WORK OF A SKETCH. A Bank Clerk's Drawing Leads to the Capture of a Robber.

Te Aroha News, Volume IV, Issue 191, 12 February 1887, Page 3

WORK OF A SKETCH. A Bank Clerk's Drawing Leads to the Capture of a Robber.

Two pictures lay on the desk before Inspector Byrnes, Chief of the Detective Police, when I called. One was a photograph of a grey -haired and bearded man, who looked like anything else than an ideal detective, but whom I recognised as George Elder, a member of the force, whose funeral Byrnes had attended that day. "He was a daring cool hearted man, and it was to his memory of faces that he was indebted for his success in many cases," said the Chief. "John Livingstone was the son of a wealthy man who lived in a fine place up the Etudeon, and had the opportunity toremainre&pectable,bufc he preferred crooked ways and got into so much trouble that he was caßt off by the family. For a time he was employed as an express messenger in New York, and in that capacity he acquired such familiarity with business methods that he subsequently made use of in carrying out an audacious piece of rascality. In July, 1867, Livingstone drove up to the City Bank in an express waggon drawn^.by t^wo fine horses, entered in a business-like way, and preeented to the paying teller a cheque for $75,000 purporting to be signed by Cornelius Vanderbiit and drawn to the order of Henry Keep. The signatures seemed all right, and as the man had often been seen in the bank while he was actually in the employ of the express company, no suspicion was aroused at the size of the cheque. It was a common thing for Commodore Vanderbilt to have a large amount of money on deposit and to send for the whole of it unexpectedly. The teller, however, never paid large cheques without orders from the cashier, and he passed the cheque over to that official. In the meantime Livingstone stepped behind a rail to a window near the cashier, remarking that he had a new horse in his team and was afraid the animal would not stand. By this ruse he got into casual convocation with the caehier, and then told him he wanted the money put up in a certain way. The cashier said it would take time to do that, about half an hour, and Liviogdtone said he would go down the street to attend to some other business and return for the money. Had word been sent to the Commodore while the fellow was gone the scheme would have miscarried, but Livingstone calmly relied on thecashier's acquaint ance with the Commodore's temper to save him from that danger. Nobody in the bank cared to take one of the Commodore's cheques to him and ask him if it was all right. The old man was liable to storm, and demand whether or not he was good tor the amount or had the money in bank, and then dismiss the messenger with a volley of unique but forcible profanity. When the supposed express messenger returned the packet of 75,000d0l was ready for him. He carefully examined it to see if it was all right, chatted with the cashier for a few minutes, sauntered out, got upon his waggon, and drove away It was seven weeks before the bank officials knew that the cheque wan forged. The signatures were perfectly imitated and would have deceived Vanderbilt himself ; but cf course the Commodore knew that he had given no such cheque." Here Chief Byrnes took up the second of the pictures. It was a pen-and-ink drawing of a fat fellow in the costume formerly worn by express messengers. '^This little /sketch," he said, "made a famous artist of its maker and sent the subject to State prison. The teller of that bank was Thomas Worth, now well known in the artistic world. He could give no verbal description by which the thief could be identified, but he seized his pen ai.d a piece of paper and in a few minutes produced a free sketch of a man. As soon as Elder saw it he paid : ' That is John Livingstone, I'll bet my life,' and taking the picture he started with a definite clue. " Had Livingstone left the country, as he could have easily done, he would have been safe, but his weakne°s for fine horseflesh proved his ruin. He kept the team he had driven away from the bank and started for the West with it. Elder found the dealer who sold the hor3es to Livingstone, got a minute description of them and traced them through Buffalo and other cities to Chicago. He learned that the man who owned the team had purchased other fine etock at various places, explaining that he was going to run a stock farm. At Chicago the trail was leit for a time ; but Elder argued that a man who had many horses would need saddles, bridles and harnesses, and so ho made patient inquiries among the large harness houses of Chicago. At last he found that some harness had been shipped to a gentleman who had purchased a large farm about forty miles from the city. Taking two or three friends with him, the detective paid a visit to the farm, ostensibly to admire the fancy stock owned by the wealthy gentleman. Approaching John Livingstone, Branding on the step*, stepping up to him he paid : ' Good morning, Mr Livingstone.' The forger turned pale and was bewildered for a moment, but quickly recovered hia coolness and denied his Identity. ' How did you leave everybody in New Yoik?' blandly inquired Elder. " ' New York, sir ? I never was there in my life. I don't know the place.' " ' Well,' rejoined Elder, 'you'll have a fine chance to get acquainted there when you go back with me,' and slipping the handcuffa upon Livingstone's wrist he informed him that ho was under arrest for forgery.. .. . , •* There was danger that lawyers would make trouble and delay, to say nothing of a i legal fight, and Elder decided to get out of Illinois with his prisoner as speedily as possible. Livingstone's lovo of good horse* aided the officer. Elder hitched up the same pair of blacks that had carried the forger away from the rank, put his prisoner into the buggy and drove for Indiana, closely pursued by Illinois lawyers with writs of habeas corpus. It was about twenty five miles to the lino, and the hort.es flew over the road as they had never travelled before. They crossed the line half an hour ahead of the pursuers. The detective lost no time in getting his prisoner aboard a train bound east, and soon landed him safely afc headquarters in this city." The value of Thomas Worth's pen-and-ink sketch led him to quit the bank and devote himself entirely to art. He is known to day wherever illustrated papers circulate. Elder recovered about SO.OOOdols. of the stolen money. The rest had beon spent by Livingstone, captured by lawyers, or lost in the forced sale of farms and stock which had been purchased at high figures. Mosps Taylor* who stands with the saints in the stained ■ glass window of the church at Elberon, just erectod to his ever-blessed memory, was President to the bank. He paid the detective's expenses, but refused to give any reward, because the whole of the plunder waa not restored to the bank. There were hot words, and Taylor hinted that more might have been saved, if the detective had desired to get it, for the bank.