 49 in a short time, it seemed clear that I had struck a mine. Now let the reader see how I lost that finely-established busi- ness. It may be remembered that I had some bills printed to advertise the " Coffee-Roaster." I had by accident ordered them of a printer named Hilton ; and as he seemed to me a fair-minded and honest man, our acquaintance ripened into a warm friendship, at least on my part. On the first of January, after paying off the six hundred dollars, I saw that I needed the use of a like amount for a while longer, but believed I could obtain it for less than fifty dollars per month. My first intention was to borrow it from a wealthy New England relative, but on explaining the situa- tion to my friend Hilton, he immediately proposed what he held to be a better plan. He had only enough means to carry on his own business, and as I felt a prejudice, as did my wife, against letting any relative know that we were obliged to borrow, I accepted his plan, which was as follows : I was to give him my notes signed in blank ; he was to purchase goods to the amount of one thousand dollars from whoever would accept my note in payment. It was proposed that the goods should be purchased on six months' credit ; these I was to sell, at perhaps a small loss, and have the use of the money until the note or notes became due. The plan on paper looked fine ; but as I afterwards dis- covered, it not only ruined my reputation, but got me " taken in and done for " in an exceedingly " clever way " (as the English put it). The reasons Hilton gave for wanting more than one note, and those signed in blank, were, to give his own words, " I don't know what amount I shall buy at one place, and can fill out the note accordingly. Of course the people to whom I give the note will think it is one which you have paid out in the regular course of business. If they come to ask you about it, tell them it is all right, and will be paid when due." I had no objection to doing this, for I had not a doubt of my ability to meet the obligation- The next day a gentleman called and showed me my note for five or 4 50 NOTES AND NOTES. six hundred dollars, and asked me if I expected to pay it at maturity. I replied, " Certainly," and he went away. I saw Hilton the same evening and asked him if he had received the goods for my note. He replied : " The merchant was not satisfied, and concluded not to accept it in payment for the goods." " What did you do with the note ? " I asked. " I tore it up," he replied. Having complete confidence in his integrity, and above all in his friendship, I did not distrust him. The next day another note was brought to me with pre- cisely the same result. Hilton came to me for more blank notes, and I gave him a number, but, as a business precaution, required him to give me the same number of his own signed in blank. The readiness with which he complied increased my confidence that he was acting toward me in good faith. For the next month, gentlemen frequently came to me with my notes for various sums ; and, incredible as it may seem, I continued to swallow down Hilton's assurances that the parties, after making inquiries, had refused to com- plete the transaction. With childlike simplicity I also ac- cepted his assurance that he always destroyed the notes. Owing to circumstances, I did not ascertain the entire truth until several years afterwards, or just before I left for Eng- land — an excursion which cost me the best years of my life. These are the facts : Hilton had discovered the names and addresses of my references, who were business men of high standing in New York. He did not make the purchases in person, but through a broker. This man paid for the goods with my notes, giving the names of my references, then delivered them over to Hilton. When I left New York, later on, to sell my new invention (see next chapter), he still had a number of my notes signed in blank, and, on the strength of the references, continued to "buy" goods — how long, and to what amount, I have never known to this day. At all events, money represented by the amount of the notes brought to me for only a month, before I left New York, must TEE BAD, BAD PRINTER. 51 have been twenty thousand dollars, and from facts discovered later I am satisfied that Hilton received goods, of all kinds, to the amount of thirty or forty thousand dollars. Some months later I called on Mr, Erastus Titus, one of my references above mentioned, to pay a balance of twenty dollars due him. He not being in, I paid the amount to his son, Erastus Titus, Jr. — still a resident of New York — and subsequently I had frequent occasion to recall a remark which he made when I handed him the money : " I always said that you would pay us." At the moment the remark seemed to be apropros 'to nothing, and I let it pass ; but occasionally afterwards, when I came in contact with those who had known about my Broad- way business, I could perceive from their manner that some- thins: was wrono^. These had doubtless heard of the huo-e swindle which Hilton had perpetrated in my name, and supposed that I, being the chief actor, of course " knew all about it," and thought any reference to the subject might hurt my feelings ; therefore I obtained no clue to the truth until long afterwards, as explained elsewhere. It was in some degree the . inexplicable " cold-shouldering," as above intimated, that helped me onward in the path wdiich led ultimately to the great catastrophe of my life. In all such cases it would be better to state frankly to a friend what is causing one to regard another coldly, thus giving an opportunity for explanations which would relieve or confirm the suspicions. The '' goods " comprised furniture for a four-story, brown- stone front in upper New York, where I afterwards called on Hilton ; horses and carriage, printing machinery and ma- terial, etc. He conducted this matter so skillfully that, for years after, although I saw his style of living was wonderfully improved, I never even suspected that he had received any- thing for the blank notes I had put in his possession. Indeed, I felt so confident he had destroyed them, that in turn I destroyed those he had given me, although some years after I 52 J^ LUDLOW STREET JAIL. discovered one which had been overlooked. All this occurred ill the year 1862. During the Rebellion, this man Hilton went into the manufacture, in New York, of blank notes and bonds for the Confederate government. Of course he had to do all this secretly, and get his productions smuggled through the lines. I was not aware of this till I called at the Ludlow Street jail, in 1864, in response to a letter he had written me. He was then confined by order of the United States government. He had been imprisoned at first in Fort Lafayette. The means acquired by the negotiation of my notes had enabled him to enlarge his printing establishment, and open a book printing and publishing house. He had soon after begun printing Confederate notes and bonds, and had thus made a good deal of money. He had previously so much faith in my verdant simplicity, combined with stupidity, that he — up to the time I left for Enoland — told me all his secrets without reserve, and especially after he became aware that I had taken to " ways that are dark " to obtain money. When I saw him in Ludlow Street jail, or " House of Detention for L'nited States Prisoners," as its numerous inmates called it, I found him seated in the interior court-yard, tipped back in his chair against the wall, with his heels up in true Saratoga style. At that time I had never been imprisoned, and my ideas of the internal management of jails and prisons were as crude as those of ordinary outsiders. Finding him in such a place, apparently so comfortable, about the following con- versation ensued : " Well, old fellow, you don't seem to be in such bad quarters, after all. I thought they had you behind the bolts and bars." " Oh," he replied, " I make that all 0. K. I have only to give the keepers a proper ' douceur ' to do as I like. I am out here or walking about the place all day, and in the evening, after there is no lona'er dano-er of a visit from anv of the government authorities, one of the keepers goes home with A CONFEDERATE CONTRACT. 53 me. You see I take supper and breakfast at home, and get back here in good season in the morning." "But what about 3'our dinner, cigars, etc.?" " My dinner is sent to me from a restaurant, and I send out for cigars, fruit, or anything else 1 want." " Does the time hang at all heavy on your hands ? " " Oh, no ; I read the papers, have a game of billiards with one of the deputy marshals in the officers' quarters, see any friends who may call, adjust and arrange business matters connected with the printing-office, and before realizing it the time has come for me to start home." " But how did you get into this scrape ? " " I had a contract from the Confederate government to engrave the plates and print fifty million dollars of their blank notes and bonds. I purchased the tools and material required, and had some reliable men — I mean good rebels — who understood engraving, printing, etc., sent to me by the Confeds. These men worked all night in my establishment, while I carried on the usual business in the daytime. They came to the printing-office after my day workmen had gone home. I let them in from a side street, and thev left earlv enough in the morning to avoid any contact with the day hands. Everything connected with the Confederate job was locked in a room of which I held the key. I struck off several million dollars, and smuggled all through the lines safely to Richmond. The Confederate government had agreed to pay me in gold, but they were so hard up that I received nothing." " Well, what did you do then ? " " I found that the two skilled workmen sent me by the Confederate government were quite willing to^take part in a new scheme which suggested itself as soon as I found the Confeds had gone back on me, and that was to fill in our blank bills, notes, and bonds, with the names of Jeff. Davis and oth- ers, in exact imitation of the genuine signatures of which I had specimens." " But, my dear fellow, that was forgery, was it not ?" 54 THE MAN WHO PUT DOWN THE REBELLION. " Forgery be ! Why, it was aiding the government to squelch its enemies and to put down treason and rebellion, by weakening their credit ! Don't you see that by flooding the South as I have done with the counterfeit, that the rebels themselves have begun to distrust all the genuine paper issued by their own government ? Can't you realize that I have done more than the armies to break the backbone of the rebellion ? And see how I am served ! " At this point he became very indignant ; and I may remark that my pseudo friend was not the only one who, in those stirring times, was changed from a warm rebel sympa- thizer into a good patriot by imprisonment in the casemates of Fort Lafayette. " By some means," Hilton continued, " the U. S. Marshal got an inkling of what I was about, and had my place watched until he was satisfied of the truth of his information. He then made a descent on my printing-office, and carried off every thing connected with the engraving and printing of blank notes. At the same time he had me arrested, and con- signed to pace the ramparts of Fort Lafayette by day, and sleep in one of its bomb-proofs by night." '' That was rather rough on you, but you had put your foot into the trap in the first place by supplying the rebels with the sinews of war, and I am rather of the opinion you have got your just deserts ; but tell me how you got trans- ferred from Fort Lafayette ? " " By using twenty thousand dollars in lubricating the wheels of the law machine, the same as I use oil to make my printing-machinery run smoothly." " Very good ; but how are you going to get out of the fix ? " " Oh, I have made that all O. K., and will be free in a few days ; but it has all cost me a mint of money, and I shall be hard up again for some time, especially as I can't run the ' Confederate ' any longer." I have recounted this conversation of Hilton's as an ex- ample of how men in their own estimation never do wrong, A GREAT MORAL QUESTION: bb and how they plaster that word over m their consciences. Readers who are skilled in the science of casuistry may solve this problem : Was it right for Hilton to forge the names of Jeff. Davis, Benjamin, and other Confederate government officials, if he really intended to flood the rebel States with counterfeit bank and treasury notes for the ultimate purpose of crippling that government ? Chapter V. I INVENT A STEAM-KETTLE AND OBTAIN A PATENT — THE BROADWAY BUSINESS BROKEN UP — MY TEMPORARY DISCOURAGEMENT — ATTEMPT TO ESTABLISH A FACTORY IN TORONTO — CONFIDENCE IN U. S. GREENBACKS — GOLD ON THE "rampage" — $10,000 REDUCED BY EXCHANGE TO $3,000 — RETREAT TO CHI- CAGO — FRANK KIBBE, THE MERCHANDISE SWINDLER — I MEET HIM IN BUFFALO AND BALTIMORE — KIBBE, FEARING ARREST, INDUCES ME TO COLLECT $1,000 — A " crook's " CHANCES OF ESCAPING IMPRISONMENT. WHILE Hilton was trying, as I supposed, in vain to get me the small amomit I lacked to make my business easier during the dull months of January and February, I had evolved out of my brain an improved steam-kettle ; and as soon as I saw the Hilton plan was liable to fail, I deter- mined to raise the necessary capital from my invention. I left the store in charge of a brother-in-law, before then out of employment, and, with his family, living at my house. He was an utter failure as a business man, though a " plod- der " who afterwards became rich in the " turtle " way. I learned subsequently that, when any one came into my Broadway store and asked where I was, or any other question, he would not look at them, but remain in stupid silence. I doubt not but some of those to whom Hilton paid my notes called to see me, and being thus treated thought I must have ran away, and later conferred with my landlord. At all events he called to see me, and being thus received, went straightway and let the store for the following year to another party. In the meantime, with no suspicion of what was passing in New York, I was having unexpected success with the sale of my steam-kettle, and sent home several hundred dollars to (56) ''MOURNING goods:* ^^ pay the next month's rent and other expenses. Of course I was in high spirits, believing that I was, after all my struggles and vicissitudes, fairly settled in a money-making business, and that I should be no longer cramped for means to carry it on. I wrote to my wife frequently, but as I was going from place to place I could not tell definitely where a letter would reach me. At the end of four weeks I had received none, and I started for home triumphant, having cleared above ex- penses more than one thousand dollars. On my arrival in New York I was utterly dismayed at finding the store closed, and a placard in the window which read thus : " This store will be occupied by Messrs. , with a full assortment of Mourning Goods of the latest Parisian styles. Opening day on Wednesday, May 1, 1863." During my absence the business had been grossly mis- managed ; and it appeared that my brother-in-law accepted of a small sum from the new lessees to vacate the store at once — a transaction on a par with his other business achieve- ments. I learned that the gentlemen who had rented the store while I was absent, paid four hundred dollars for the privi- lege of possession before the first of May. Had not the store been closed on my arrival, I could in all probability have held possession. Thus, I found myself once more afloat, and for a few days was greatly depressed and discouraged. Very soon I left New York with my only remaining hope, my steam-kettle. Those who had been victimized by Hilton with my notes, after the Broadway store was closed did not know where to find me, and as the notes became due I received no notice from the holders of my paper. Had I received a single notice I should have discovered all the facts. If I had remained in New York, the gentlemen who acted as my references would have informed me ; although Hilton had taken every precau- tion to cover his connection with the business by the employ- 58 JJOW -'FRESH''! ment of a broker, I believe there was sufficient evidence to have shown up the whole affair. The breaking up of my Broadway business started me on the journey which brought me in contact with one of the most skillful commercial swindlers ever known — Frank Kibbe, of whom the reader will learn more about hereafter. Within a few months, I had made several thousand dollars from the sale of my steam-kettle, and I began to think of establishing myself once more in business. During my travels, I had made a short stay in Toronto, and had ascertained there was an excellent opening there for a wholesale confectionery business. I soon hired a large warehouse well suited to the purpose, and fitted it up in proper shape. I sent for my family to remove from New York, and soon after their arrival I had the factory in operation. Now for the first time in my life I had started a business on a safe foundation, with ten thousand dollars to carry it on. People conversant with my previous mishaps said : " Surely, Bidwell has the thing right this time." But he did not have it right. It would be difficult for the reader to imagine how I was obliged to abandon the business almost at the start. When I first concluded to make the venture, gold was at a premium of about twenty per cent., greenbacks being worth about eighty cents in gold. I reasoned thus to myself: " There is no better security in the world than a United States greenback, and it is absurd that it should not command its full value in gold. Other people must look at the matter in the same light, and see that it is nothing but the operations in Wall Street that put greenbacks below par. Such an un- natural state of things cannot continue, and it will not be long before the good sense of the majority will predominate and the bills be worth their face." That sort of reasoning shows how " fresh " I still was in financial matters. I kept on investing in the Toronto busi- ness, holding my capital in greenbacks to exchange for Can- BUFFALO, BILLIARDS, AND BALTIMORE. 59 ada money only as fast as became necessary. Gold kept going up, up, till by the time I had my factory ready for successful operation it had reached above two hundred and eighty. To exchange my ten thousand at the rate current in To- ronto would leave me with only about three thousand dollars capital. I regretfully abandoned the business, with the loss of three-fourths of my capital ; for, in order to close up mat- ters, I was obliged to sell one hundred dollars in greenbacks for thirty dollars in Canada currency, Avhich was the equiva- lent of gold. At this time, I sent my father, with the others of the family, to Chicago, and for the first time since marriage my wife and I were living by ourselves. Previous to the Toronto fiasco, while staying.at a hotel in Buffalo, engaged in the sale of my patent kettle, I had gradu- ally fallen into the habit of passing a part of my time even- ings either in watching the game of billiards, or in playing myself. On several of these occasions I had noticed a man playing, who was also a guest at the hotel. His general appearance was that of a business man. He was above the medium height, slim, with auburn hair, light complexion, a blonde mustache, and a pair of noticeably large, light-blue, restless eyes. He, like myself, seemed to be alone, and to have considerable leisure. One evenins: I was watching a game, when he came forward and asked me to play. I accepted the invitation, and had several games with him before I left Buffalo. Some months after this, I was staying at the old Fountain Hotel in Baltimore. I found the restless, shifty-eyed man, whose acquaintance I had formed in Buffalo, stopping at the same hotel, and on the strength of the former meeting we passed our leisure time in playing billiards. He led me to believe that he was traveling on some kind of mercantile business, and it was not long before I told him about my steam- kettle. He gave me his name as Frank Kibbe, and my acquaintance with that man proved the most unfortunate event of my life. With the exterior and manners of a business QQ . "THE ROGUE.'' man — active and indefatigable in the prosecution of his pro- jects — insinuating in his demeanor toward strangers — plausi- ble and fluent in speech — in private life uncommonly dissolute — fickle and false toward those with whom he became in any way connected, — he did not possess even the redeeming trait known as " honor among thieves." Frank Kibbe, who came to be known as " The Rogue," would resort to any means to obtain money with w^hich to conduct the worship of his god and goddess, Bacchus and Venus. He was a most detestable coward, although among acquaintances a blatant braggart. I have known but one other man who resembled " The Rogue " in personal appearance, being his opposite in every other trait except that of cowardice. In this George Engles was the former's equal ,^^nd up to the time I got into an Eng- lish prison he had evaded paying any legal penalties for the forgeries which had brought him in several hundred thousand, and secured him the title of " The Terror of Wall Street." Later on I shall have something more to say of this man and his operations in Wall Street and elsewhere. After a few days Kibbe saw fit to take me into his confi- dence. He told me that he had a commission office in Bal- timore, and after some skirmishing about, finally divulged that he was afraid to go to his office for fear of being arrested by his creditors. " I received some goods from New York," said he, " and have turned them over to Messrs. & Co., commission merchants, to sell for me. I have not paid for them yet, and am afraid to go to collect the proceeds of their sale. Now, I will give you an order for the goods, and if you will take it and collect the money from & Co., I will give you one-half." I saw that there was no risk in accepting and executing the offer. During my connection with New York houses, and in the struggles of the previous few years, the strict business integrity which I had brought from Michigan to New York had been slow% but surely undermined, so that I had become A MONEY COLLECTION'. 61 satisfied that if I lived up to legal honesty, it was all required of me bj the generality of men. I had reached the point where the only question which presented itself was : " Shall I get into trouble by doing so and so ? " Not, " Is this thing right — shall 1 be doing as I would wish to be done by ? " I recalled how Mr. , a partner in the house where I was first engaged in New York, then esteemed an honorable man, and now one of the magnates in Wall street, who, when his house failed, and I had located with B & H , brought in one of his former customers, and recommended him for credit. With the goods thus obtained the customer paid, as doubtless previously agreed between them, an old debt he owed Mr. 's house, then failed himself, and the house of B — — J^ and the chief would kick you out of the office. I thought," he added with a grin, " it was a fair offer, the closing part of it in particular, so I handed it over and came here to keep out of your way." " Well, you have thrown away six hundred dollars for the luxury of having the chief kick me out of his office. Now, Mr. Kibbe, if you don't settle at once I shall return the chief's compliment with interest." I knew where he carried his money, and he convinced me that he had but a little over two thousand five hundred dollars on his person. He then said : " I will give you two thousand four hundred dollars cash, and turn over bills of lading for goods now at the depot and wharves to the amount of eight thousand dollars, consisting of flour, beef, pork, lard, oil, butter, etc." To this arrangement I agreed, and we all returned to Buf- falo. After arriving in that city we concluded the business, and the same evening " The Rogue " and his partner took the train for New York. The next morning I got an inspector to brand the flour, and took his certificate of inspection, together with samples, to a commission merchant. He took the samples " on change," and returned in a few moments, having sold the entire lot, and upon being handed the inspector's certificate, he gave me a check for the whole amount, less his commis- sion. I got the check cashed at five minutes to three. I state the time merely to show that, had I been five minutes later, and obliged to stay over till next day, it is more than likely I should have had some of the parties who shipped the goods on my hands. Such an occurrence might have cost me all the money in my possession. I close this chapter with a newspaper article, detailing a somewhat remarkable series of small, swindling operations. [From The Xew York Tribune, 1867.] FALSE PRETENCE EXTRAORDINARY — ARREST OF TWO SKILLFUL OPERATORS. Last night Detective Officer Richard Field apprehended George Hayes and John Howard, and took them to the Leonard Street 72 MESSES. ''HAYES AND HOWARD.'' police station, wliere they were detained by Capt. Petty. The operations of these prisoners are the most remarkable that have come to the knowledge of the police for many a day. About two years ago they opened an office on the northwest corner of Broad and South Streets, the business being transacted under the name of H. K. Clinton. Clinton (alias Hayes) purchased $150 worth of carpet- ing of Messrs. Humpfell & Hamlin, of Broadway, and of Messrs. Allen and Brothers, of No. 88 Leonard Street, $260 worth of silk cloaks, and these were delivered, with bill, at Clinton's office. Of course Clinton was not in at the time of the delivery, but would return soon, and of course Howard received the goods, and the messengers who had delivered the goods were requested to call within an hour. When they did call they found an empty room, the goods having been removed and the firm having taken French leave. The couple next opened shop at No. 62 Broadway, and transacted business under the name of W. A. Stewart. While here Hayes (now Stewart) bought $600 worth of furs of Mr. M. M. Backus, of No. 532 Broadway, and gave him a w^orthless check therefor; bought $500 worth of cloths of Messrs.. Abcrnethy & Co., of No. 23 Warren street, and gave that firm a worthless check ; purchased wagons valued at $585 of Messrs. Brewster & Baldwin, of Broadway and Tenth Street, and defrauded them, and many other tradesmen whose names have not been made known. The busi- ness was next resumed at No. 81 Beaver Street, and there the chief was known as Wallace. They here defrauded Mr. John J. Smith, of No. 183 Broadway, having bought of him $1,857 worth of umbrel- las, and of Messrs. J. F. Smith & Co., of Broadway and Catharine Lane, they got $345 worth of coach harness. Next they opened an office at No. 15 William Street, and Hayes became R. M. Kings- land, and as such victimized Mr. John B. Dunham of No. Ill East Thirteenth Street, to the tune of $1,200 for pianos, and Messrs. Betts & Nichols of No. 349 Broadway, to the amount of $275 for harness. Moving again, they adopted a new name, and opened an office at No. 61 Broadway, as W. S. Hyatt & Co. Here they defrauded many merchants, among them Messrs. Lacy & Maker, of No. 27 Chambers Street, $124; Mr. M. A. Coburn, of No. 152 Fourth Avenue, $175, and Messrs. R. W. Tinson & Co., of No. 50 Broadway, $123 The next exploit of Hayes and Howard was at No. 106 South TEE ''SAME OLD COON." 73 Street, where Hayes became W. A. Stewart. While here, Hayes bought $500 worth of harness of Messrs. Townshend, Baker & Co., of No. 46 Lispenard Street, and gave the firm a worthless check, ordering the purchase packed and directed to a firm in Texas, and delivered at No. 106 South Street. But unluckily for Hayes and Howard, Mr. Baker followed his harness, and finding everything wrong at No. 106 South Street, sent his check to bank to ascertain whether Hayes's check was good. On the clerk's return, the check having proved worthless, Mr. Baker seized his goods, and the rogues fled. The firm's business was next under the name of William H. Martin, and their office at No. 6 South Street. W hile here, Hayes bought $500 worth of flour of the Messrs. Hickman, of the New York Flour Mills, and the flour was delivered to his partner, as usual. But the game was blocked there, and Hayes, and Howard, his partner, were arrested. The entire firm was indicted by the grand jury, and six months ago a bench-warrant for their appre- hension was intrusted to Officer Field; but Hayes and Howard kept out of sight until last night. When captured in Bleecker Street, near Wooster, Hayes offered resistance, but the exhibition of a pistol quieted him, and changed his tack to a tender of his watch and $500 for his release, but Officer Field chose to deliver him to Capt. Petty. Howard went quietly to the police station, and sullenly to a cell. He was once a clerk for a Boston dry goods firm. Hayes has been in the false pretense business in other cities, and in this city he has disposed of large quantities of spurious bank notes. It is believed that this precious couple have defrauded more than one hundred of our tradesmen, always, either by worthless checks, or by having goods dehvered at their office, wherever it happened to be, and removing them therefrom as above described. They are young men of about thirty -two years of age, of exquisitely genteel address, and have been boarders at our fashionable hotels. Capt. Petty will detain the prisoners in the Leonard Street police station for identi- fication by tradesmen whom they have victimized. "It is almost unnecessary to explain that Clinton, alias Hayes, alias Stewart, was none other than the Frank Kibbe of my previous acquaintance. Chapter VII. PARTNER-SWINDLING — "DOCTOR" SAMUEL BOLIVAR — HOW HE "RAISED THE wind" — UP A TREE — THE WAY HE ROPED IN GREENHORNS — THE BOGUS REFERENCE "DEAD BEAT" — JONES'S GRAND PIANO — THE EMPTY BOX — THE ELM CITY ENTERPRISE COMES TO AN UNTIMELY END — MUSICAL " NOTES " — DIAMOND CUT DIAMOND — BEATEN BY AN EX-ASSOCIATE, WHO DISAPPEARS INTO OBSCURITY. THE occurrences related in the previous chapter caused considerable reflection, and after my return to New York I looked about for openings into an honest business. I saw an advertisement for a " partner wanted, with five thousand dollars in cash." I called at the place designated, and found a man seated in an arm-chair. He had a long, heavy, brown beard, curving eyebrows, squinting bluish eyes, rather coarse features, but on the whole not an unpleasing countenance. He was below the medium height, and thick- set. I afterwards found him rather gentlemanly in his address when doing business, and able to tell a good story on all occasions. This man was Doctor Samuel Bolivar, as he styled himself. He was very free in speaking to me of his antecedents after we became acquainted, and t learned that he and his wife boarded up town with a sister. Her house was filled with young medical students. Bolivar had chummed in with them, attended some of the lectures, and on several occasions had been admitted to the wonders and horrors of the dissecting- room. On account of an after episode in the " Doctor's " life, it may be well for the reader to bear in mind just how he obtained the handle to his name. He was the illegitimate son of a Massachusetts man, and had been left to get through the (74) JACK OF ALL TRADES. 7-5 world in his own way ; and the result was that at thirty, when I met him, he possessed an amount of self-esteem, assurance, and impudence, that quite astounded me. He had been every- thing, and nothing very long. As a lad, he was a farmer's boy, match-peddler, newsboy, and bootblack. A little later he became a canal driver, then attempted to become a circus tumbler ; and when that aspiration was squelched by an invol- untary double somersault, which landed him on his head and left a twist in his neck, he turned printer's devil. While per- forming the duties of this black art, he took to study, and picked up considerable knowledge of the art entitled " How to get into business on a small capital." After various experi- ences and adventures in his native New England, at the age of twenty he landed in New York, where he believed the goal of his ambition was in plain view. The " Doctor " had many excellent qualities, was a tender, considerate husband and father, amiable, generous, and faithful to his friends, but he was blind to the moral obliquity involved in easing strangers of their surplus money by sharp practice. I say strangers, for swindlers of his class are usually as scrupulous in their dealings with each other, or rather when they unite together to " beat " outsiders, as any class of business men. But gen- erally spealdng there is not much of the " honor among thieves " left of which we used to read in novels. Bolivar informed me that he knew of a flourishing business to be sold, and having but five thousand dollars, which was not sufficient capital to make the purchase, he wished to find a good man to join him as partner. I told him that if the affair would bear investigation, I was ready to invest the nec- essary amount. The fact that a man was willing to put in capital himself, naturally gave me a good impression, both of the man and the proposed business. He then accompanied me to a large retail grocery and provision store, and introduced me to the surviving partner. He appeared to be about sixty years of age, worn and sickly. On an examination of his books, I found 76 ^ BEAR STORY. that the business was really in a flourishing condition. He stated that since his partner's death, he had concluded to retire from business altogether. The price of his lease, fixtures, two horses and wagons, and the stock necessary to keep the business going, would be about ten or twelve thou- sand dollars. He had made an offer to Bolivar, Avhich would give him a good business at a bargain. So far, all seemed as satisfactory as possible ; Bolivar gave me references, who spoke well of him, but knew nothing as to his means. As a precaution, I sent a friend to the place, who, accosting the proprietor, told him he was looking around to find a good business for sale, and thought he might perhaps know of one. He was informed that the place he was in was for sale, he himself intending to retire from business. After considerable conversation, my friend asked the price of the place. The proprietor offered the place to him as it was, for five thousand dollars. When my friend reported, I saw there must be a " take in " somewhere. I called on Bolivar and said to him : " Come, Doctor, let me into your little secret, I am myself involved in speculations. I fancy we are both engaged in extracting an elixir from the ' root of all evil ' by similar processes." After some farther parley, I told him of my friend's call at the provision store. He was at first nonplussed, but soon began to laugh, and said : " This reminds me of a little story. Many years ago, a friend of mine went out to the Rockies to make his fortune by the discovery of a gold-mine. The first thing he discov- ered, after he arrived, was that his pork and flour were all consumed. He had succeeded so well in isolating himself, that, with the exception of his two pack-horses, there was not a civilized living creature within a circuit of one hundred miles. Taking his rifle, he started out to kill anything edi- ble, from a rattlesnake to a buffalo, and before going far he caught a glimpse of some animal, and fired. He said to him- self as he went through the underbrush in pursuit : ' That is PARTNER nUMBUGGERY. 77 a bear, and if I can make him take to a tree he cannot escape ; once treed, he is my meat, and I'm sure of my dinner.' Sud- denly he came to the edge of a small prairie and saw the bear crossing the open space. He did not know it was a grizzly, and taking good aim fired again. The grizzly turned, reared himself on his hind paws, and as soon as he saw his assail- ant, dropped down on all fours and ' went for him.' My friend took in the situation, and throwing away his gun ran straight towards a tree, which he reached just in time ; and thus, instead of having treed the bear, he was himself treed. Well, neighbor, I guess instead of treeing you as I expected, you have got me up a tree." " Doctor, tell me how you manage to make any money out of this partner business," I said to him a few days later. " There are several ways of operating by which I rope in greenhorns," he replied ; " the one I was trying on you is the best. I find a really paying business which the owner is anx- ious to sell for cash. I then ascertain the very lowest figures for which he would sell it. Then, I say : ' Now, Mr. Blank, I can get you a cash customer on one condition. You say that your place is worth seven thousand dollars, but that you will take five thousand dollars in cash. At your highest estimate you are not charging much for your good will, and you ought to know that the good will of an established trade is worth more than the fixtures, lease, and stock in trade. Yours is worth three thousand dollars. That would bring the value of your place up to ten thousand dollars. Now, sir, you set your price at that figure ; I will get a man to go in partner- ship, who will pay his half, and I will give you a check for my half — five thousand dollars — which after its delivery you are to hand back to me in private.' " " So far, very well, but in case your profit is tied up in the business, and you are bound to devote your time to it, what about that ? " I asked. " In the course of a month," he replied, " I manage to make my partner dissatisfied with me ; then I get him to 78 THE NEW HAVEN STORE. make me an offer of how much he will give or take. What- ever it is, I accept, get all the money I can down, and make an agreement secured by a mortgage on the place for the balance, in small payments. The result is that I get my pay or the place comes into my hands, in which case I have no trouble to get the money out of it." In return for "Doctor" Samuel Bolivar's confidence, I re- lated to him the little plans and devices for getting other people's money, into which Kibbe had initiated me. He thought each one of them a splendid way to make a fortune, and quite superior to his partnership operations. As a con- sequence he wished me to go into business with him, right away. It will be perceived that from the moment I gave way to the seduction of Kibbe's offer of letting me make ^500 so easily and safely at Baltimore, I became an apt pupil, thinking to let myself into such a way of obtaining money only so far as to get enough to enable me to establish a legit- imate business. Certainl}^ I believed that one or two months would do it. Not long after our first meeting I directed Bolivar to hire an office, or suite of offices, on the ground floor at the corner of Beaver and Broad Streets. These were tastily fitted up and a large sign placed over each front. After this, I took another man with me to New Haven, Conn. Before leaving New York I had purchased an old sign (I have forgotten the name of the firm on it — call it Smith, Brown & Co.), and shipped it to New Haven. On our arrival there, we rented a store and put up the old sign. Leaving my assistant at the New Haven store, I returned to New York and found everything ready to begin opera- tions. I took the fourth and last member of our party — call him Jones — and went around with him. When we came to a wholesale place, that I had selected as likely to fill our order, I sent him in and told him what to buy, and to what amount. I remained near by while he made the purchase in JONES SELECTS A GRAND. 79 the name of the New Haven firm, of which he claimed to be the head. After the purchase was completed, on the usual terms, he gave as reference Messrs. L & Co., our bogus New York firm. If any one called on L & Co., to inquire as to the responsibility of the New Haven firm, Bolivar would say, " We should not hesitate to ship them goods to the amount of 15,000 to 810,000, and all their dealings with us have been satisfactory." This was sufficient to cause the shipment of the first order. There is a saying common among mer- chants, or was twenty years ago : " A buyer who is ' crooked ' always pays his first bill in order to get a bigger shipment afterwards." I found the most successful plan of merchan- dise swindling was to make but a single purchase, and then to convert the goods into cash at once, or reship them to a place where they could be easily and safely disposed of. The police are so well posted on this kind of swindle at the pres- ent day that such an operation would scarcely be attempted by the most foolhardy " crook." After going around with Jones as described, until he had purchased from ten to fifteen thousand dollars' worth of goods, I concluded to stop at that. All the purchases had been of staple goods, such as butter, cheese, pork, hams, sugar, tea, coffee, etc. Now comes the funny part. Jones was some- thing of a musician, and wanted to buy a piano to send home to his sister at the old homestead. I said to him : " These piano dealers are being so constantly imposed upon by sharp- ers that they have their eyes opened very wide. You can much easier procure articles which command ready money, and pay cash for your piano." But Jones wanted a pialio at the cost of freight only ; besides he did not like the idea of paying for what he believed he could get for nothing. He went to the warehouse of the New York Piano Com- pany and selected one of their grands, price 81,000, for which he tendered a draft at six months on L " There can be no doubt about it," I replied ; " and at this moment they are doubtless consulting as to what measures can be taken to secure the ten thousand pounds paid you until they can get advices from England. The cable is not yet completed, and they must wait the slow movement of the mail, which will take forty days. You informed him that you expected to remain in Brazil three months, and as it is known that no one can get out of the country without getting his passport vised at police headquarters, they will not arrest you for fear that after all it may be only a mistake, unless you attempt to leave Brazil. A bold step must be taken. Here are the other letters of credit; take this pen and write in the sub-manager's name." Although Munson was a skillful penman, he had never attempted to forge names himself, Engles having performed that delicate operation during the short time we had been in such business. The ordeal through which Munson had passed had made him nervous; therefore, though not a drink- ing man, I procured a glass of brandy, which he swallowed. In a few moments he began to write in the names, though with rather a shaky hand. When finished, I compared them with the genuine signature in my possession, and found it very shaky ; but we were in for it, and I could see but one way out ; therefore I selected the best, handed them to Mun- son, and said : " It is not an hour since you left the bank. Take these letters back immediately, and show the manager both signa- tures, remarking at the same time that the second name must have been unintentionally omitted from the one on which you drew the ten thousand pounds. He cannot fathom that you could have forged the sub-manager's name in so short a time. See if it does not prove a ' poser.' Though it may not wholly allay suspicion, it will give me time to make and execute a plan for getting you out of the country. Of that I am cer- tain. Rely on me, keep cool, and above all keep a stiff upper lip, and act up to the character you have assumed. Be sure 164 TROUBLE CLEARLY AHEAD. to offer them more exchange on London, as I wish to ascer- tain how they take the proposition ; and if they decline to purchase, say that you will have to transfer your account to the English Bank of Rio." Starting on his decisive errand, followed by me as before, he was not long in the bank, but reappeared empty-handed, no one following to '' shadow " him. Upon meeting at the designated place, Munson informed me that the manager was evidently agreeably surprised when he was shown the letters with both signatures ; nevertheless, he had refused to pur- chase any more exchange, but had transferred the endorse- ment from the letter that had but one signature to one with both. All this convinced me that his suspicion was fully aroused. It was therefore clear that our safety depended upon the invention of a plan by which I could get Munson out of Brazil, and at the same time convince the bank man- ager that he intended to remain. It must be a plan which would throw oft' any one attempting to watch his movements, and make it appear that he was still in the country until the steamer in which he sailed should have been at least twenty- four hours at sea. This plan, and how it was successfully executed, will be detailed in the following chapter. Chapter XVI. TECHNICALITIES OF BRAZILIAN LAW — IN A TIGHT SPOT — I RESOLVE ON A BOLD COUP — EFFICACY OF A SUITABLE " DOUCEUR " — A " DOCTORED " PASSPORT — A DETECTIVE ON TRAIL, WHO INGRATIATES HIMSELF INTO MUNSON'S CON- FIDENCE — MANEUVERS — THE DETECTIVE ON A "WILD GOOSE CHASE" — SAFELY ON BOARD — A DISTINGUISHED PARTY IN A ROWBOAT — A STERN CHASE — OFF AT LAST. ^ THETHER the law remains the same as it was in 1872, I am unable to state ; but at that time every person desiring to leave Brazil must be provided with a passport — if a foreigner, one from his own government — if a native, one from the Brazilian. When ready to start, he must take his passport to police headquarters and have it vised, then leave it with the ticket-agent where he buys his ticket. This agent, after ascertaining from the chief of police that the intending passenger is not " wanted " by the authorities, transmits the passport to the purser of the steamer, who, in turn, hands it to the owner after the ship is at sea. It will be seen that these regulations render it very difficult for any suspected person to leave Brazil by the regular channels of communication ; and if difficult for a native, how much more so for a stranger, ignorant of the country and its language, the Portuguese. French, Italian, or German, did well enough in the large towns, but the moment, a fugitive who did not understand their language got into the country, he would stand a poor chance of getting far away from Rio. There- fore, I was obliged to abandon the project of going south to Buenos Ayres — a journey by land of fifteen hundred miles — or of crossing the continent to the Pacific by way of the Amazon. At last I determined on a bold coup to get Munson (165) 1QQ THE ''LJVINGSTONIA.'' away on a steamer which was to leave on a certain day. Accordingly, I had an American (U. S.) passport filled in with the name Gilmore, by which I was known during the voyage from England, by the agent of the steamship line, and others in Rio. This I took to the police headquarters, and finding the anteroom crowded with people, I supposed I should be obliged to wait my turn ; but presently the inter- preter came along, and, presumably, judging by my appear- ance that time was more valuable to me than a little money, he whispered in French : " If you are in a hurry, you will save time by sending in a small ' douceur ' to the chief, or you may have to wait all day." I took the hint and slipped into his ready palm a few reys, with which he disappeared into the inner room. In a short time I was ushered in and my passport vised without my being troubled with an interro- gation. Proceeding to the ticket-agent I delivered up the passport, receiving and paying for a saloon passage to Liver- pool. He recognized me as one of the party who had arrived a few days previously by the Lucitania^ and expressed some surprise at my early return, it being the best part of the year for a sojourn in the tropics. I explained that having com- pleted my business, I was in a hurry to get back to my own country. My next move was to walk along the water-front and find where row-boats with oarsmen were to be let. As these were to be had at several points, I selected the most obscure one toward the northern boundary of the city. Here I found a boat, and was rowed out to the steamship Living- stonia. I went on board and found the purser, to whom I showed my ticket, and asked him to assign me a state-room by myself. Having paid- him the extra price required for the privilege of being the sole occupant, I received the key, took a good look around, that I might find the room again without the necessity of making inquiries, and left for the city, after informing the purser that I should remain on shore until the hour for sailing the next day. Upon meeting Munson I requested him to call at the bank and casually inform the "SHADOWED:' 167 manager that he should start the next morning for S. Romao, a town in the interior of Brazil, to be absent a week. He was then to go to the Hotel d' Europe, pay his bill, at the same time stating that he was to leave Rio by the four o'clock train the next morning. As Munson had two trunks, and other impedimenta befitting a man of his pretensions, it was neces- sary to take a carriage to the station, which was nearly a mile distant. It would be unsafe to go in a carriage belong- ing to the hotel ; therefore, he was to say that a friend would call for him. As it was still two hours to sunset, I suggested that after he had arranged matters, he should saunter out, walk about the streets until dark, then return to the hotel and be ready when I should call for him at three o'clock the next mornins^. After these arrangements we separated, I following to ascertain if he was being watched or shadowed by detectives. When he entered the hotel I remained within view of the entrance. It was not long before he reappeared and walked leisurely along the street, with gold-headed cane, and real diamonds flashing in the tropical sunlight. A few seconds later I saw another man come out, cross the street, and go in the same direction. I followed him, and was soon satisfied that he was keeping Munson in view. This sort of double hunt was kept up until dusk, when Munson returned to his hotel, unconscious that a moment later his " shadow " entered the place. Here was a " stunner " and no mistake, though it was no more than I had anticipated as among the possibil- ities ; still, I had indulged in the hope that the bank would rely entirely on the passport system, and take no further steps for a day or two, which was all the time required to carry out my plan. Though Munson had good nerve, it was already somewhat shaken, and surely the situation would have unnerved most men. Therefore, fearing that the cer- tain knowledge of imminent danger might still further confuse him and cause some false move, I determined to keep my discovery to myself. Leaving Munson and his 153 A DETECTIVE'S ''GALL." " shadow " to their own devices at the hotel, I next proceeded to an obscure part of the town, and stopping at a small but respectable looking tavern, I engaged a room for the next day. I also engaged a carriage, with an English-speaking driver, to be in readiness at three o'clock the next morning — then returned to my own hotel for a few hours' sleep. Promptly at the hour I was at the livery stable, where I found the carriage ready, and was driven to the Hotel d'Europe. Sending the driver up to the office on the second floor, Munson soon appeared and informed me that he had promised to take to the station a man who was stopping at the hotel. " He is going to S. Romao by the same train," continued Munson, " and seems a good fellow, for I had a long talk with him last night." Upon seeing signs of disapproval in my face, he explained : " Well, you know, he said he could not get a carriage at so early an hour in the morning, and I thought it could do no harm to take him in, and he is waiting up stairs." It would be diffcult for the reader to imagine the effect of this surprising communication upon my mind, for it was clear enough that this was the very person who had been " shadow- ing " Munson the day before, and had skillfully ingratiated himself into his new friend's confidence. I could but admire his unwonted " cheek " in asking a contemplated victim for a ride to the station. I said to Munson : '' AVhat in the world can you be thinking of? Don't you see you are blocking our whole plan ? Go up and tell him your carriage is loaded down with luggage, and express your regrets that you can- not accommodate him." This Munson was obliged to do, though with repugnance, it being against his nature to do anything that looked " mean." During this time the baggage was being placed in the carriage, and as soon as Munson had dismissed his " passenger," who for some reason, did not show himself to me, we started rap- idly for the station. On the way I requested him to avoid making any new friends until he should find himself well out CUTTING AN ACQUAINTANCE. ^gg at sea. Said I, '' It might be fatal to attract the attention of any one, or to let any one see you leave the train. Of course this new acquaintance of yours is only a countryman, but it is not possible to foresee what disaster the least mis- take or want of caution might originate. Now listen : if you will be guided entirely by me, you will be safe on the broad Atlantic to-night. You know," I continued, " that these cars are on the English system, divided into compartments. You must go into the station, stand near the ticket-office until your new acquaintance comes ; then observe if he buys a first- class ; if so, you take a second, and vice versa. Pay no atten- tion to him, and let him see you get into your compartment, but keep an eye on his movements. In case he comes to get in where you are, despite the different class of the tickets, tell him the compartment is engaged. Everything depends on how you carry yourself through the next twenty minutes. A sin- gle false step, a word too little or too much, will surely prove fatal to us both ! " In accordance with our pre-arranged plan, I stopped the carriage opposite the station, it being still dark. Munson alighted, went straight inside, and in a few minutes saw his " passenger " come puffing in, nearly out of breath. Un- questionably supposing Munson's baggage to be already on board the train, he purchased a ticket, and after seeing his intended victim enter a compartment, got into another himself just as the train began to move. This was the vital moment for which Munson had been waiting, and having previously unlocked with his master car-key the door opposite, he stepped off on that side, hastily crossed to the other platform of the dimly-lighted station, and made his way unnoticed into the street. While this was passing I sat in the carriage, and it was not many minutes before I had the satisfaction of see- ing Munson coming back to me. For the benefit of the driver we then had a dialogue somewhat as follows : " It is too bad ! Our friends have not arrived ; what shall we do ?" 170 THE BAGGAGE ABOARD. " Well, I suppose we must go back to the hotel and wait for the afternoon train," I answered. " But I have paid my bill there," said Munson, " and do not care to go back." " Then," I replied, '' meet me at the station, and I will look after the luGro-ao-e." In case they recovered the trail, the information obtained from the drivei* Avould cause confusion and delay sufficient, 1 hoped, to enable me to get Munson out of Rio. I then told the coachman to drive into the city. It was not yet daylight, but after a while I saw a sort of eating-house and tavern combined, and had the carriage halted there. Alighting, I entered, and said to the person in charge that I did not wish to disturb my friends at so early an hour, and would pay him for taking care of my baggage, as I wished to discharge the carriage. This offer was of course accepted, the baggage housed, and the carriage dismissed. In the meantime Munson was waiting for me in an appointed place not far away, where I joined him, and we went to the obscure tavern where the room had been engaged. So far my plan had been successful. Munson was hidden safely away before dawn, while at the same moment his very clever new friend was some miles distant on a " wild goose chase " into the interior. Arriving back at my hotel soon after daylight, I took a leisurely breakfast, after which I sal- lied out and engaged two stalwart slave porters, whom I found, according to the custom of their class in Brazil, busily occupied in plaiting straw for hats while waiting for a job. Motioning them to follow me, I led the way to where Mun- son's basroraire was stored. Dividino: it between the two, we proceeded to the place I had selected as the safest to get off to the steamer without attracting notice, and had it put into a boat. Paying the porters, I followed and was rowed off to the steamer. The baggage was hoisted on deck, the trunks deposited in the hold, and the smaller articles carried into my state-room ; after which I went ashore to await the hour of A ''GOLDEN'' STATE BOOM. I'JI the decisive movement for which 1 had made such elaborate preparations. There was no train by which the detective could return to Rio until late in the afternoon ; and I felt certain that when he should ascertain that Munson was not upon the train, he would be confident that his intended victim had slipped off at a way station in order to make his escape into the interior. Under this impression he would naturally make inquiries at the likely stations, and even if he sent a dis- patch to the bank, it would doubtless be to the effect that his quarry had left Rio on the early train that morning with himself. The baggage had taken up my time until ten a.m., and returning to my hotel, I packed into a knapsack as many bags of gold (about .£8,000) as I could conveniently carry, called a carriage, and was driven to where Munson had been waiting in great anxiety for several hours. Taking him in, we were not long in reaching the place of embarkation, and were rowed about five miles up the harbor, where the steamer had gone to take in coal. Amid the usual confusion attend- ing the departure of an ocean steamer, we got on board unnoticed, and went direct to the state-room. By the time we were in it the gold had become excessively heavy, and I was glad enough to stow^ it away in one of the berths. We had not been long in the state-room before vre heard the wel- come sound of the bell, warning all who were not about to make the voyage to leave the steamer. I parted from Mun- son, recommending him to remain in his state-room until the ship should be well out into the Atlantic. Getting into the boat again, I was rowed away a short distance, then had the oarsman rest on his oars, and soon had the pleasure of seeing the Livingstonia glide past with her prow pointed toward the " Sugar-Loaf." Now, for the first time, I breathed freely, and felt a great weight of responsibility roll from my shoulders. " Munson is safe, and the danger is over," said I to myself, joyfully. Ordering the boatman to row ashore, he turned in that direction, and then I saw a boat coming toward the 172 TOO LATE. steamer, with every oar strained to the utmost — but no atten- tion Avas paid to it. The occupants soon gave up the chase, and through my field-glass I recognized the manager of the bank and the Hebrew broker, Mr. Solomons, both of whom had been pointed out to me. They had probably just received a dispatch from the detective who had been so cleverly out- witted and left to journey alone, but having no time to pro- cure an order to delay the ship, had hurried off, hoping to get on board, confident that the captain would grant every facility for a search, and, in case of success, assist them to get Munson on shore again. Had they succeeded, I should have been involved, and probably learned the lesson on the island of Fernando da Noronha that I did later in England. Chapter XVII. IDLE DATS AT RIO — IMPERIAL HONORS — VISIT TO A COFFEE PLANTATION — SLAVES — A TRIP TO THE LA PLATA — TEN DATS' QUARANTINE ON THE ISLAND DE FLORES — MONTEVIDEO AND BLTINOS ATRES — THE " LA FRANCE" — OUT IN A PAMPERO — RETURN TO ENGLAND. DURING my stay in Rio Janeiro I received from the Swedish Colonel, before alluded to, an invitation to be present at a special presentation of " Ernani " at the grand opera-house in honor of the Imperial family, in accordance with which I became one of the favored audience. This was very small, and appeared to be composed of the creme de la creme of Brazilian society, the Imperial box being occupied by the Emperor Dom Pedro, the Empress, their daughter and son-in-law, the latter having made his name famous in Brazilian history by his gallant conduct during the late war between the gigantic Empire of Brazil and the liliputian State of Paraguay. At the Academy of Fine Arts in Rio I noticed a large painting representing him seated on a fiery war-horse plunging about amid shot and shell, the princely rider, with sword waving on high, guiding the storm of battle. The Imperial family formed a marked contrast with the remainder of the audience, being plainly dressed and making no show of diamonds or other jewels. Now that Munson was safely on the broad Atlantic, with the bulk of the gold in his possession, I felt at ease, though there was still a chance that when it became certain that he had made his escape out of the country, I might be regarded with suspicion and detained. But as I had been extremely careful not to be seen in his company, I felt no great anxiety on that point. (173) 174 ^ GIGANTIC SCHEME. The great mistake of that period of my life was that I did not abandon every other plan and go at once to Chicago to establish a legitimate business, in accordance with my original intentions. After securing all the cash we safely could at Eio, Munson taking the leading part, we had intended to go down the coast to Montevideo and Buenos Ayres, and repeat the operation, I doing the leading business in those cities. Going thence by steamer via the Strait of Magellan to Valparaiso, we were to continue northward, stopping at the large sea-ports along the Pacific Coast as far as San Francisco, from which place we intended to reach New York by the trans-continental railway, with at least a million dollars in our possession. It will be seen that this was a gigantic and well-devised scheme, which might easily have proven a complete success — my experience having led me to believe that such expectations were by no means unreasonable — had not Engles's obstinac}^ thus frustrated our plan. In yielding to him the point that came up in London, as to whether both the manager's and sub-manager's names should appear on the forged letters of credit, I acquiesced in a step which virtually defeated the whole scheme, and changed an easy money-making affair into what just missed turning out a tragedy. After due consideration, I could see no way of getting out of Brazil otherwise than by a voyage to the Rio de la Plata (river of silver), it being supposed that I had sailed for Europe on board the last European steamer ; in conse- quence I had to keep myself secluded as much as possible, to avoid running against the Pacific Mail Line agent and others. As it would be some days before I could obtain passage southward, I passed the intervening time in making excur- sions and sight-seeing, Rio and vicinity being a good place for both. I need not weary the reader with an extended description of the beautiful bay of Rio, closed in on all sides by mountains which rise almost from its shores, with the ATTRACTIONS AT RIO. 175 unique Sugar-Loaf, 900 feet high, like a huge sentinel guard- ing the entrance to a harbor which vies with the far-famed SCENE NEAR RIO JANEIRO. bay of Naples in the natural beauty and grandeur of its situa- tion and surroundings. The approach from the sea is very attractive. First 176 ^^C URSIONS. appear distant peaks, scarcely distinguishable from the clouds. Approaching, the outlines become more distinct, and other mountains become dimly visible in the distance, while the hills and slopes are covered with luxuriant tropical vegetation. Until the steamer nears the land, it appears as if she is about running agamst a solid wall; but when quite near, the cleft through the mountains opens up, and as she enters this, a part of the city appears in the distance. On the north side, opposite the Sugar-Loaf, is the fort of Santa Cruz, on which is a lighthouse ; other fortifications guard the harbor, and no obstruction prevents ships from entering it in safety day or night. The water in this land-locked harbor is deep enough and its area sufficient to accommodate all the navies of the ^^'