Funds Belonging to Milwaukee
Bank Lost in May Wheat Speculation
Frank G. Bigelow, President of the City’s Oldest Financial
Institution, Confesses That He Embezzled Fortune and
Lost It on Chicago Board of Trade*
Speculation and ventures on the i
^equally uncertain sea of industrial ex- i
ploitation have brought to ruin and I
tbsgrace a former president of the !
American Bankers’ Association, the !
courted adviser of the Secretary of the ;
Treasury of the United.States, the so
cial and business associate of men
high in the political and financial cir
cles of the nation, and a man, in short,
whose name until now stood as a
synonym for ability, sagacity and pro
bity in the banking world.
| The city of Milwaukee is aghast at
the exposure. The people scarcely
|can realize the truth of it, and it is
Nafe to say that financial America is
ted him, according to report, some
$t'00,000.
But of late there are said to have
been losses. A week or ten days ago
L. D. Kneeland, a Chicago broker,
went to Milwaukee, and coincident
with his visit there were stories of
some heavy squeezes that young Bige
low' had suffered. It is said that
Kneeland came to have some matters
straightened out, and that he departed
with any claims he might have had
fully satisfied.
Stones of May wheat also have
teen rife. The persons who hereto
fore have hesitated to make any crit
icism of the financier remembered
until the crash came. Even his broth
er, the vice-president of the First Na
tional Bank, was in ignorance of any
thing wrong, to the slightest extent,
until the investigation that followed
the confession.
Only the bank president and the
dupes or worse that assisted him in
the manipulation of the bank’s books
knew anything, to all appearances, and
the criminal acts had been going on
for months, if not for years.
False entries in the bank's books
concealed the defalcations that
mounted beyond the million mark.
President Bigelow took the cash and
with the connivance of employes cred
comov':
&GELCW
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B*upefied, for the name of Frank G.
Eigelow had even a wider fame
among bankers than the institution of
which he was the head, with its capi
ta! of $1,500,000, its surplus and undi
viced profits of $1,100,000 and its de
posits of $16,000,000.
In carrying on his mammoth thefts
of the bank's funds President Bigelow
had accomplices among the employes
ci the institution. One of these was
Benry G. Goll, an assistant cashier.
Gordon Bigelow, the son of the bank
piesident, a young man—somewhere
around SO years of age—has been
known as a plunger in the stock and
grain markets for a long time, and ru
mor S3id that a large part of the
money embezzled by the banker went
t-j meet the losses entailed by his son.
The son has been known as a high
ioiler, and several months ago gossip
v as busy about some of his big win
nings, one successful coup having net
end voiced their recollection that
Frank G. Bigelow himself has always
been a plunger. One enterprise in
which he engaged that has been em
Lroiled with costly litigation is the
National Electric Company, and it was
said that several other perfectly le
g timate enterprises in which the
banker had engaged have proved to be
loo heavy loads for him to shoulder.
As Mr. Bigelow said himself, as he
walked from his home to be arraigned
before United States Court Commis
sioner Blcodgood:
“I got in beyond my depth; I
thought things would come out all
r.ght, but they did not.”
That was all the defaulting banker
would say. What his close friends
may know more in detail, if anything,
hat not been divulged. It is doubtful,
however, if any of his most intimate
homestead in Milwaukee and a large
friends had an inkling of the situation
BIG BANK DEFALCATIONS IN LAST TWENTY YEARS.
1884—Ferdinand Ward, head of Grant & Ward, bankers.$6,000,000
1884—John C. Eno, president Second National, New York.... 3,000,000
1890— P. J. Claassen, president, and G. H. Pell, Sixth National,
Lenox Hill and Equitable. 1,000,000
1891— Gideon W. Marsh, president Keystone National, Philadel
phia . .. .. . 1,000,000
1891—John T. Hill, president Ninth National, New York. 400,000
1894—Samuel C. Seeley, bookkeeper, Middlesex County Bank,
Perth Amboy, N. J. 354,000
1900—William Schreiber, trusted clerk, Elizabethport Banking
Company, Elizabethport, N. J.*.. 100,000
1900—C. L. Alvord, note teller. First National, New York. 700,000
1900— Frank M. Brown, assistant cashier, German National,
Newport, Ky. 200,000
1901— Henry J. Fleischman, cashier, Farmers’ and Merchants’
Bank, Los Angeles. Cal . 150,000
1902— Frank C. Andrews, vice president City Savings Bank, De
troit, Mich. 1,500,000
WOULD NOT DESERT HIS MATE.
Two-Hundred-Pound Mountain Lion
Killed in Collegiate Range.
“Old Bob.” said to be the largest
mountain lion ever killed in the west,
was slain in the Collegiate range, 25
miles west of.Salida, by J. E. Hicks, a
ranchman of Sargent’s. The carcass
of Old Bob weighs 225 pounds and
measures 14 leet from tip to tip. His
female mate and two of her young
weVe caught In steel traps and killed
at the same time.
Old Bob had terrorized ranchmen in
that vicinity for the last five years,
having killed and devoured scores of
cattle and young colts. He was the
leader of a band of lions in that sec
tion of the mountains. He had escap
ed the most expert hunters, and would
have been living now but for his re
fusal to desert his mate and her young
while they were in captivity.
While out hunting Hicks came upon
the carcass 'of a calf which the lions
had killed and partly eaten. He knew
they would return when hungry, and
set three large steel traps around the
carcass. He returned shortly after
[ ward and found the female and two i
j young ones in the traps.
Old Bob was present to defend them, j
When he saw Hicks coming he roared '
fiercely and snapped his jaws threat- j
cning to attack the hunter. Hicks j
took perfect aim and sent a rifle bul- i
let through the lion's head before he 1
could cause trouble. He then shot the
other three lions in the traps.—Salida,
Colo., special in Denver Republican.
One of Their Own Kind.
Prof. Humphrey of Amherst college
went out one morning before recita
tion. When he returned some of the
students had fastened a live goose in
the president’s chair. When he en
tered the room and found the new oc
cupant of his seat he turned on his j
ueel #nd coolly observed: “Gentle- '
men, I perceive you have a competent
instructor, and I will therefore leave
you to your studies.”
—
Slight Mistake. I
Guest (in a cheap restaurant)— -
Here, waiter, this napkin is dirty.
Walter—Beg pardon, sir; it merely
got folded the wrong way, sir.
v\
S&7V£>y' GO££
i^ed the amounts abstracted to credit
ers who never had the money.
CRASH AFTER FORTY YEARS.
Bigelow Wipes Out in a Few Months
the Success of a Lifetime.
One of the curious questions on the
streets of Milwaukee when the news
of the crash became known was:
“What’s the use of working hard
forty years and ending as Frank Bige
low has ended?”
Bigelow entered the employ of the
tank that now bears the name of the
First National forty years ago as a
bank messenger. He was born in
, Hartford, N. Y., in 1847, and came to
I Milwaukee with his parents in 1861,
j father being one of the well-known
pi ysicians of the city in the early days
when Grand avenue was a coasting
nil to the river for the children.
The son received a public schorl
i education here, but in 1864 entered
the employ of the bank and remained
there, advancing step by step, through
all the years, until his downfall. He
I was known as one of the hardest
working men in the city. His devotion
to his bank duties was marked, and
v hen each day he was free from them
he was known as a home man.
So far as the books of the bank
have been examined it does not appear
ti at during his forty years of connec
tion with the institution a single pen
ry went wrong through him until De
cember, 1904.
That is, he wiped nut forty years of
honorable record in a trifle more than
four months.
LESS MEAT, MORE MUSCLE.
What Dietary Experiments Have
Shown in the Yale Gymnasium.
Director Chittenden, who has had
j charge of the Sheffield Scientific
i school dietary experiments, recently
I reported that the men under him grew
stronger the less meat they ate. The
men under im estigation were kept at
work in the Yale gymnasium while
they were on a diet of less meat and
more vegetables and fruit. The gym
nasium tests show a growth of muscu
lar development of 35 to 100 per cent.
Disposing of surplus meat food by
the digestive apparatus is much more
difficult than getting rid of the sur
plus of vegetables and fruits. Partly
digested protein frequently develops
! toxic qualities which either cause dis
! ease or furnish a breeding place for
it. The great increase of Bright’s dis
ease and other kidney and semi-nerv
ous troubles is attributed to the excess
of meat over the normal demand of
the body.
Treadwhcel in Enolano.
The treadw'heel is still in »ogue at
many English prisons.
MIKADO’S NERVES ARE STRONG.
Mine Explosion in No Way Ruffled
Japan’s Emperor.
Mutsohito, the emperor of Japan, is
about as stoical and impassive as an
American Indian. When Prof. Milne,
the greatest living seismologist, was
studying earthquakes in the far east,
he spent some years ip the Tokio uni
versity. In that island empire earth
quakes occur two or three times a
day sometimes. The professor’s re
searches and experiments attracted
the attention of the mikado, for whose
pleasure a sham earthquake was ar
ranged. On a waste piece of ihc
ground the professor caused to be
erected some buildings, beneath wrhieh
were quantities of powerful explo
sires. The emperor pressed the but
ton and the mines exploded with ter
rific force. His majesty Temained
calm and imperturable. He had neith
er started nor blinked. Motionless
and impassive, he watched the scene.
Then, just on taking his leave, he
uttered the one word, ‘Really!”
AMERICAN MINISTER TO KOREA.
Dr. Horace N. Allen, the American
minister to Corea, is the foremost per
sonality in that country to-day. Born
in Delaware in 1858, he was graduated
from Ohio Wesleyan university. He
became a Presbyterian missionary and
from China ventured into Korea, then
the only remaining "hermit nation.'''
Thus he was the first Protestant mis
sionary in that country. The United
States minister, Gen. Foote, made
him physician to the legation. Dur
ing an insurrection, when all aliens
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fled from Seoul, he stayed and attend
ed some of the injured mem
bers of the royal family, battling
with the necromancing court physi
cians so that he might save the
wounded. His medical skill led the
emperor to establish a royal hospital,
with Dr. Allen in charge. The ero
ptror himself fell sick, was cured by
Dr. Allen and the doctor was made
court physician, a place of great influ
ertce. which he holds to-day. In 1
he was made secretary of the United
States legation at Seoul.
BANK ACCOUNT FOR BABIES.
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_
Massachusetts Man Is No Friend ol
Race Suicide.
George W. Davenport of Greenfield
Mass., bachelor and admirer of in
fants, has instituted a:, anti-race sui
cide movement along unique lines
Every child born in Greenfield here
after will receive from Mr. Davenport
a savings bank account of fifty cents
Mr. Davenport's main hope of inspir
ing interest in a plentiful crop ol
infants is an annual baby show to b*.
held in May. The proceeds of the
show he proposes to devote to boys
club work, thus encouraging children
of tender years, though too old foi
baby show honors. President Roose
velt has approved Mr. Davenport’s
baby show plan and has signified his
appreciation rf the «ompliment of
having his likeness on souvenir badges
which will be distributed among
Franklin county babies. The trump
card of Mr. Davenport will be an at
tempt to obtain the presence of Presi
dent Roosevelt at the show.
GIRL WHO MARRIED COACHMAN
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Miss Nancy Carnegie of Pittsburg
whose marriage a year ago to James
Hever, a former coachman, became
public a few days ago, is Andrew Car
negie’s favorite niece.
Colombia Sends Good Man.
Diego Mendoza, the newly appoint
ed minister of Colombia to this coun
try is a prominent lawyer, a noted
student of international law and
political economy and a member ol
congress; he has been president oi
the Republican university, a professor
in the leading colleges, a writer of
fame and one of the recognized lead
ers of the liberal party. No man in
Colombia to-day is so thoroughly
familiar with the history of the diplo
matical relations of his country with
the United States.
Good Work Done by Birds.
As an illustration of the value of
land birds, a few interesting’ facts are
suggestive. The night hawk, which
catches insects on the wing, has an
enormous stomach. Grasshoppers are
an important article of its diet. The
stomach of one night hawk was found
to contain remains of sixty grasshop
pers, while another’s stomach con
tained thirty-eight, mostly entire. Yet
this useful bird is often killed for
food and still oftener as a target for
Sim practice on the wing.
COMING HOME AT LAST.
—New York World.
MOURN LOSS OF JEFFERSON.
Veteran of the Stage Beloved by All
Theater-Goers.
Joseph Jefferson was undoubtedly
the best loved of American actors. The
older generation of theater-goers re
member him as the leading exponert.
if not the originator of a new school
of acting in which simplicity took the
place of traditional stage art and man
nerisms. The jounger generation re
members him as Rip Van Winkle, a
character which he made ever mere
attractive as he grew older.
In the late ’50s Jefferson was asso
ciated with the most popular players
cf the time. Those who were with
him on the stage and those who heard
him felt the influence of his new meth
od. It appealed to the most artistic,
the most critical, as well as the hum
blest cf playgoers.
This quality of Jefferson’s playing
attached actors and people to him
when he first played "Asa Trenehard.''
in 1858. as it did when he first played
"Rip Van Winkle,” seven or eight
years later. On this point the recol
lections of Edwin Booth. Cotildock.
Sothern. Boueicault and Raymond as
to first impression are not notably dif
ferent from those of the unsophisti
cated enthusiast from the country or
the playworn first nighter of the city.
The art of Jefferson totiched ah,
and certain modulations of voice and
simple gestures and pesos gave keen
est pleasure every time they were re
membered.
Only those whose memories cover
forty years can understand what Jef
ferson’s "Rip Van Winkle” meant to
the generation that first heard it. It
was like a revelation to the infre
quent theater-goer, and did more to
break down prejudice against the
stage than any other play ever pre
sented.
Clergymen and thousands of men
arid women who had never entered a
theater counted it an event in their
lives to see Jefferson in "Rip Van
Winkle.” Men did not know why they
laughed and cried like children, and
they did rot care. There was a magic
in the drama that had been there be
fore, and Jefforscn was the magician.
At first it was Jefferson the actor
that the people loved. Then they came
to love Jefferson, the man. "Rip Van
Winkle” was a means of revealing to
old and young a personality as whole
some in its influence as any ever asso
ciated with the stage.
In summing up Jefferson’s career
it is enough for people to say “Rip
Van Winkle.” Called upon to give
him rank among the great actors of
the world, ninety-nine out of a hun
dred people would count it superfluous
to say more than "Rip Van Winkle.”
And yet “Rip Van Winkle” would not
mean so much to the world, could not
hold first place in so many hearts, had
it not been for the consummate art,
the genial spirit, and the simple
human nature of the very human old
man who died at Palm Reach on Sun
day.—Chicago Inter Ocean.
Small Estates in England.
It Is considered strange that in Eng
land only one will disposing of as
much as $5,000,000 had been filed dur
ing the financial year ending March
31. The average number of such wills
has been between five and six. Thus,
in 1900 there were nine estates with a
total of nearly $100,000,000; in 1901,
eight estates, total value more than
$50,000,000; in 19<i2, five estates, with
the same total; in 1903. five estates
valued at $40,000,000, and in 1901,
three estates valued at $25,000,000. Of
twenty-four of the richest testators
only one was under 60 years of age
when he died; fourteen were over 70
years old and six more than 80 years.
The average age was 74t£ years. John
Dawson, who left $3,500,000, was 99
years old. The earl of Strathmore,
aged 79 years, left $4,751,000.
Helpful Millionaire.
Coleman Dupont, the millionaire
powder manufacturer of Wilmington,
Del., rode down to his office on the
rear platform of a street car the other
morning. The conductor, a new man.
was slow in collecting fares, and Mr.
Dupont pulled the bell rope half a
dozen times to let passengers on. At
one corner an old woman with a mar
ket basket stood waiting. The mil
lionaire lifted her basket on board,
helped the old woman up the steps
and paid her fare, smiling at her pro
fuse thanks.
Secret of Being Beautiful.
Women make a grave mistake
when, in their desire for beauty, in
stead of making the best of what they
possess they try to manufacture an
artificial prettiness for -themselves.
Bondret, the great Parisian beauty
artist, used to tell his clients: “My
dear madame, develop and do not in
vent, is the secret of becoming as
beautiful as Providence ever intended
that you may be. It is also the secret
of being as beautiful as it is possible
for you to be.”—Exchange.
AFRAID CF A LITTLE DIRT.
Why Yeung Men Exhibit No Fond
ness for Horseshoe Trade.
Master horsesboers throughout the
! country complain that they are having
difficulty in securing a sufficient num
ber of young men to learn that trade.
It takes a man of judgment to properly
shoe a horse and to comply with all
the regulations governing that calling.
! Humane methods of horseshoeing have
j made necessary an amount of study
j and experience thar most young men
| will rot undertake and acquire unless
j it promises a better position in life
j than that of a master horseshoer. The
trouble is that when boys acquire the
education and knowledge called for by
the state regulations they feel that
they are entitled to “a better position”
than that of a blacksmith. False pride
is at the bottom of mo t ' f this feeling
of distaste for the ancient and honor
able trade of the blacksmith. Skilled
horsesboers earn wages far exceeding
those at the command of workers in
many trades and so-called professions
that are not so “dirty.” It. is the grime
and sweat that the blacksmith must
dabble in and exude that stand out in
the eyes of too many young men who
are thinking of making a start in Iife.
—Binghamton (N. Y.) Press.
GOES TO POST IN SWEDEN.
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Col. Charles H. Graves, the newly
appointed American minister to Nor
way and Sweden, said farewell to his
friehds at Duluth and departed for
Athens, Pa., where he was married to
Miss Alice Kinney Tripp, April 25.
The minister and his bride will depart
at once for his diplomatic station.
No Luncheon for Secretary Taft.
Secretary Taft in his triple role of
acting president and head of the state
and war departments is enjoying full
opportunity to show his great capacity
for work. For weeks he has never
left his office from about 9:30 in the
morning until 5 o'clock in the after
noon unless to attend a meeting or to
pay an official visit. Secretary Taft
has told some of his intimates that
he does not believe in the luncheon
meal anyway. “When I get down to
work I want to keep at it until I get
rid of it.” he said/ “Luncheon is a
superfluous meal and it breaks up the
day.”
Indian Woman in D. A. R.
Mrs. Carrie T. Adams of Fort Gib
son, I. T., is the only Daughter of the
American Revolution who is descend
ed from Indian blood. One of her
ancestors was John Ross, who was
chief of the Cherokee nation for forty
years. Her husband. Richard C.
Adams, is a Delaware Indian, who for
several yea-s past has been repre
senting his people in their material
claims before tr.e department of the
interior and the Dawes commission
He is a direct descendant of Capt.
White Eyes, who was an officer in the
revolutionary war.
Statesmen Own Fine Farm.
Congressman Hull of Iowa and Con
gressman Wadsworth of New’ York
jointly own a fine farm in Virginia, a
short distance down the river from
Mount Vernon. Former Interstate
Commerce Commissioner Yeomans,
also of Iowa, was interested in the
agricultural venture, but recently he
has withdrawn, leaving his two part
ners to carry on the business. They
have a very comfortable residence
fitted up there, with electric lights
and other fixings unknown to the or
dinary farmer.
* _
To Remove Tight Ring.
Medical Talk suggests the following
method of removing a tight rfng.
Take a piece of cord or wrapping
thread and push one end of it under
the ring. Then, beginning just above
the ring, wind the cord very tightly
round and round the finger, clear up
to the tip of the finger. Now take
hold of the end of the cord that was !
slipped under the ring and unwind
the cord. As the string unwinds the
ring will be carried along with ft and
removed without any difficulty.
SAW THE WANDERING JEW.
Bey’* Experience Recalled by the Man
in Later Years.
“No. I don't believe in ghosts,
though there was much in my boy
hood experience to stimulate a meas
ure of faith in the supernatural.” said
a man in an uptown hotel, according
to the New York Tribune. "Twenty
five years ago,” continued he, “1 was
a boy in Lancashire, England, and
one of the divertisements of the grown
folks of the household and of the
neighbors when they were ranged
around our hearth on winter nights
was to tell ghost stories, many of
which were rich in hair-raising de
tails.
“Perhaps there was a time when
my eyes enlarged with wonder at
their mysteries and my brain was peo
pled with the romantic phantasies of
these winter's night taies. but very
early 1 read a book in which appari
tions were exposed. Thereafter the
most thrilling recital, so far as I was
concerned, fell upon unimpressionable
ears.
"One incident made it clear to me,
however, that there lingered at least
a suspicion of sympathy with those
who took stock in the world of dis
embodied spirits. I had been reading
‘The Wandering Jew’ and was deeply
interested in the trials of the title
character. 1 went to bed late. 1 had
been in bed a moment when I saw
outlined as clearly as on the cover of
my book the lifelike figure of the wan
dering Jew. He entered the window
and with halting steps crossed the
room and went through the unopened
door. Of course the thing had its
birth in a brain upon which the author
of the story had made an indelible
impression.”
! ADAM’S STATE OF INNOCENCE
—
Lasted Until He Took to Himself a
Wife—and Then.
The Rev. E. T. Mount, the well
known Oregon clergyman and author,
lived some years ago in Colorado, and
one day, in talking about Colorado, he
said:
“In a certain church in Colorado
Springs there used to be a queer old
crusted character, a Scot who was
noted for his profound knowledge of
the Scriptures. I lectured in that
church one evening, and after the lec
ture the Scot and I and some few
others fell into conversation.
“I was urged to put the old man’s
scriptural knowledge to the test. !
was urged to question him and let him'
question me. He would get the better
of me—that, everyone said, was cer
tain—but I had my doubts, and turn
ing to the Scot, said confidently:
“ ‘I will try you, my friend, with
the grand, leading, insurmountable
question, How long did Adam stand
in a state of innocence?’
“The Scot answered:
“ Till be got a wife.’
“Then, with a grim chuckle, he
went on:
“ ‘But can you tell me, sir, bow
long he stood after?' ”
A Million or Two.
With continuous steps as we tread on
through
This intricate world, as other folks do.
Stray on still on our journey be able to
view.
The benevolent face of a dollar or two;
For an excellent thing.
Is a dollar or two:
No friend is so true
As a dollar or two;
Through country or town.
As we pass up and down.
No passport so good
As a dollar or two.
Would you read yourself out of the bach
elor’s crew.
And for the hand of a gentle divinity
sue;
You must always be ready the handsome
to. do.
Although it should cost you a dollar or
two.
Love's arrows are tipped
With a dollar or two:
And affection is gained
By a dollar or two.
The best aid you can meet
For advancing your suit
Is the eloquent chink
Of a dollar or two.
Would you wish your existence with
faith to imbue
And ciroll in the ranks of a sanctified
few.
To enjoy a good name and a well cush
ioned pew.
You would freely come down with a
dollar or two.
The gospel is preached
For a dollar or two.
And salvation is reached
Ey a dollar or two.
You mav sin at sometimes,
But the world of all crimes
Is to find yourself short
Of a dollar or two.
The Sour Sailor.
Captain Frederick Muller, the presi
dent of the Rough Riders’ association,
was talking in Santa Fe about the
arrogance of a sea captain whom he
knew.
“It was impossible for a passenger.”
Captain Muller said, “to get a civil
answer out of this man. Ask him
the simplest and politest question and
with a gruff impertinence he turns his
back on you and walks away.
Captain Miller smiled.
“But a friend of mine.” he said,
“once got the better of the sour fel
low in a delightfuj way.
“The captain was standing near the
bow of the boat, examining through
his glasses a passing ship.
“ ‘What ship is that?’ said my friend.
“The captain frowned at him.
*• ‘Go ask the cook,' he said.
“ ‘Oh, I beg your pardon,’ said my
friend. ‘I thought you were the
cook.’ ”
Too fVliich Learning Dangerous.
Business Manager—I’m sorry, yours
man. but I’m afraid you will not serve
my purpose.
Applicant—But, sir, I have nine di
plomas and decrees.
Business Manager—Maybe; but in
acquiring them you have evidently
been too busy to learn anything use
ful. Good morning.—Cincinnati Com
mercial Tribune.
Traffic in Bird Skins Large.
A London dealer in such wares last
year received from India the skins of
6,000 birds of paradise to adorn the
hats of the feather-wearing British
women and to meet the export need.
At the same time he got about half a
million humming bird skins and an
equal number of those of various other
tropical birds.
Arctic Explorers Meet Death.,
The North Pole commission has of
ficially declared that the expedition
under Baron Toll to the new Siberian
island*, in the Arctic ocean, has end
ed with the death of all the members
of the partv
