6 f\j STORIES OF THE SECRET SERVICE BY Capt. Patrick D. Tyrrell £'<*) r^ STORY No. 3 I The MISSOURI LAND LEAGUERS 1 Being an Account of the Operations I and Conviction of the Band of Land ] Thieves Operating in Missouri in | the Early Seventies. LBy CAPTAIN PATRICK D. TYRRELL - ; Copyright, 1005, by Marlon O. Soholt'in.] Tracing the careers of these men, I found that in 1X77 President Grant not only made his frio.id James Lindsay registrar of the Ironton land office, but made Carroll R. Peck receiver at the •name office. This arrangement lasted two years. At the time I went to Ironton I found Carroll R. Peck installed as Tiostmaster and his brother-in-law, an other son of Jamas Lindsay, a mail •clerk on the Iron Mountain railroad. This was a combination, I feared, that would render it impossible for me to send reports out of Ironton in the usual way, and I immediately arranged to forward reports trom another point. Subsequently it developed that Iron ton letters were frequently tampered with and lost. Robert L. Lindsay maintained three offices—one in Olive street, St. Louis, another in Market street, in the same city, and one at Ironton. At the lat ter office he had in his employ seven or eight persons, most of whom, 1 learned from cautious inquiry, were employed steadily m making out deeds to lands in the district. I could find no evidence to show that these em ployes had anything like a complete •conception of the character of the work in which they were engaged. The four that did most of this work were George Lopez. De Burns Casteel, Har vey Miller and Mrs Salsbury. The latter was a widow, and had evidently Kleaned enough to convince her that all was not right, although she did not know just what the wrong consist ed in nor the extent of the fraud to which she had been an innocent party. •Casteel and Miller were afterward of ■considerable service to the govern ment. It will be recalled that the grist of deeds being ground cut at the Lindsay niiil in Ironton were based on patents issued by the government many years before, and never claimed. I could not understand, therefore, how such a game could successfully be played with deeds that showed their recent manufacture on their face. A casual examination of instruments obtained t>y me showed them to bear the ap pearance of proper age. More careful examination, however, showed them to lack some of the unmistakable charac teristics impressed on such papers by age. It: became apparent, both from exam ination and investigation, that the Ivindsay deeds had been treated with coffee. This treatment, many years ago. was one of the improved methods used by counterfeiters and forgers when they wished to impart to spu rious documents the yellowness and •other indications of age. It consist ed merely in subjecting the paper to be. aged to a bath in coffee water of the proper strength. In tue hands of j an experienced person the effect de sired could be obtained so accurately ' that more than a superficial examina tion was required to reveal the fraud. These deeds came to be generally known as "smoked" deeds. As I have said, land stealing from the government is a composite crime. ! The thieves, I found, had left no means neglected, not only to confuse \ rho records, but to destroy those! ■through which their crimes might be traced. In this method they had j adopted wholesale methods—the burr-1 ing of counteouithouses in which 'he records were kept. Lindsay had ! preserved abst rates of title to such lands as h<- was dealing in it was to his interest to nave the official re, ords de troyed. This became true, and Jxindsay having brought the majority of the county ofll-ials under his cor-' rupt Influence th • .\t>rk of d- miction j wa« accomplished. At Kmincnee, the capital of Shannon county, the courthouse had been toirned three Hint . The leaguer - had toleu praeti ally ><l of Shannon eouu t The (lea!ruction of the court ! Imti-curr -d eaelt time under ex-, «'•*ly sin liar clr< 'l'ustancen, the fires starting at night between II p. HI. I *U<J tlir e u m , u time during which , the building and the grounds around It ■ were deserted. The origin of the tire in each case was mysterious, and no [ one ever was punished, owing to the j great influence of the leaguers in pre- j ing an investigation. In each of the other counties in which the ring had operated the court houses had been destroyed in the ! same manner and at the same hour | of the night as the Shannon county ! building. in some cases they had been burned twice. Courthouse burn ! ing came to be such a common occur | rence it excited little comment, but | throughout the section there was a very distinct but well suppressed no tion that the tires were of incendiary origin, and that the tire-bugs were working in the interests of the land \ league. When th 3 government in vestigation started these crimes were too old to be available in punishing the criminals, even had it been pos sible to establish their identity, but they served to show the length to which the land leaguers w-ould go. This wholesale destruction of records rendered it practically impossible to trace titles accurately in these coun ties. About this time I learned of a scheme, fathered by Robert Lindsay,! to build a narrow-gauge railroad from Salem, Dent county, through Shannon, j Carter and Ripley counties, to inter- ' : sect the Iron Mountain road at the j Arkansas line. Elaborately engraved I stock certificates were issued, and i some of them sold. The road, as ! projected on paper, was to traverse a j section in which the land was practi '■ cally all controlled by the Lindsay . ring. In connecting this railroad pro- • motion plan with the land thefts I ■ reasoned two ways: First, with so much of.the land along the line of sur- ; : vey in his control and available ! through crooked methods, Lindsay cal culated on developing the district by j j building the railroad; and, second, to advertise the construction of the road in the near future would greatly en- ! : hance the market price of the lands , he was unloading on the "suckers." I This price had ranged from 50 cents , to five dollars an acre. It was clear that the lands along the proposed road j would immediately jump to a much j higher figure if the gullible public could be convinced such a road was ] to be built, and I formed the opinion ' that the "Missouri & Arkansas" railroad would never go beyond the paper stage of construction. To the stock , 'TINS IS AN MKS.\!l>. WiKM'r certificates of the company, however,: were signed two names, those ,of Rob- | ert L. Lindsay, president, and Orlando j Van Hise, secretary. While there remained much detail work to be done, i believed we had a pretty good line en the activities of Lindsay. In addition to the points I have mentioned, 1 had learned from a Col. Grayson, a banker, that James Lindsay bad a la.-ge number of old land patents concealed in the safe of an Ironton lawyer. There was no doubt of the elder Lindsay's having connived at the removal from the land i office of thousands of patents by his 1 son while Lindsay, Sr.. was registrar, and it. is still a question in my mind whether the father had not been the actual originator of the steal and turned the execution of it over to his j son. But even had this been true, | the statute of limitations had run i against his offense, and there was no j use in wasting time securing evi-1 dence against the tit her, except such as might be of benefit in convicting the son. But, clear as these conditions were, j there remained two important facts j confronting us. One of these was j that while Robert Lindsay was the j head and front of she great conspiracy, j there were conspirators almost as j important. The other was that sound I legal cases against all of them were ] yet to be made. I had abstracts of title made to 24 parcels of land, and by following these and others through the records of the Washington land office had clearly established the forg eries of signatures to applications and deeds. This record searching was te dious and surrounded with many tech nicalities so many In fact that at one stage of the investigation I sugg-'ted fhat another man more familiar with I hem be assigned lo Ihe work but Sec retary Sehurx declined to relieve me From the appearance of the name of Orlando Van 111 -c as secretary of the "Missouri K Arkansas" railroad It was naturally to be Inferred that this person either stool nl,"h In the confl dence and operations of Lindsay, or was a dummy who was allowing him self to Ite used. The former was round to be the correct theory, and here I wish to Introduce In h>< real Identity the vtrltor who had " tie over Lindsay's scheme with him In the St, Louis olT«e In H7U, Orlando Van CAMERON COUNTY PRESS, THURSDAY, MARCH I, 1906. Hise, a Cleveland real estate tfealer! of good standing. After having had j the beauties of the plot expounded to him by Lindsay, Van lli.se had become one of the chief eastern agents for the Lindsay syndicate, and the mem ber of the ring second In importance only to the Missourian. I found Van Hise had made frequent trips to south western Missouri and thoroughly fa miliarized himself with the "lay of the land." The base of his operations was Cleveland, where there were associated with him George Linn; John K. Cor win, a notary public, and John P. Gardiner, a banker. During the investigation there had fallen into my hands the letterheads and advertising matter of the ring. The Real Estate Loan and Trust com pany, of St. Louis, was operated from the Olive street offices of Lindsay; while the International Land Agency was directed from Lindsay's private office in Market street. The letterhead | of the latter concern named George W. Nelson as the eastern agent at Pitts burg and Baltimore; Robert L. Lind say, the western agent; W. A. Brown, the selling representative in London, and John Gensler, the agent at Kissin gon. Germany, After some work had been done at Ironton and St. Louis I went east. Ia Pittsburg I found the four principal members of the ring to be Addison F. Burns, his father, William Burns; George W. Nelson, and H. R. Mc- Clellan. a notary. A large and profit able business in the sale of these lands had been carried on there for years. Nelson had been a particularly active; sales agent. He was partially par alyzed, and went among his friends representing himself as "land poor," the owner of vast, unproductive tracts, part of which he had to dispose of in order to support himself in his failing physical condition. There was an ele ment. of sympathy in some of Nelson's sales, but he was cheerfully disregard ful of the sympathetic feelings for him in unloading worthless titles to thou sands of acres on his friends. Addison Burns lived in Pennsylvania avenue, Pittsburg, end. in addition to handling Missouri lands, was a deal er in oil properties. He and his fa ther made frequent trips of inspection to Missouri. They were both church members in good standing. Like Van Hise, they had learned the profession of land grafting to a nicety, but, un like Van Hise, they had done some business in the line of actually making | fraudulent deeds on their own hook. J McG'lellan was a i.otary doing the I same kind of work in Pittsburg as Corwin did in Cleveland. The activity of Addison and Wil liam Burns in using their own chirog i raphy in the manufacturing of deeds | rendered it comparatively easy to es tablish a case against them, it being : necessary only to prove the forgery. ; Some of this work was done so clever [ ly that at the trial of these men per- I sons whose signatures had been forged j claimed the forgeries as their own : writing. The case against the Pitts | burg contingent was established prin cipally by comparisons in the govern ment land office. These members of the ring we therefore made a second ary issue of, pending the execution of a | plan to catch Lindsay and Van Hise ] in such a way they could find no loop j hole for escape. Developments up to this time had j revealed not less than 20 active mem-1 bers of the land league. As might be ! expected, they all were in close touch with one another, i.ud with the ring leader. and it. became apparent that in-order to capture all anil effectually smash the ring some plan would have to be devised where by the federal au- j thorities could move against them all! simultaneously. Still placing most! importance on making sound cases I against Lindsay and \an Hise, I called to my assistance E. M. Sted man, a secret service operative of much ability. "Assume the role of a lumberman looking for a site 'o operate a mill," were my Instructions, "goto Shannon county and open negotiations with Lindsay personally t»n a tract of lim ber land, holding the deal open till we ar<* ready to ac " Steilman follow.cd rsi ructions im plicitly Attlrod us a sawmill man •if much it.i an. !" bi an n< vitiation with Li:id.-a.v 1- Shannon county; lands. Lindsay took the bait and of fereil to II M:n a fine tra> t of mm acres at .*.«• «• »JM ut ACR- Tin ' negotiations wre coiidu<te<l jiei fin ally. Lindsay claimed to own the land. i. siirlng a good title, and repre senting himself as ih' owner ol ilmn sand"i of acri s <»f u'h*r land In dltTrr •nt counties in Mi •> nri. Stedmati 1 left Llnd-uy wi'hou rl -ii->; th> d< al ami went to Vltitnn, la hU MUppoaetl houi«, to which place lie told Llnd»a> ( he had been called by important busi ness. From Vinton he wrote asking for descriptions of othar tracts. The pur pose of opening such a correspondence was to get Lindsay on record in writ ing. Again the arch conspirator swal lowed the bait, sending to Stedman in his own handwriting descriptions of various tracts he thought might bo suitable for his correspondent's sup posed purpose. While in the east working on the Pittsburg angle of the case I wrote from Erie, Pa., to Orlando Van Hise in Cleveland, representing myself as James Hall, a sawmill owner, looking for a new business base. Van Hise's advertisement of timber lands had at tracted my attention, I wrote. Van Hise answered that he could sell me 25,000 acres of desirable timber in one tract, and suggested that I come to Cleveland to talk 'he matter over with him. So to Cleveland I went imme diately. Wearing the rough suit of i a lumberman, and with my trousers tucked into the tops of my boots, I registered at the Weddell house under still another name. While the land ringsters up to this time had no reason to believe they were being watched, they had acquired the trait of suspicion and alertness common to all criminals, great and small. I could afford to take 110 chances of having my identity discov ered by Van Hise, and therefore at every turn covered my tracks as well as I knew how. In line with this pol icy, I even took a roundabout course to Van Hise's office in Superior street. ; I introduced myself as the Erie party ! who had written to him. "I'm glad to meet you, Mr. Hall." said Van Hise, effusively. After the customary small talk that precedes getting down to business he said; "So you are looking for timber lands. Well, I believe I can furnish what you want." "Have you much land of this kind?" I asked. "Plenty of it." "At what price?" "That depends on the land. If you are prepared to take a large tract, I can probably make you a price of 50 cents an acre for land that will suit your purpose." "What arrangements can you make for time? I have a certain amount of money. I have sold my 'muley' mill, and am thinking of buying a portable circular mill. Until I decide on this" point I don't know just how I will be prepared to pay down on the land." "Those matters can be arranged to suit you. If you take the land and put a mill on it. I will have no fear of your getting away from me without paying the balance," Our conversation was of the pleas ant kind that marks a deal about to be closed. Van Hise showed me elab ; orate maps of the Missouri districts j in which he had lands for sale, and S marked off the tract h'e proposed to : sell me. But I did not close the deal j j then, pleading that 1 wanted a little | I time to decide on -.lie style of mill to j use and to arrange other details. I : told him I would £0 to Missouri to look at the lands, and asked for de scriptions, which 110 cheerfully gave j ; me. He went further, instructing me to make myself known to the clerk of the Missouri county to which I was supposed to be going. This clerk, he said, would be gla 1 to show me the land at his, Van ilise's, expense, and would give me all the information rela- ■ tive to this and other points I might j desire. This bit of accommodation on 1 Van Hise's part indicated clearly the ; hold the leaguers had on certain county officials, and the part the lat ter played in the marketing of the . stolen goods. [To Be Continued.] Chinese Etiquette. Very curious are some of the rules of etiquette observed by Chinamen. Emile Bard, who has written a book on the sub ject of Chinese life, says that in nine 1 cases out of ten. however,, the form of ! etiquette has replaced the substance, j with the Chinese, a refusal or unpleasant ; truth must be expressed evasively. If a j Chinaman does not wish to accommo- \ date a friend he never gives the true reason for his refusal; that would lie discourteous. He lies politely. The ceremonious forms of expression used in ordinary conversation seem very ' amusing to the European listener. It is a fixed rule that one must speak of him- i self and of all belonging to him in the i humblest of terms and use the most ex- j alted language in referring to the per son or property of another. Whether 'wo mandarins or two beggars meet and accost each other this is a sample of their conversation: "What is your hon orable name?" "Your insignificant brother's name is Wang." "Where is your noble dwelling?" "The hovel in which I hide myself is in desig nating the place. "How many precious sons have you?" "I have only five stupid 1 little pigs." Father Had Failed. Gabriel Rose it I, poet and painter, was once visited by an East Indian prince, who wanted a portrait of hia dead father printed. As no photo graph was in existence the painter de clined the tMk. The prince insisted : thai it was possible, a* flosstltl bad painted pictures of Mary Magdahn, John the liaptio and ot.iers whom ho had never seen. RoMStU at last con sented. lie painted an ideal had that was certainly oriental and also reral in in bearing. '1 h • prince came to the studio in great tale to view it When the ( in\:i was uncovered he looked at it steadily and then burst into tear*, "ilow father h< 1 changed?" he cried. In N-w York. "I'm afraid I ain't nu.'y in shitty, after all." mount.l thj uiulilmlllioa< aire, "Why not?" "No|.< dy ha* »ti« ,n:to Mn't.in.iJJ bid yet, laoui viita Couvler JouruAJ MOT ONE, BUT QUITE LATE Lover's Plea Answered by a Voice That Carried Conviction with It. Prof. G. A. Hill, of the national observa tory, was describing the duties of au astronomical corps during an eclipse. "The lie said, "may only last five minutes. Each man in the party has a certain line of work mapped out for liim during these One man makes hurried pencil sketches. An -1 other man photographs. A third man takes observations, while a fourth jots down his i remarks. And so it goes. An astronomical corps during an eclipse is a very busy body. An interruption would be as unwelcome to it ; as—as—" Prof. Hill smiled. "An interruption would be as unwelcome to it as it once was to a young friend of mine in Elizabeth. "My friend, according to the story, was calling on his sweetheart, who lived on Elizabeth's outskirts. "As the young man was taking leave for the night, his voice, as he stood on the piazza, rose passionately in the. still air. " Must one,' he said. '-Just one.' "Then the young girl's mother inter rupted, calling from her bedroom win dow: "Just one? No, it ain't quite that vet. , But it's close onto 12, so 1 think ye'd bet- ' 1 ter be goin' just the same." TERRIBLE SCALY ECZEMA. Eruptions Appeared on Chest, and Face and Neck Were All Broken Out—Cured by Cuticura. "I had an eruption f.ppear on my chest I and body and extend upwards anil down wards, so that my neck and face were all i . broken out; also my arms and the lower ' limbs as far as the knees. I at first thought it was prickly heat. Hut soon scales or crusts formed where the break- J ing out was. Instead of going to a phy- ! sician, I purchased a complete treatment 1 of the Cuticura Remedies, in which I had , great faith, and all was satisfactory. A year or two later the eruption appeared again, only a little ltwer; but before it had time to spread 1 procured another j supply of the Cuticura Remedies, and con tinued their use until the cure was com plete. It is now live years since the last attack, and have not seen any signs of a return. I have more faith in Cuticura j Remadies for skin diseases than anything j I know of. Emma E. Wilson, Liscomb, lowa, Oct. 1, 1905." "Dc man dat gits mad easy," paid Uncle Eben, "is liable to waste so much energy on bis indignation dat lie ain' got enougn let' to make out any kin' or an ahgumuut." i —Washington Star. ——■— An instantaneous cure for Rheumatism, | Neuralgia, Toothache, Headache, Lame- j ness, Backache, is Dr. Bayer's Penetrating ! Oil. -3c a bottle. Take no substitutes. | Fashion writer says: "One can get a real cute layette for a baby for $8,000." Wouldn't that make you joiu a Race Sui cide ( lub? —N. V. Herald. You Won't cough long if you use Shiloh's Consump tion Cure, the Lung Tonic. It cures Colds, Coughs, and all irritations ot the ait passages almost instantly. You won't lose anything if ft fails to cure you, for then your dealer will give you back what you paid for it. If you ! use Shiloh You Will agree that it is the greatest medicine for Coughs and Colds in the world. " We have used Shiloh's Consumption for the lajt twelve years, and think it one of the brst cough lemciics on the market.—Mrs. A. Schmaye, Santa Cruz, Cal." "1 can recommend Shiloh's Consumption Cure as one of the best cough medicines.—A. A. Glick, jcnera.Ohio." ' Have used Shiloh's Consumption Cure for roughs and colds with most satisfactory lesulb. — i JVluinic Howe, Portland, Oregon." 2 SHILOH 25c. per bottle. All dealers guarantee it. 1 ® i yyxNv \r ]fflffl ■■■ This is trr Moid of (ftir renown. Who senilis tlx* floors of .spotlrsVßjwn. Toflncln Hpock win *n she l*» rhruufili. Would fekr t\ pair ot specs or rv.o. i And Iter eiiipit jytnent slow ror she employs SAPOLIO. New Prize Puzzls I!.< 112 . I M Ml I i I I . t . . I. I I » .1 .111 ». WHOOPING COUGH 111 Ml % \| % Hl* I « It II it .. I • ...» l.'t • tt.v . %t. | Dry* Go., Mfr». t CttVtLANu. O. | Garfield Tea, Mild Laxative. Nothing has yet taken the place of Gar field Tea, Nature's remedy for kidney and liver trouble, constipation and sick head ache. Contains no harmful ingredients, nothing but medicinal herbs. Hold at all drug stores. Bend for free sample to Garhold Tea Co., Brooklyn, N. Y. - ♦ Long and Short of It. Bl»ecker —Are you to he long in toirn? Tionan — Well, 1 tried to be, but tlifl ■narket went short.—l'uck. Shake Into Your Shoes Allen's Foot-Ease. It cures painful, swollen, smarting, sweating feet. Makes new »hoea easy. Sold by all Druggists and Shoe Stores. Don't accept any substitute. Sample FREE. Address A. S. Olmsted, Le lloy, N. Y. —— When it does not exceed his own a man can atlord to rejoice in his neighbor's good fortune. A Guaranteed Cure for Piles. Itching, Blind, Bleeding, Protruding Piles. Druggists are authorized to refund money ii 112 AZO OINTMENT fails to euro iuO to 14days. 50a The man who thinks he is a wit should; talk into a phonograph —and then be iuad« j to listen.—Saturday Evening l'ost. J TTow to cure Biliousness, Stomach Dis orders, Chronic Constipation, Bladder, i Liver and Kidney Irregularities, take | Spanish Cross Tea for a month. 25c a | package. Many a man whom we think has a big heart only has a patient ear.—N. O. Pica yune. If you enjoy muffins and waffles, try j Mrs. Austin's Pancake flour and you will j be delighted with the results. Many fail through success, while others succeed through failure. ———^————l •;r j«r j»r j«er jsr jor I THE BEST COUGH CURE I • # y A veil-known Rochester lady it says:"l stayed in the Adirondacks, y 2* away from friends and home, two • winters before I found that by taking g 1 Kemp's Balsam I 2 I could subdue the cough that J i 7 drove mo away from home and 7 « seemed likely to never allow me w iS to live there m winter." 7 Kemp's Balsam will cure any 7 I m cough that can be cured by any W i J medicine. / Sold by all dealers at 25c. and 50c. / irjiusr SICK HEADAGHE z —1 Positively enred by D C these Little Pills, j Vr\l\i L«\o Tliey also relievo Dia tress from. Dyspepsia, In- WITTLE digestion and Too Hearty Hi |\/ C 83} Eating. A perfect rcm- Bj|j 8 w Eul* edy for Dizziness, Nausea. HI IP S ILL S Drowsiness, Bad Taste ■3 IffiS " ,n the Mouth, Coated ■MhBHB Tongue, Pain In tlie Side. 1 TORPID LIVER. They ; regulate tho Bowel 3. Purely Vegetable. SMALL PILL, SMALL DOSE, SMALL PRICE. PADTPDCI Genuine Must Bear . i .no Fac-Simile Signature ■■B [REFUSE SUBSTITUTES. Twenty-Five Bushels of Wheat to the Acre (1 l'f tJ.lmeans a productive ■Mlffff I capacity in dollars of I sii I This 011 laud, which I wiy H I TinlJi ' las cost the farmer t nothing, but the price of tilling it, tells its The Canadian Government gives absolutely free to every settler 100 acres of such laud. , t Lands adjoining can be purchased at from $6 to $lO per acre from railroad and other corpora tions. Already 175,000 farmers from tlie United States have made their homes in Canada. For pamphlet " Twentieth Century Canada'* and all information apply to SUPERINTENDENT OF IMMIGRATION, Ottawa, Canada, or to thr following authorized Canadian Government Agents : U. M. WILLIAMS. Law Building, Toledo, O. Mentis t his paper mm PACIFIC The Short Line to OREGON and WASHINGTON Every Hay Fob. 15 to April 7, I'MKi. Colonist rates to nil poiuts iu tlurse stales, from Chicago 533.00 TWO TRAINS DAILY Through Sleeping and Dining Car Service QUICKEST TIME Inquire of W. G. NEIMYtR, G. A., 120 JACKSON BOULEVARD, CHICAGO, ILL. MOTHER CZAV'S (SWEET PO WDERS TlfT FOR CHILDREN, 112 • rwiln (tire foj PrvrrUlnii'M, / I•» it, II «• a.III< he 9 S* ' v Trouble*, Tt t'lblutf r ■ + i IM mordfi' > , 11. Mruy lOtllti' .Uif Wuriiii. Tii IS •"••II t» II i» folds In i II Hours. A i ■ t*. J> 1 1».»'1*1 mul »«i Hill. uMie •. Ycrfci it* A. y. OLMbTEU, LeNuy.N.V. eRFSORY'S SEEII II I I Ul I 4. 4. II Or* Ito*. A.N. K. C 8114 PATENTS rj\ • S'iiUbUJkl-l'k L'U, U»> SVuUimivo, U. U
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers