jWEDNESDAY. DEC. 21, 194
HERALD AND NEWS, KLAMATH FALLS, OREGON
PAGE SEVENTEEN
'a . a mm mm. ft a at
Veteran icribe Recalls now Nationally Known
Swindler Was Tripped Up In Klamath Long Ago
iWhM ana alary nf th. old Klamath
rounly Hand waa pulill.liad: in lha liar-
Id n4 Naws ao'lta waaaa a Mra, flank
Ira Whll. rallarl ma linnuxllatply tu lall
nia Kuw nflan all. hail ItaaHl har hua
liand ral.la tha alor of lha rlavvr
wlndlar who atl ftaarlv Irlmltiad a lcal
hank. ah. alan ratlad riank Janklna
whir a.aad lor ain'lltar almv rir In
formation In lha arm la whlrh fnllnwa
all llianat mrm dua Mr. Ham Walkar.
sirs Ira Whtta, Mr ih.n J umwall. tn
(Itarll. IM-an ftr hla pallant-a and
rmirlaay In rjiafln lip lha old mil, I
rrrmrii. and la Tha Herald tr Ih. uaa
( iu old I"" I u n i
Br IDA KIIMVIR OIIM.L
From Ih atat of K'nlurk) to tha
laid of WuiiliiKton. from Urmliii
clly to (oaslpy villa, ha twlnrllrd
hit war merrily across lh contl
unit, llila man whn call-rj himself
Kranlc B. lluiKlnn. wllh a aliip over
In Klamath Talla which provrd hit
uiidolnf.
At luck would hav It, whm Thad.
dua 1 York, alia Prank B Holla
ton. hit Xlamath Falls, 'hliii! wr
txillliif around that place. With
llirr court houars. 'two beautiful
and unuarii. on oU. rlwrfplt. and
hiimmlrm with activity i Mr. York
landed wllh bv.h ft, or a, Iraat
wllh one foot and a cork leg. Mailt
I the middle of the court houe fluhl
and of the MOO COM1IINE. Under
tint fantastic nomcnelnttir were
claulfled all L'los who wished tha
"mil inure to remain on Main street
between 3rd and 4th. by all thou
who were Irylni to move It lo tha
present alt of tha Xlamnth Union
iillh arhnol.
And the cork lei. tnirlher with
an una tn take a bath, furnished
lha clue which finally trxtk Mr. York
to a town hitherto unvtaited by him.
our State Capital. Salem. Ore.
A trim In KF
With a career likened by the Port
land Telegram to that of the then
famoua rharacter In fiction. J. Hu
tu Walllngfnrd. Mr. York arrived
In Klamath fall" In March of 1010.
reiuterlm at tha old Lakealde Inn
under the name of Prank H Hous
ton. And there let us leave him for
a while, and sketch briefly hln rent
ing past an reronMrurted from
newspaper arcounta printed after
hi capture.
York was rnmidered one of the
cleverest swindlers In lha country,
and buncoed big concern for many
Ihmisand nf dollar, bought tracta
of land in Oregon and Washington,
buvln' outright an entire township
In Waahlngtnn. He extended hla op
eration! over the Pacific Coast and
the aouthern atatei. He waa dencrlb
ed by tha Telegram aa an ex-convict
with eaiertenre ai
era tor.
mmm-mfrwmfV Ma ll'H W ' a, i a.aiain.a a,aiii)iia
'f-i'.vi''1 ' " ';i
t- - . a...!..a- .-.,... ...k..rw "j,JJ
MR. FRANK IRA WHITE
eaerclaed durU'.f a brief ttay In To
nnpah, Ner to uaf tor h I a own
benefit lha meiangca on the horxe
race a they came In. Wllh Ihla ad
vance infririuation he ttung the pool
rooma of that city.
Mr. York waa o highly pleaaed
at thla prank on hla part that he
boanlcd ol It to a Klamath Palli
biulnea man later.
Secured Hlanka
Somehow York at one time ae
Truat company nf that place padded
York a roll wllh 11330 of their mon
ey. In Portland, under the name of
J. A. Rou he cleaned up $2500.
And now back to Klamath Pali.
In Han Prancuco York visited a
firm by the name of the Klamath
Palla Investment company and In
formed them that he had a large
amount of money to Invest. Well,
of course they recommended him to
go atraignt to Klamath Palls, a rap-
code aa It came over the wirea waa
cured M blank money nrrler. from My growing town on a newly open
J . , . L. c l n . . .
ru a,ui , inr Duumrrii ractllc.
Thus did Mr. York land In the mid
le of the Hog Combine.
With three highly Interesting pieces
of paper in his pocket, one a
Time Certificate of Deposit for $13.
S60: one for 130.000: and still an
other for MO.C'M. Mr. York wa In
traduced by a local real estate brok
er to the American Bank and Trust
company. At that Instl'.utlon he
parted with hla time certificate
which had a legend on IU face show.
the Northern Kpress company and
by means of these added 110.000 to
Ins worldly wealth. In IIKib he part
ed one James Btone. a Chlcagoan,
from tvoo of the latter a funds. In
dividuals and banks alike were hit
game and In Chicago he touched the
State Bank of that city for IMOO.
He operated extensively In Ken
tucky and swung north to Belling
ham, Wash., where tn May hla per-
telegraph op- i tuaslve personality swindled a bank
Hla skill In reading Mors out of 13200. Seattle did not escape
land tha American Having!
ft SPORT 7
j I SHIRTS R&i!w 1
and i Ing It bore Interest at I per cent If
left for one year. By being allowed
th privilege of using tha money aa
h needed It ha generously gave
th bank whatever Interest had ac
crued or might accrue. Mr. York
'aa Houston) represented himself aa
being greatly Impressed by the little
city and wished to Identify himself
with IU future. Of court there were
tome things which a man of th
world Ilk himself might help cor
rect. In other worda h felt that he
would toon atari to make the place
over more nearly to hla heart's de
sire by building a hotel which would
be a credit Ut the town and him
self, and definitely by remedying
Ih deplorable newspaper situation.
Clever Mr. York.
Two Project
With hla nose for opportunity and
ear for local gossip he had hit on
th two project most open for fi
nancing by the bank, which waa
smarting under frank attack by the
Evening Herald which had coined
the name nf Hog Combine and Iden
tified member! of the banking fami
ly with aald combine. Also the
faction which caught up this pictur
esque term to describe their oppo
nent were most elated over the
plana underway ai that time for
the construction of the White Pell
can hotel for which ground had al
ready been broken on the corner
now occupied br the Balslger Oa
rage. The 100,000 modern hostelry
proposed by Mr. York aounded like
an answer to prayer to those an
lous to hold the center of the town
static. Mr. York'a plans for a newt,
paper also toothed tome very
wounded feelings for he proposed.
no less, the purchase of The Eve
ning Herald, neglleently overlook
ing the necessity of obtaining the
consent of The Herald.
Il appear that newspaper report
ing In those day wa somewhat
different from the present time. Vit
riolic article! were rpread all over
the first page! of the paper If the
reporter taw fit. The word "Al
leged" behind which a reporter
could dash for safety had not as yet
been dug out of the dictionary.
Statement were simply and frankly
made as for Instance when the
death of Mrt. Hemenway occurred,
there iu no anftentng statement
Just a flat: "Mm. Hemenway. an
addict to the use of drugs died this
morning from an overdose."
Mr. York wa expansive and gen
erous In the plan he outlined for
spending those fund he to confi
dently expected to acquire by hla
pleasing personality. It I recorded
that, as the Portland Telegram
phrased It: "Having established
himself a a promoter, a good fel
low and a high liver. York bought
HUM worth of Jewelry from H. J.
wintcra, tn Klamath Palla Jeweler,
and gave a worthies check In pay
ment. Thla Jewelry, explained York,
wa presented to various people In
Klamath Palla a token of hla es
teem and regard. J. Rufua Walling
ford could not hav worked th
gam on a larger teal nor mad
a better Impression."
He entertained lavishly, giving big
dinners and Joy rldea to various wil
ling new acqualntencea.
Representing the need of funda to
make th down payment on the
newspaper he drew an additional
$6000, making total now received
on hla time certificate of $11600. Then
Mr. York, or Houston, faded from
th scene.
When hi absenc became pro
longed enough to excite comment
and wnen the bank began to exhibit
anxiety a to hla whereabout tome
local Investigation aUrted. Account
from hereon ary but It I believed
that the following I essentially cor
rect
Mr. Houston wanted Mr. York to
take a bath. And he found hit key
for hla cork leg wax worn and un
usable. And. a an aside. It waa
found out later that when he ob
tained hla cork leg at a price of
$160 he allowed payment of $100
of the amount to slip hi minci.
John Peck and a man named Ber
ry had a foundry on Walnut atreet
across from the residence of the lo
cal policeman and deputy sheriff.
Sam Walker. In his goings and com
ings from home Mr. Walker, who
had eye and ears that brought
many criminal to Justice, had no
ticed Houston visiting the foundry
several limes. When Houston was
.... J e. ,n etm mit
what business he had had with the
foundry and wa told that the key
! for the famed cork leg wai defective
i and they had been asked to dupll
I ca It. which 'her did exactly.
New Key
Houston brought back the new
key and aald It wa no better than
the old. which the foundry explain
ed br the fact of hi having left a
defective key for a pattern. Mr.
Houston eat down and let the foun-
Idry make key pattern right then
and there. The key made from tni
pcttern proved most satisfactory
and he departed with it. Mr. Walk
er'! memory b that he asked If the
I original key had been taken by
I Houston and John Peck reached up
j to a ledge In the shop, and brought
aown me original aer.
Mr. Prank Ira White's memory
of the atory as often related to her
bv her late husband. Prank Ira
White, wa that he. Prank Ira. had
dropped In to have tome work done
at the foundry and the conversation
naturally wax all about York, the
Hog Combine, and other Juicy bit,
and he suggested taking the key to
1 . i "I
jk''"
f a . .
v a
f ' , Zf
MR. SAM WALKER
the bank which would be able from
the number on the original key to
trace the wearer of the artificial
limb. Both Sam Walker and Prank !
Ira White were lnveatlffators of far '
above the average Intelligence and
It I impossible at thla late day to
entirely reconstruct the clever de
tective work which landed York
back In Klamath Falls.
Mr. White, as a reporter on the
Denver Post, had been Instrumental
in bringing to Justice more than one
criminal of highly dangerous char
acter. Mr. Walker 1 famed through
out Klamath county for hi Intrepid
and clever trapping of murderer,
horse thieves and cattle thieves. 8o
it would teem only fair at this dis
tant time to split the credit between
them.
Vivid Memory
Mr. Walker' memory of hi con
versation with Mr. Peck I most
vivid. The bank after getting the
number of the key wrote to the
factory to ascertain to whom the
artificial limb had been sold and
a reply came that only two leg
of that description had been made,
one for a man In the Eastern
states and one for a man named
York of Los Angeles, and they were
able to supply the address of the
apartment in which this York lived
with his mother.
The American Bank and Trust
company then placed the matter in
the hands of Pinkerton's Detective
agency who planted a woman op
erative In an apartment near York's
mother with Instruction to culti
vate the latter friendship. This
wa not hard to do, and before
long Pinkerton's waa able to wire
the bank that York' mother wa
leaving on the steamer President
running from Los Angeles to Seat
tle to meet her son.
Sheriff Billy Barnes and depu
tized sheriff, Claude Daggett, 1
member of the official family of
the bank went to San Francisco,
met the boat, and rode, unknown
to Mrs. York, to Seattle with her.
There she was met by her notorious
son, and he was promptly taken
Into custody by Billy and Claud.
If you picture Mr. York rs being
crushed by the turn event had
taken I have drawn but a weak
description of our hero's Indomita
ble character. Indeed he was the
most unconcerned of all the parties
tn the transaction. On July 1, 1910,
the three men boarded a train
bound for Klamath Falls (via
Weed .
The Portland Telegram reported:
"Houston still refuses to talk. Sher
iff Barnes and Claud Daggett who
have in charge T. E. York, alias
P. B. Houston, who Is wanted In
Klamath Falls for swindling the
American Bank and Trust compa
ny, left here for there last eve
ning." The Herald speculated: "There
will doubtless be a large crowd In
waiting In the station to greet this
famoua awlndler but It I unlikely
that they will get a glimpse of him.
It I mor likely that th sheriff
will take him from th train al
torn point before th city la
reached and whisk him orr to Jail
tn an auto. Sheriff Barn has no
dealr to do th spectacular and
tha probability Is he will do what
he can to land hta man In Jail
without running th gauntlet of
curiosity seekers."
Prom th Urn of hi aarlval un
til he entered hta plea In court th
Herald broke out In a rash of
headllnet. for. making no effort to
conceal Its own tore toot over th
would be purchase of th paper, II
took full occasion to prick th tore
spot of at least on of th bank
official!
July 1 "Unci Bam Is After
Houston"
July ("Houston Jokes Former
Friend"
July 6 again not even setting
new type, "Uncle Sam Is Alter
Houston
July T "Houston May Writ a
Book"
July t "Houston Olves up All"
Under the headline that Unci
Sam la after Houston an account
was given of a wire received from
a U. 8 marshal asking Sheriff
Bames to hold Houston. Barcastls
comments follow:
"There Is no likelihood of Sheriff
Bames releasing Houston on hla
own recognizance. Thla telegram
ha caused much amusement here
foi there la no probability that tha
sheriff la going to throw open the
doors of his boarding house and tell
Mr. Houston to hike."
No Indeed. Mr. York waa ours
and we were going to keep him.
Under the headline "Houston Jokes
Former Friend" the paper printed:
"Thaddeua E. Yorke. or the man
who bought The Herald for th Hog
Combine la back among hla
friends." followed by a skin remov
ing article on said friends.
Through It all York was self
possessed and exercised his own
particular brand of humor, greet
ing the official family of the Ameri
can Bank and Trust company who
visited him in Jail, with "Well It
takes all kind of people to make
a world" and when they expressed
regret at seeing him In such a po
sition told them to hold their sym
pathy "It is all a case of graft
In this world. You see I was un
fortunate enough to get caught. You
are fortunate so you see you had
better save your sympathy." This
delighted the newspaper with Its
implication of graft against Hous
ton's "friend." One ponders on ho
the reporter, avowedly unfriendly to)
the bank's officers, was able to re
produce with such fidelity a conver
sation held between the swindler
and the swindled in the privacy of
bis cell. Could there have been any
(Continued on Page 22)
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