The Philadelphia Times from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page 1

kUMBER 4098. PHILADELPHIA, SUNDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 5, 1886.. FIVE CENTS. which was quickly transferred to the pic A GREAT CAVE IN. fidelity of his own trusted agent and he A BIG READING DEBT later reputation, and I thought him a very noticed the forger's characteristic blunders side by side with his most painstaking A LITERARY CRIMINAL with his family.

Tbe old man Young bod died, and his widow went to Philadelphia with her "nephew," who really, however, was her son, though neither be nor she would ever acknowledge this. Tbe nearest approach to a confession she would ever make was to allow that James has always been like a son to her; in fact be is an adopted son." THE DOWNWARD CAREER, Horton had contracted the opium habit; aud ttiis, together with losses and business vicissitudes, aged him rapidly, and at one time shook his intellectual faculties. One morning he was found down town, insensible, in a vacant lot, with signs of an attempt at suicide, from which he was saved by the unsteady aim of a tremulous band. He recovered himself, however, and even the detectives lost interest in him for a time. When, during the Star route trials, the government's counsel received proposals from an unknown person in Philadelphia to furnish them with some most important testimony against Dorsey aud others the matter was put into tbe bands of the Pinkerton Agency.

Captain Lindcrman quickly detected the handiwork of Horton in the offer and when It was manifest that his cunning engraver's hand work manufacturing testimony its worthlcssness was quickly apprehended. Since then he has been doing odd jobs of journalistic and pictorial work, illustrating school books and tbe like, until his characteristic Hue of illegitimate work lately tempted him into tbe field of literary and artistic imposture in which The Times has detected him. how he made his books. It is possible that in bis treatment of the theme he undertook, Young, alias Hortou, alias Haywood, was assisted by some familiarity with sailors' life, though the probabilities arc all against bis over having been to sea at all, bis parents being plain, native born people and himself an engraver by education. He may have had at hand, besides Semmes' "Memoirs of Service Afloat," Bulloch's Secret Service of the Confederate States in Europe," and perhaps the little book now rare published at Cape Town and entitled "Our Cruise in tbe C.

S. War Steamer Alabama." Perhaps be had somewhere met a former seaman of that vessel, from whom he may have gathered some ot bis material. But his main reliance was on the audacity of bis enterprise aud bis lifelong practice and oft tried skill as a falsifier of fact, as a most entertaining and plausible liar aud a ready, dashing nnd brilliant writer. Long and successful work as an In The Romantic, Criminal Career of James Yonng. A FORGER AND CONFIDENCE Tarns Up as James 11.

Corlon, F. k. Vaughn, Marcus T. Young and riiilip D. Haywood.

HIS LITERARY IMPOSTURES Houghton, Mifflin Co. and the Century Magazine Among His Victims. HIS THEFT IN PHILADELPHIA He is Again in Philadelphia After a Ions and Varied Criminal Career. The Times was the pioneer in the field of periodical war history. The notable contributions to its weekly issue by leading actors in the military and naval events there depicted have become permanent parts of the history of the war of the rebellion.

That history ia happily making largely in sight of the generation which participated in the great military and civil struggle for the Union. As its conspicuous features have been from week to week re examined, and in many instances the story of this or that battle and of one or another incident told for the first time correctly in the columns of this journal, the work of the historian has been recast, facilitated, amended or enlarged. As the ground of Gettysburg, the best marked of all the battle fields of the world to illustrate the science of war and the struggle of military forces, is corrected in its tablets and memorial stones yearly by recurring reunions and the council and conference of late foes now arm in arm, so the opening of The Times columns alternate weeks to Union and Confederate Boldiers and scribes collected annals of the war invaluable for the completion and correction of history. But, just as the liberal extension of pension bounties and other military favors to the deserving bred a long line of impostors and pretenders, so the popularity of real war history has encouraged the publication of a good deal of fiction and the currency of some imaginative productions that scarcely rise to the level of romance. FACT AND FICTION.

A Romance of tlio War Contributed to the Century Magazine." There has been for some time a suspicion lurking in the minds of a good many critics that there was an undue proportion of fancy and fiction incorporated as fact in the popular series of war articles printed in the Century Magazine and soon to be Issued In book form. It will be remembered that in the April (1SSU) number of that series there were published three articles ou ttie famous Confederate cruiser Alabama, the picturesque story of whose depredations on our commerce, like the thrilling narrative of her fight with and destruction by the Kearsarge, will ever constitute one of the most striking chapters in our naval history and In the world's annals of sea fights; not to speak of the part played by this vessel and its ravages on commerce In our subsequent relations with Great Britain and the in ternational arbitriftion system of the civil ized world. The Century articles purported to be an account of Life on the "by one of the crew, P. D. Haywood," and it was embellished with Illustrations engraved by well known artists by the author." Accompanying it were the story of the cruise and combats of the Ala bama, told by her executive officer, Captain John Mcintosh Kcll, now living In Georgia, and a description of the great naval duel off the coast of France by Dr.

John M. Browne, men ine surgeon on board the Uulon war vessel and now resident of Washington. bearing high rank on the medical stair of the navy. Of the authenticity of the two latter arti cles there can be no doubt and the verity of the narratives, from the different points of View occupied by their respective authors, is confirmed by the established high char acter of the relators, albeit the articles show evidence of that mutilation towhich maga zine contributors arc too often subjected for the nriiHtic effects" or business purposes of the directors of such publications. The Hay wood article, however, marked the blalug out of a new light in literature of its sort.

It attracted wide attention from the circle of renders interested in the subject and evoked angry retorts from some quarters of tho Sout and from friends of the Semtncs1 crew, the admiral's widow herself going so far as to express doubts if any such individual as the purported author of the sketch was over one of her husband's crew, and other wit nesses citing the roll of tho privateer to show that no such name was to be found upon it, THE ROMANCER'S AUTOUIOGUAfH Y. The alert and enterprising publishers of tho Century, however, who no doubt had many calls upon them lor the identity of tneir newanu briiuoiiteonfrlbutor, disclosed him as a Phlladelphlan notin the directory and in their Memoranda of the Civil War" tor July they printed the following autobiographical account of his romantic life and career: "Hlnce you ask me for somo accountof my experience as a sailor I may say that I was born in Charleston, South Carolina, In Feb mary, 18.KJ, and was taken to England when I was two years old. My parents settled at White Haven, in Canibcrlnnd, and I was sent to 'Piper's Marine When I got older I spent some time at a Catholic semi pocketed his losses without seeking to cap ture the thief or recover his booty. This wag the privateering venture of the autk ho now writes himself "one oi the Crwaf the Alabama. His captures were by land, not at sea.

Young with his bonds succeeded in mak Ing bis way to Minneapolis. He boarded there with a highly respectable family by the name of Horton: hiBSiiperiorinteingence, abundance of means and evident capacity for business and shrewdness in money matters soon gained hhu the confidence of the community and gave him a standing among Its business men. He always main tained a certain reserve and knew how to keep his own counsel. All the time he was ou the look out for prizes. It was not, however, until some timcaftertheevent that bis fellow citizens of Minneapolis happened to discover he had obtained quite a large sum of money by forging a mortgage in the name of an old schoolmaster who owned 100 acres of land there.

Young bad been an intimate triend or this old gentleman in former years when they both had lived in Philadelphia, and now, in consideration of this friendship, the old schoolmaster's heart relented and he refused to prosecute tho case against the young man. The forgory, however, had become known tothecommunity andYouug found It urgently advisable to close his career in that part of tho country as expeditiously as possible. By this time the Alabama's career, too, had been closed and forever. Notso Young s. He simply changed his name and quarters and continued his land piracies more boldly than ever.

He now assumed the name of James H. Horton, a brother of Mr. D. H. Horton, in whose family at Minneapolis he had boarded.

IN NEW FIELDS. lie came East, first to Malone, New York, nnd then hovered around the neighborhood of his first exploits, If not ol his birth and all his early experience in life, for he has kept carefully concealed tho real identity ol nis family, which by many of his acquaintances is believed to hnve been of Delaware county origin and of long residence in Philadelphia. Rehabilitated with an honest man's name, and mounted on a white horse, he boldly rode, one evening in 1807. into the little town of Htrasburg, In Lancaster county, Pa and took a room In the Cross Keys Hotel, ono of the three hostel ries of that sleepy village. The appcaranco of a stranger at any time Is an event of popular interest there, ana bis prolonged stay deepens the mystery and enhances the excitement) which his mere advent creates.

But Horton equestrian entrance, alter the solitary" manner of ono of G. P. R. James' novel heroes, Intensified the curiosity which was aroused by the stranger. He was of prepossessing appearance, gentlemanly, if somewhat reserved, in his manners, paid his bills promptly and seemed have plenty of money.

No ono asked too closely where he came from, who he was, what ho wanted or bow long ho was going to abido. THE DISTlNflUISHED STRANGER. When his stay was protracted till weeks and months went by this distinguished looking "city man" made no move to leave nor yet to become a citizen in the sense of showing a "neighborly" familiarity with any one. On the contrary, ho gave them to understand that "his business was not their business," nud the good townspeople began to grow a little more inquisitive. It was noticed that he seemed to work more at night than in day time, the light in his room seldom being extinguished before morning.

Curiosity was piqued still more by his freJ qncntly being closeted with an elderly, gray haired stranger, who came no ono knew whence and departed no one knew whither. The Postmaster noted that Horton neither sent nor received any mail through the Strnsburg Post Office, while it was discovered that he dully rode to the county town of Lancaster, to the Gap and to otiier near and distant postolliccs tosendofl'and receive his mail, which, it was said, often consisted of heavy and strange packages, and, moreover, was sometimes addressed to him as H. Y'ouug." In short, in the minds of the country people there gradually came to be a great deal of mystery wrapped around tho reserved and distinguished looking Mr. Hor ton. Strungo tales were invented and It came to be felt that there was something un canny about him.

It was but nntural, there fore, that when an anonymous letter was ono day received at the local bank, warning it of a plot to rob it, ho was at once asso ciated with it in the popular opinion, though no ono could point to any evidenco or to anything improper In his speech or conduct at any time. He took a hand in the village newspaper nnd occasionally engaged in political controversy, but lie never invited close scrutiny of bis own identity, and, though handy alike with pen and pencil, ho never sketched for tho gratification of the Strasbui'gers his own career nor submitted his features to tho photographer camera. MATRIMONY. While the suspected stranger's reserve thus raised vague suspicious and strange stories among tho town gossips, Horton knew how to unbend and ingratiate himself with the landlord of the hotel and his good family. Ifc was a great favorite, especially with the young ladies of tho household, tho comely daughters of mine host, and It was not long before ho proposed marrlago to one of them and was accepted.

Not very long after his marriage, aud after the anonymous letter had been received at the bank, Horton and his bride left Strasburg and took up their residence at Lancaster, where his almost daily visit had already made him a familiar figure on the streets, and frequent dealings had given him good credit in financial circles. Soon nftcr Horton's removal to Lancaster an old couple named Young also came there and bought themselves a snug little prop erty as their homo. Of them Horton always spoke as his unclo and aunt and seemed very devoted to them, spending much of his time at their house ana providing lor their wanta. Horton's life at Lancaster was apparently that of a wealthy, shrewd and, withal, more than ordinarily intelligent, man of leisure, who, more for pastime than anything else, carried on a considerable amount of speculation in stocks and did business In that line for others as well as himself. Socially, in spite of his habitual reserve, ho became quite a favorite, being a brilliant conversationalist of very wide information.

He could talk entertainingly and very Intelligently on almost any topic, science, polities, art, was, In fact, himself an artist, who used his pencil with no little originality and skill, while he seemed to havo traveled all over the world and spoke of London, Paris, Berlin, Calcutta, as though intimately ac quainted with everything nud everybody in those and other leading cities of tho Old World, Altogether he made the impression ol being a gentleman of very superior culture and unusually large experience. FORGERY. But under cover of social and domestic prosperity he was only laying his plans more deeply ror criminal transactions on a far nrger scale than any on which he had hitherto ventured. At the time his friends did not suspect any ulterior purpose In his chemical experiments. Nordld thedrugglst who sold nlm certain acids, to clean out the drain pipes in bis bath room," Imagine what rascality ho was unconsciously helplngalong until, on Juno 11, 1873, tho community wns startled by tho rumor that James II.

Horton bad robbed four of the leading banks to tbo tune of from VI5.0O0 to (40,000 and had de cam ped. A few dnys afterwards 10,000 postal cards wore sent out all over the country, tho first time the then new postal card was used for detective purposes, containing the following announcement: $1,000 llKWAIlO. PlNKERTON'S NATIONAL AoKNCV. OnbTiioi'hanu Dollars Kkwabd will be imHI for the arrest and detention, for a requisition, of J. 11.

Horton, who, on May unused upon Heed, McUrunn A bankers, of tAneaster, a forged certlllcntc of stock of the Philadelphia and Heading Railroad company, purporting lo repre sent a value of HlU.OOO. The ninuuvt realized by lorton from this and otner similar transactions Is iibout $75,000 nnd Includes United States Treasury gold ceitllleates, as follows, Ti'tler Nos. 7.WI5 and H.lfift, for each, and Nos. 21,370, 24,510, SHriii, zn.iiw, 24,504, 24,701, 2O.IHI0 anil 21. Kill, for 1,000 each, which be limy endeavor to exchange, anil tor the recov ery of which a liberul percentage will be paid.

IIoliTON (s about 40 yutrs ota, 0 leet 7 to 8 inches blgli, wclRhs 1HO pound.H, erect, nrond ohouldered, pretty full chested, rather corpulent, sallow complexion, iMissihly llimhcd from heavy drinking, rattier small black eyes, heavy black eyebrows. short black hair, short side whiskers and mous tache, very slightly sprinkled Willi gray hair thin on the forehead rather prominent nose, hiirli bridge, good teeth generally good features short, thick neck; will probably dressed In new clothes; wore on little linger a cameo ring, black oval ground, about it hy Inch, with white female bend, mounting moderately heavy and rniher plain. In short step, rapid walker and prullcleiit In pencil and pen sketching. Information of the arrest of Horton or regarding him should be sent (by telegraph, If necessary) to AM. AN I 1 Kit TON.

(dd KxehnnKC Place, New York. OITUvS: 101 and I till Fifth Chicago, 111, Uft Hoiltll Third Ht Philadelphia. The redolent of these cards are requested to make such use of them as will best lead to the capture of the party. The ftbaenco ol any photograph in exist encc at that time served to aid his escape for a period no doubt, hut an expert local artist of Ktiasbiirg, Milan Warfol, made Irom torial press and contributed to bis final capture. THE MISSING MAN.

How Horton's Forgeries Were Detected and How He Escaped. Tbe circumstances leading to tbe detection of his forgeries were these: On June 10 he came to Bair A Shenk's Bank, where be had had frequent dealings, and wanted to raise 810,000 on 203 shares of Philadelphia and Reading Railroad stock, saying that he was aoing it lor certain parties down below (In Philadelphia). The certificate of stock bo offered was in the name of T. A. Watts, and was aated June 2.

Major R. W. Sheuk, 01 the firm, was about paying him the money when, casually glancing over tho face of tbe certincate no noticed that the final in tbe word "shares" bad a slight pen stroke drawn through it. He called Horton's attention to it, who, however, supposed it was all right." But tbe banker expressed bis doubts nnd fear that there was something crooked" about it, as indeed there was, tnc ngures hud been raised from Then Horton exclaimed: "By God, I may be imposed upon by the party below. I be lievoyouare right aud I'll take the train this afternoon, go to Philadelphia, have it explained and be here to morrow with a cer tificate in my own name.

Keep the money ior me, With that he hurried out of the office, leaving an envelope containing five dollars witn tne clerk, who lived near his house, with the request to give it to bis wife "for Although the banker's sus picions were aroused, they were not at once directed to so respectable and responsible a customer as Hortou, whose theory of being himself the possible victim of a fraud was readily accepted. The local banker took no stops in the matter till somo hours later. when he mentioned tho circumstance to a member of the banking houso of Reed, Mc Grann Co. The latter at once examined some certificates of railroad stock upon which he bad several weeks before loaned Horton shares of other stock, of about equal market value, for temporary use, and at once he detected in them signs ol forgery that could naturally have escaped anything snort oi vigilant scrutiny. BOLD OPERATIONS.

Two other Lancaster banking houses were soon discovered to have suffered even more heavily, and inquiry disclosed the fact that Horton had speedily converted about $15,000, the proceeds of the mlsuseof his engraver's skill and chemical knowledge, into gold. gold certificates and other more easily negotiable securities. He had on the day he left Lancaster at once gone to Philadelphia and hastened to the bank of P. S. Peterson 4 on South Third street, with whom bo had lorsomo timo been dealing, having a con siderable amount on deposit with them.

He now deposited several checks for heavy amounts, drawn in his favor by well known parties, and left. Early next day he called again aud said that, as he intended going to new York to do a little speculating In stock he would like them to give him letters of credit on two good New York houses. This was promptly done, and ho was off for New York. There he took his letter of credit for to Osgood on Broad street, and at the same time remarked hat he would probably want to draw the whole amount, as he was going into the street to speculate a little. Being asked what kind of speculation ho Intended going into, no answered: "Buying gold." At the same time he said thnt he was in somewhat of a hurry, as he wanted to leave town as soon as he cquld get oil', and therefore asked Messrs.

Osgood A Co. whether they would not buy the gold for him at once. Tho firm, however, demurring at such rapid business, Hor ton became quite Indignant, and told them that If they mistrusted him they had better telegraph to Drexel Morgan, in Philadel phia, and have the transfer made at once by telegraph. Ho insisted on this, and coolly sat down in tho private office while the firm telegraphed to Philadelphia nnd soon re ceived a satisfactory response, and then im mediately bought (211,780 in gold notes and paid it over to Horton. No sooner had he received the money than ho left.

And no sooner bad he left than ln loss than thirty minutes after this telegram was brought In Philadklphia, June 12. Osoood Nkw York: Don't pay any money over to Horton. We have discovered that Uie check and drafts we have cashed forhluiare fiWgericsr Catch hlni 11 you can. A Too late! Ho had played his little game too well. Ho had his money safely in his pocket and was off, nooue knew whither.

In spite of the ten thousand postal cards of Pinkerton and in spite of the heavy rewards offered for his nrrest ho had covered his tracks so skilfully that months went by ere any cine to his whereabouts was found. Meantime Reed, McGrann A Co. were in re ceipt ol a letter from him, expressing contrition for his and promising restitution. A comparison of this letter with sonic re cent literary correspondence with Philip Drayton Haywood discloses a remarkable similarity. A comparison of both the handwriting nnd toue of this letter, with a like one writ ten to Searle after his robbery by Young, confirms the coincidence.

Young, Horton and Haywood arc identical. HIS ARREST. The Forger In the Hands of the Police and Ills Career Ended. There was In 1873 a boy in one of the Providence, R. clothing stores who read the newspapers, scrutinized the pictures and scanned tbe personal appearance of his customers.

Ho noticed one day in the fall of that a man who came to buy a coat wore a ring such ns he had seen described in the account of Horton be connected it with the printed portrait and tho face before hlin. He communicated his aroused suspicions to a detective hanging around and pointed out to him tho object of his attention. The officer nabbed tho strange mau and locked him up. Horton begged plteously for permission to go back to his boarding bouse, if only for a brief timo, but it was denied him. Thereby hangs a tale.

It was discovered that he bad already, before his departure from Lancaster aud the discovery of his forgeries, lost somooflhe spoils In speculation others, to tbo amount of JI0.000, ho had converted into Uulon Pacific Railroad bonds. These he bad given to Mrs. Young, now ascertained to be his mother, to replace securities said to have been borrowed from her and lost in stock ventures. They were subsequently made subjects of attachment by his victims, but bis parents hid them beyond recovery, Plnkerton's men, after recovering tbe object of their search, kept him under surveillance for several dnys, but could elicit from him no clue to the place where his booty wns concealed. It was found that under the name ol A.

Vaiighan" he had boarded In Providence with two maiden sisters, with whom his talents bad Ingratiated him aud to one of whom ho made love; be had deult somewhat la stocks and watched the lluauclul market quotations closely. PARTIAL RESTITUTION. When in custody In Phlladelphlaon his way to Lancaster ho amused the dotoetlvcs and confirmed his Identity by rapidly sketching a portrait of himself, from which was taken tbe photoglyph that now adorns the album of Plnkerton's Detective Agency. Ho soon began negotiations with the banks ho bad robbed for a commutation of his sentence, conditioned upon the partial restoration of bis booty. Ho succeeded In securing nu arrangemeut by which for tbe return of about 119,000 he was pledged Immunity from prosecution on more than a single charge, and upon pleading guilty was sentenced to a nominal fine nnd two years' Imprisonment.

Ho was extremely retlccntas to the hiding place of bis money. The most careful search had failed to bring It to light In his boarding house, and finally, when be came to terms, ho selected a friend in Lancaster county, whom he sent to Providence witb a sealed letter to tho women with whom ho bnd lodged. They road It while tho messenger waited without, went to tho place designated, found Hand dispatched It to tbe Lancaster bankers, by whom It was divided In tho proportion of their losses. Subsequently they discovered a deposit of several thousand dollars In his nnmo with New York bunltcr, attached and secured it. Home of bis remaining booty escaped them for several years after his release be went to a Now York banking house, and under the name of Marcus T.

Young Introduced a ludy supposed to be his wife and made a deposit of 13,000 In her given name, which was not cheeked out for a considerable period Inter. During his sentence his own family and his parents lived In comfort, nnd after his discharge Horton continued bis residence modestly but with ease In Lancaster, month after month growing Into greater familiarity with bis old associations and gradually resuming his hnblts of stock speculation and renewing old acquaintances. Soon, however, beenmo monotonous to blm, or as he expressed It, the place was too small to do business on it largo scale, and everybody knew too much about everybody else!" Bo he moved lo Philadelphia commonplace gentleman. There was one thing he could do to per fection, and that was swear, ana nm foaco levies had the benefit of bis talent in that direction. Ward's death the next year ended a career that promised to be remarkable.

He would have made himself a power in the East. Tbe climate did not agree with me. In the fall of "til I returned to England, and in '12 shipped on the Confederate privateer Alabama. After her destruction 1 went to blockade running and made a little fortune by lucky ventures, but this was soon ended by the downlau ortne uonteaeracy. Save several voyages to the West Indies, I have been on shore since lwrti.

When I first went to sea educated yoitng men were common in the forecastle, thither led by a spirit of adventure, but no decent man would go to sea now, save from dire compulsion, "His associates would bo broken down turnpike sailors and 'longshoremen perhaps vicious and unendurable and most likely foreigners. So the common sailor that really Is a sailor and has Intelligence 10 urn what he knows will soon pass away forever. Herman Melville was the greatest of the last. Clark Russell is too literal and to a sailor his long descriptions are tedious, but Melville is glorious. "Philip Drayton Haywood.

"Philadelphia, April 15, 1888." HAYWOOD'S BOOK. A distinguished firm of Boston publishers. not disposed to allow tho literary centre of the country to be entirely removed to New York, much less to Philadelphia, promptly engaged Haywood, and from the house of Houghton, Mifflin Co. there issued, June 20, 18S, in the weekly Riverside paper series, No. 20, "The Cruise of the Alabama, By One of the Crew," which, the publishers' advertisement takes trouble to explain, is not tho "brief statement" contributed by its author, P.

D. Haywood, to the a full report of tbe Alabama movements, in untranslated sailors' language," witb mere quotations, "chlelly from works by those who can be relied upon as spokesmen for the men who set the Alabama afloat and conducted her cruise." This book speedily passed into tho market, obtained wide sale and reading con tern poraucous with tho Century's publication of the author evcntlul career; and negotiations were begun with the publishers for other works by the newly discovered author on subjects of sea adven ture and kindred topics. A LITERARY FRAUD, None of these lurthcr promised books has yet appeared. The reason though not before this made public probably is that Life on the Alabama," purporting to be Irom the pen ol "One of the Crew, by name JU. nay wood," is a wholesale fraud, and with the book, "ThoCrulse of the Alabama," by the same author, constitutes a bold, though skll fill and successful literary Imposture, played upon two of the leading publishing firms of the country.

For Thk times has at hand evidence of the incontrovertible fact that "1. D. Haywood" is a myth, his being "One of the Crew" is a lie and his "authentic story" of the cruise of the famous vessel sunk by tho Kearsarge a deliberate fabrica tion, false and slanderous In the general nil prcssion it gives and in every detail of its narrative where it goes beyond the state ments of other published works on the sub ject, and the author has a career which amply explains his last exploit, In any event and under almost any cir cumstances there would be occasion for wonder that in this day of easy illumina tion of literary Impostures any one should have the elfrontcry to otlbr his own inventions as a narrative of recent historic facts, many of the witucsses of which nre still living, and must bo almost sure to detect and expose him sooner or later. But in this case tho marvel Is enhanced by tho romance that surrounds the actual identity of the creator of this literary Imposition. A LITERARY FRAUD.

The False Pretences of "One of the Crew." Who Haywood Is Not, However skilfully done, both tho articles In the Century aud the volume which is mainly an elaboration of the same, bear such marks of spuriousncss on their very surface as should havearouscd the suspicion of the critical reader for the publishers and prompted him to Investigations that might have.ulselosod the real characterand history of both the aut hor and his work. It readily appears that Haywood simply follows Ad miral seminar Memoirs of Service Afloat and Captain Bullock's Secret Service of the Confederate Stales in Europe" In bis descriptions of the vessel, tho course she sailed, prizes taken and In fact in all that part of his narrative which affects matters of real historical moment. Around this thread of fact ho then spins a mass of old aud new sailors' yarns, and of real and imaginary adventures, some ol which may or may not have been reminiscences of the authors own experience during a checkered career on land and sea, but not on board the Alabama to which he has boldly transferred them. The same may be said also of the Illustra tions "After a Sketch by the Author," ac companying liis article in the Century. Not a single one of them has any necessary con nection with tho Alabama.

Any artist as skilful with the pencil as this man is might nave drawn mem as he did, without ever having seen that vessel. Just so with his many yarns. Most of them are such as might have happened on any merchants man or war vessel. None of them have any intrinsic and essential connection with the cruise or the vessel to which they are re ferred. They are simply generally characteristic of any wild, lawless and insubordinate pirate crew, such as popular opinion supposed the crew of the Alabama to have been, and which, therefore, Haywood lelt safe in attributing to Captain Scmmes' men, although herein lay his radical error and tho easy detection of his Imposture.

This in Itself should have been sufficient ground for a more suspicious examination into tho authenticity of the work but it happens that on this point popular opinion was altogether at fault. All who overbad any acquaintance with tho Alabama's crow, and foremost among them the officers and men of tbe Kearsarge, are unanimous in declaring that "a finer set. of men never manned a vessel they were an exceptionally fine crew," nnd "no more high toned and perfect gentlemen ever bore a commission than tbcoftlcersof the Alabama." Asone of the former officers of tho Kearsarge has said, after reading Haywood's book: "It is nonsense. Captain Sommes would never have sailed witb such a set of cut throats. Ho was a thoroughgoing naval otticer and maintained tho most rigorous discipline.

Only so was it at nil possible for him to do what he did with his vessel." This but verifies Semmcs' own accounts. A COLLECTION OP CHESTNUTS." Haywood's tail uro to realize this and per sistent endeavor, on tho other hand, to make the crew of the Alabama as much like the popular conception of pirate's crew as possible, give a radically false color nnd tone to the narrative, and lead hi in to risk a number of statements that in themselves arc enough to expose his utter ignorance of tho vessel and men ho pretends to describe. For Instance, on pages 08 nnd 09 of bis book be says: No officer could come below after dark, unless with a strong guard, as marlin splkes, balls of spun yarn, would fly In all directions," etc. Again (page 125) he asks his readers to belicvothat "at night, after the order was given, 'Lights parties would go forward, and, with a lantern Bhnded by a canvnB screen, pass long hours In the fascinations ol "chuck a luck etc. Kuch things may have been witnessed by tbe author or those who related them to him on some of his cruises In old time merchantmen, but they not only did not occur, but absolutely would havo been lmposslblo on any deceul man of war, and least of all, on a vessel disciplined and olllecrcd as tho Alabama was.

Equally Incautiously untrue are such yarns as that of tho author's "fumbling about tho screw of bis gun, and clvinir hero turn less," In order tohcln tlu Yankee a little whom they were pursuing (p. 117); or that vivid rehabilitation of the old "chestnut" of tho Jew trader In Cunn Town being sent, by the way of the crew, on board to tue captain to buy tho clothing, watches, 4c, taken from tho Yankee skippers," aud the wrath of that dignified ofliccr whllo he went foragun rninmer!" In fact, tho hook Is full of "chestnuts" as old ns that of the Irishman's adventure with tho druggist (pp. which moves oven tho publishers, ln.n foot note, to "ralso tho question whether this sailor's yuru, which has been spun In print before, did not originate somewhere else than ou the Aln aiiial" They might havo raised the same question with refercneo to the nowly adapted" old Joke about the practicing of the glee club (p. 78) the solid shot Inserted Into tho cook's "dud" (p. 'l); tho old woman's Inquiry as to whnt was done with the captives, and the sailor's response (p.

the tale about tho sailors' skepticism ns to Clio telegraph (p. 1Z7), nud a number of others equally clastic nnd honry with nge. IXTUINMIO KVIDF.NCK OF FRAUD. The moment one comes coolly to examine tho author's uurrutlvci, there are to bo 1 An Area of Ten Acres Sinks miners' Houses Demolished. Wilkesbarre, December 4 A great cave In took place at the Fcirmount Colliery, sit uated Pittston, this nftcrnoon.

It covers an area of ten acres and virtually ruins the mine. In some places the earth's surface has gone down a distance of ten feet, A half dozen houses, occhpicd by miners and their totally wrecked. Thedwellings of Mrs. Welsh, Patrick Barron and Michael Kerrigan tumbled down when the crash came. The inmates had a narrow escape with their lives.

A daughter of Mrs. Welsh who was sick in bed bad to be removed on a sofa to a place of safety a house two squares distant from the scene of the cave in. Unlike most depressions In tbe earth's surface, when tbe pillars in amine give way, the one to day sent out au alarm, otherwise all the people in tbe bouses wrecked would have been killed. The earth did not fall all of a sudden, but went down in sections nnd as each section fell it was followed by a loud report. Tho alarm was sent from bouse to house and in this way most of the people were enabled to make their escape before danger reached them.

For a while great excitement prevailed and tbe inmates of houses who were in no danger whatever Joined the fleeing multitude from the section which was affected. The women and children who were thus compelled to vacate their little homes suffered greatly from Ute cold. To night they arc being taken care of by kind neighbors, who will shelter them until all danger is past or until they can procure new homes. A still further cave in Is expected before morning, and the people have been warned not to return to their wrecked houses, lest they be swallowed up. Experienced miners say it is the worst cave in they ever saw; in fact, from the appearance of things on the surface It looks as though the earth had no support whatever from below.

In some places the Assures are wide and deep enough to allow a horse and wagon to drop through, and in other places, particularly the low lands, It looks ns though an earthquake bad taken place or a volcano had sent forth an eruption. Last May a similar cave in took place at this mine, but it was not so disastrous. The mine. which is pretty well worked out, was then abandoned, but about two months ago It was again opened and 150 men and boys put to work to mine coal, which wns nothing more or less than robbing the pillars, as there was no other kind of coal to mine. The pillars contain the best kind of coal and are a great temptation to the miner when ho is hard pushed.

It was while this work of robbing the pillars was going on this afternoon that the squeeze took place; In a distant and abandoned portion of the mine a erreat tall of rock waa heard, the concussion being so great that the ground upon which the miners were standing shook like a leaf. Terror strickeu, the men threw down their tools and fled for their lives. AU succeeded in making their escape with tho exception of two Hungarians, whoare reported to have been caught iu tbe crasii and killed. M'CAFFREY IN PITTSBURG. He Does Not Caro to Meet Sullivan for Two Years.

Pittsburg, December 4. Domlnlek McCaffrey, the pugilist, arrived from the East this morning nnd received a warm reception at tho hands of a number of Pittsburg sports who were gathered at the Union Depot. I am only here on a visit," said he, and shall remain probably for two weeks with my father. No, I am not contemplating any professional engagements at the present time. I am not iu training and my weight has gono up seven and one half pounds since I fought Gordon.

I strip now at 172. I was never in better trim than when I met Golden. Some ol tho newspapers have spoken of Golden and myself being on good terms. It is not necessary for pugilists to be enemies after a fight. If the statements are construed by any to mean that the fight was not on the dead square, I wish to say that there Is nothing iu it." "How about your challenge to John L.

Sullivan for any amouut up to "There Is nothing in it. I have not challenged him. I expect to meet Sullivan again, but not for some time yet. My next engagement may be witb the champion. I understand that Jbhn is sticking to tho temperance pledge.

I am still almost two years under 25, and would prefer to take tho ring again with him at that age, but do not wish it understood that I am unwilling to do so at any time." When touched upon the subject of nn encounter with Nolan McCaffrey intimated that there was a possibility of his meeting Nolan, but left the impression that Nolan was hardly big enough game for him. "What have you to say about the letters of O'Brien, your former trainer, to tho I have nothing to say I have heard of the man, but flou know him; he has passed out of my recol lection." McCaffrey expects to have a quiet visit with his parents and will not give any spar ring exhibitions. A STUDENTS SUICIDE. Driven to Self Destruction hy Too Close Attention to Study. Thomas M.

Elliott, a young man of 22, placed a pistol to his left temple at half past 10 o'clock yesterday morning and scattered his brains over the room In the third story of his boarding house, at 1221 Race street. He was the son ol a prominent physician at Beaver Falls.in the western partof the State, and came to this city about three months ago with his brother, Washington Elliott, to take up the study of medicine. Both the brothers entered as students at the Jctlerson Medical College. Thomas was of a retiring and studious disposition and spent nearly all of his leisure timo in poring over medi cal works. His suieido is believed to have been tbe result of overstudy.

At lOo clock yesterday morning Washing ton left his brother In his room, engaged In reading a treatise on anatomy. After Washington had left the house Elliott went to tho bureau, took a 32 callbre pistol from bis brother's drawer, andstandingiu frontof the mirror sent a bullet crashing through his skull. A servant girl who was lu the corridor adjaining the room, heard the report of the revolver and entered the door just in timo to see hiin fall across tho foot of the bed. She ran screaming down stairs and summoned several other boarders. The Sixth district police were notified and au investigation showed that the young man left no note or communication of any kind.

His brother is convinced that he acted on tic Impulse of the moment, and was suffering from temporary aberration caused by bis deep Infatuation for study. Tbe inquest will beheld to morrow. A younger brother of tbe suicide was drowned last summer while out on a pleasure excursion. ANOTHER BRIDGE JUMPER. Michael Hess Makes tho Leap for 935 and Then Gets Drunk.

New York, December 4. Another Fourth ward man to day jumped from the Brooklyn bridge Into the Enst river. The nfl'alr was kept secret and the facts did not leak out until late this nftcrnoon. Michael J. Hess, a laborer, living on Onk street, was the hero.

For a wager of (25 he inado the leap. He was picked up by a friend, who was waiting In a boat. Hess was unconscious. Ho was rowed ashore and carried to a saloon, where stimulants were poured down his throat. He revived from tho shock and said that In the period between leaving the bridge and striking the water that he was not conscious.

Hess left the saloon and walked through the streets in his wet clothes to his house, He drank more whisky and got Into bed very drunk. He Is now doing well. Trouble In the Shenandoah Council. Shenandoah, December 4. There Is trouble again in the ranks of the Borough Council of Shenandoah.

The body attracted some notoriety some mouths ago, owing to a dead lock, which left the town without a government for a number of months. The trouble was caused by a citizen bringing a criminal prosecution against the members charging them with maintaining a nuisance In permitting the contents of a sower to run through ono of the streets. The case was tried at the November term of court and the members of Council were directed to pay two thirds of tho costs, amounting to 4150. At the meeting of Council last night three of Ltho. nioiuberB resigned.

The! pvcre not nceepU but the i riieir resignations he members Insist on withdrawing, nevertheless, nnd as their withdrawal win lenvc a majority oi neiiner political party In Council another dead lock Is looked for. Missing tor Over Three Months. Coroner Powers yesterday received a letter from Mrs. L. C.

Toms, of 1(101 Diamond street, stating that her husband bad been missing for tbo past fourteen weeks. "Ho lea mo sitting in Independence Square," the letter rend, wbilo ho went to seek for employment. We had Just arrived from Baltimore and I fear ho may havo been waylaid or drowned." Ho wns of medium height, had bluo eves, Iron grny hair, beard and moustache and his front teeth nro broken oil. The police arc endeavoring to find some trace of the missing man. nine Laws In New York, New York, December 4.

Efforts will be made by tho police to stop all trading tomorrow. Superintendent Murray to day instructed his captains to strictly enforce the law tomorrow preventing illegal trnlllc. The storekeepers will be notified to nlglit of tho order by be police. shrewdness. Further intrinsic evidence of invention that betrayed itself in worse errors than mere carelessness or faulty memory could have made are furnished in some glaring discrepancies aud contradictions between the narratives in the book aud in the magazine article: wuere.for example! ifferentdates are given to the same event, even such im portant incidents as tnc departure iroin tue Mersey, which in the Century is said to have been on July 33, in the book on July 29; the taking of the Ariel, said in the book to have taken place on December 7, while according to the article it was not till alter unrisimas, December 27; the arrival at Singapore, put on December 22 in the magazine and ou the 24th in the book; the time of first seeing the Kearsarge, given as the morning of June 15 In tho article and on June 1 1 in the book tho age of tbe Scotch ruffian, who 1b made to play so prominent a part, Is stated to have been not over forty years in one ac count aud not less than fifty in the other the contradictory statements as to the mu tiny at Martinique, in which, according to the book, this Scotchman was quite sober and active lu tho light," and barely missed hitting one of the master's mates with a belaying pin (p.

57), whereas, according to the Century article (p. 906) ho had bowsed up ms jib tin he count scarcely stand," ana "kuocked a gunner's mate'B jaw out of place." The gross blunder as to the taking of the Tycoon, which In the text of the book is snid to have been "just outside of the harbor" of Cape Town, in South Africa (p. 123), while, as may oven be seen by the map accompanying the volume.tt was off the coast of South America, nearly opposite Bahia. These are only a few of many such palpable errors. SIONIFICAST MISSTATEMENTS.

Still more significant aud, indeed, abun dantly sufficient in themselves to convict the writer of being an impostor are some ab solute falsehoods, easy of detection. Having read in Admiral Sonnies' book that the Alabama anchored in a harbor of one of tho Azores to have her officers transferred from the Bahama, inasmuch as the vessel lay here some time, the author risks the con clusion that (as would probably have been tho case under ordinary circumstances) we all got liberty and went ashore" Century, p. 901), aud then he goes on to tell how outrageously they behaved. "Familiar as I was witb sailors' antics this surpassed every thing." Most graphically and realistically he relates the actions of the men on pp. 26 and 27 of bis book, to show how they behaved liko plrates." Unfortunately for the plausibility ol his yarn, however, the plain fact is that ou this occasion none of the crew landed at Anyone who lmd really been one of the crew would have avoided such a misstatement right in the beginning of his account, and would scarcely have failed specially to remark the fact of the men's not landinql which Is the historical truth.

Another equally vicious blunder, which no one really nn eye witness could have made, is that on page 114 of his book, where ho says: "We coaled from lighters, as we lay about a mile from the town "this beiu: often done by vessels. In the ease of the Alabama, however, it was not done; but she lay alongside the wharf, with two gang planks out, and it was a striking feature to see an endless chain of Chinamen, numbering one or more hundred, passing in on one plank with a little saucer shaped basket of coals on their head, which they dumped into the bunker and then passed out on the other plank in a swinging walk and as regu lar as clockwork. This was a sight that would inevitably have impressed itself upon nu witness, and had Haywood reirfly been there he would not havo failed to describe it in his vived manner and to make the most of this picturesque iucident in his narrative. In the same connection he makes another exposure of his ignorance and imposture Just as damaging. He says (p.

114): We lay hero a few days and left just In time to prevent a wholesale desertion of the men at least fifty bad made up their minds to run for It. As they were paid monthly it was no great hardship, there being no arrears of pay due them," etc. Now it 1b a well known fact that no vesscl of war on a cruise ever paid oil monthly. It iia tiling unheard of either in the naval or merchant marine. Especially on board tho Alabama was It im possible, as there was no money ever on board ship to pay off the crew with.

Not until they landed in England, after the lossof the ship, were the men paid oil in full. Could one of the crew" so soon havo forgotten this? Or again, could "one of tho erew" have so far lost his memory as to describe tbe man For rest ns "tall, powerful and had considerable manly beauty with "sunken black eyes' when the man with whom he messed so long really was precisely the opposite, short, sandy haired, surly looking chap, one of the least handsome men In tho crew Haywood's memory, however, seems to have been somewhat short not long enough even to remember that when writing the Century article he declared he "saw" the ship's poet "crushed and mangled under a gun, Just before I went over the side" alter the tight at Cherburg; for when writing his book, be says: "Whether the poet escaped lu the fight or not, I do not know, but I hope so." Are such things so soon forgotten? If the memory of "One of the Crew" is so defective In them perhaps It will be well to re fresh It in regard to Borne other matters, too. Indeed, from the account of his own life. given in tho Century for July, lie seems to need reminding on several quite important matters, lest he forget himself entirely. WHO HAYWOOD IS.

Tho Actual Itlography of the Ingenious Marine Romancer. While the internal evidence proves not only the utter unreliability of Haywood's narrative, but alsoinllscir points strongly to tho fact of their being pure fabrications and a sheer imposture, the rending public need but know a little or the history of tho man himself to be assured on this point, and to establish Ineontestably that his reminis cences are nothing but apiece of fiction from beginning to end, invented by ono who never even saw the Alabama and never was within a thousand miles of the events he so graphically describes. Indeed, only by knowing the man cau one understand how such an imposture was possible. Thk Tim km will not take from Charleston. South Carolina, tho honor of belng theblrth placc of this genius, though it could, perhaps, easily enough be done, and certainly without any objections on tho part of that unfortunate city.

Nor need one go to the trouble of correcting any of the other statements made by "Haywood" In bis autobiograph ical sketch. With all his marvelous powers of invention oven he could not produce an account of a more wildly adventurous life than a plain statement of tacts would be. It only to that part of his history reference is now made which extends over the period of his protended service ss One of theCrcw of the Alabama, and from then up to the present. For nil the purposes of this exposure ho may have been born In Charleston, hnve had the English education and naval expe rience he speaks of, nnd the bloody Eastern exploits. But It Is utterly unlikely, nnd the yarn he spins in the Century of his own life wns only a bait to publishers, to lay the foundation for other books of bis own pretended experiences which be expected to float upon tho literary market.

A member of the firm of his Boston publishers, who on one occasion came on to Philadelphia and had a personal interview with Haywood, had some suspicions excited by his manner nnd evasions, though forced to ndmlt his plausibility and genius. A YOUTH IN PHILADELPHIA. In his book our author says: "I landed here (in Liverpool) ln.fuly,lHi2,from a China voyage." If It woro true at all it would have to have been on the first or second day of July, for ho begins his Century nrtlelo by saying On the 3d of July, 18112, 1 signed in Liverpool the articles that made inoonc of the crew of tho afterwards tho Alabama," The truth of the matter Is that at this period of his life" Haywood," whoso real name was James Young, wns a youth In the city ot hlladelphin, who, 111 18111, had completod his trade of cngravor nnd had In the study of It displayed a genius and aptitude for this delicate art that determined his future career and secured his fortune, while it proved his doom. Subsequently he eningodns office assistant to tho late Joshua Kearle, who died very wealthy not Inug ago in Now Orleans and who lu 18fi.T 18iil was a broker doing business this city and dally depositing his box of nluables with the First National Bank, It wns his custom to send Young the bank every morning lor tho box and every afternoon return It, Tho young man was so wont to pass through the bnnk to tho vaults without attracting any particular attention that ono afternoon when ho failed to report as usual bis absence was not noticed, cspo iiilly as the bank luiu no direct Interest In the transaction, but next morning he tailed to turn up at his employer's olllecnnd Henrlo came around to the bnnk to II nil his box gono and 810,000 111 United States Govern ment bonds missing. At first ho talked of I against the bank to recover, but soon recognized that ho bad no caso nor Just ground for complaint except against the HUNDREDS OP THOUSMDS OF DOLLARS BUEXONDUCTORS.

DAILY WAGES WITHHELD Claims That the Reconstruction Trustees Never Heard Of. There Ir a nlass of creditors of the Reading Railroad Company for whoso claims uo provision has been made in the reorganization plans and of whose very existence the general public are in Ignorance, although their claims amount to hundredB of thousands of dollars. These claimants arc the passenger conductors, who think it Is about time the managers of that unfortunate system or the trustees who are endeavoring to reorganize its attaint and relieve it of its embarrass ments should give some account of the fund created, or which should have been created, with the amounts withheld from theirsal aries under a eoutract forced upon them by the company. In all that has been said of protecting the several classes of creditors and apportioning the assets equitably among them or distributing the earnings for their benefit no mention has been made of the com pany's indebtedness to its conductors, although the aggregate of Us obligations in this line must be very large. Oncol' thcoldestcon ductors in the company's employ said yesterday that over twenty years ago the man agement submitted a contract to all pas senger conductors requiring them to leave with the company a specified percentage of their daily earningsfwbich was to bo invested by the president in common stock of tho company, which, with its earnings, was to be held in trust for tho conductors in severalty and Teturned to them when they should leave the company's employ, unless forfeited by acts of dishonesty or bad faith.

THE CONTRACT. Here is a copy of one of the contracts Form 461. fCoPY.7 It fs hereby nnriVrstood and ne reed hv anri ho. tween the Piiihulelphlaana Kemlmg UilroudCora nanv. of the first nfirt.

and Willium bin if a mn durtor in the employment of Ihosaid company, of uiu rwwiiu imiL, nun nn vwii unu vvvry tmy oi uie term of employment of the nuil purlv of the second for which lie receives full pay conductor by the mul omnanv. hoanninir with thnil'iv nf tlia date oi'thlsHKreeiiient, Uie following (mmH'ahall be invest en uy ma president or tne said company for the time beimr in the nurchaso of lhe mmmmi stock of the said company, to wit: JJiiriiiR the first year of said term, twenty five cents per day. During the second year of said term, fifty cents per day. During the third year of paid term and thereafter during its continuance, seventy five cents per day. That the dividends which isliall accrue upon the said stock thun purchased shall be Invested in the purchase of other shares of the name stock; that these purchases shall he made from time to time, at the discretion of he Baid president; that the stock thus acquired shalt be heht in trust by the said president nnfil the party of the gecond part shall cease to he a conductor in the service of the saUl company that if the said party of the second part, or his personal represen fa lives in case of his death, shall then procure from the renerai manager f.t'fhn r.MtlMrltlv IVir ll.n cate tiiat lie has honestly discharged his duty as a Conductor during said term, and present the same i4i uie sitm presioeni.

tne sam prcsmeni fumil men transfer to the said party of the second part, or ills personal representatives in case of his death, the certificates of stock and all moncv appropriated to the purchase of but not invested in the same, and that if the said general manager shall not KivG such certificate, the stock and monev shall be transferred and belong to the said company. It is furthrr i xnreJishi wuU rstoml unrl (tirrrd, That the decision oi tho said general manager, as to giving or withholding the said certificate, shall be final and conclusive as beteen the parties hereto, and shall not hi' brought into question or reviewed in any form of legal proceeding or otherwise. In witnesH whereof, the said Philadelphia and Heading Kail road Company have hereunto affixed their corporate seal and the said pit rty of the second part hath utlixed his hand and seal, this day of A. 1). 1 872.

Witness Present, WEN, WN, i 6EAI.J tfoet'y. (vwl W. IV. lil 1 I iuel, XJ. J.

JI1UMY 1 11. JNO. JONES. VM. RI.

sea7. the conductors gettino anxious. This contract, the conductors say, did not commend Itself to tho conductors when it was sprung upon them, but they concluded that it was sign or resign, and so they accepted Its terms and have worked under its provisions from then until now. Many of them have claims for moucy thus retained from them amounting to over two thousand dollars, and as they have heard no reference to this peculiar trust in all tfio discussion of the various projects of reorganize lion tliey are anxious to know what has become of their stock or the money which, under the agreement with the company should be in the hands of tlic president. A Times reporter yesterday called on Receiver Keim and Secretary Foster, at tho Read ing offices, for such information as thoy could furnish regarding the matter.

They botb questioned the right of a newspaper to Investigate lie subject, but finally stated that the moneys collected from conductors under the receivers' management was held for their benefit and would be accounted for at the proper time. As to what had been done with moneys obtained from this source under the old management they were not prepared to say. As the executive committee of the Reorganization Trustees has become pretty familiar with Reading trusts and liabilities, J. Lowbcr Welsh, a member of that committee, was asked if it had came across any stock or cash credited to tbe conductors' fund. the trustees never heard of it.

It is the first time I ever heard there was Bnch a fund," said Mr. Welsh, In surprise. The reporter explained bow the money to provide such a fund had been withheld from the conductors, and Mr. Welsh declared: The money should never have been paid by tbo men." Ho added that, no provision bad been made In tho reorganization plan, hich tjie committee bad finally approved on Thursday and which Is now in the liands of tho printers, for tho payment of any claims under such a trust, and that unless tho money had been specially invested in stock or held Intact the conductors were likely lo be left out In the cold. Every effort of The Times reporter to find a clue to any block of stock set aside to secure the conductors or to discover any fund that can be drawn on to rcimburso them failed.

None of the Reading ollii inls would furnish any Information that would relievo the anxiety of tho conductors. an old conductor's statement. A veteran of tbe road, whose claim approximates said yesterday: "The last I knew or heard of the fund was ubout tbe time the Reading was taken out of tha hands of the first receivers. It wus reported then that 870,000 of common stock had been purchased, to bo held In trust for tho conductors. Tho stock was bought very low, but shortly after, when conductor lvJi tbe road, it was charged to hiin at I0.

I havo known conductors to be charged tfotl lor stock in settlement that wasquoted at Tho wlioleseliome has worked to the disadvantage of the men. They have had no control of the money withheld from them under IU operation nor of tbe stock supjioscd lo have been purchased for their benefit. If they lelt the road for any causo all they could do was to go to tho otllco and take what wns allowed them. They have had no means of knowing anything beyond tbo amouut of money retained by tho company. Whether this money bought stock nt high or low rates or whether It wus ever invested at all, was a sealed book to them." It is claimed by some of the Reading officials th nt the percentage of conductors, salaries retained for investment waa In reality an extra nllowaneo to them in the shape of premium for good behavior and the honorable discharge, of Ihflr duties.

Tins is vehemently denied by tbo men, who soy that their pay, including tho nmounU retained, Is no higher at present, and never has been, than on other roads requiring the same service. They Insist that their money was taken from them on a contract the like of which was never offered to the employe of another rond, and that the clause of the contract authorizing tho arbitrary forfeiture of tho money thus extorted was held over them like a club to enforce submission to any policy tbe management saw fit to inaugurate. THE COMPANY LIABLE. Tho legality of the contract wns under discussion when a promiucnt lawyor, alter carefully going over It, offered tha following opinion While tho agrocmeutis altogether one sided and against the Interests of the conductors. Its main provisions nre binding.

It would be preposterous for tho officials of tho rond to claim, however, that their general mannger could discharge men without cause, withhold their certificates and forfeit their money or stock. The courts would very suddenly lt down on any such assumption nnd Bfl'ord relief to any employe whose rights had been thus violated. Moreover, under the contract the money withhold from these conductors wan to have been Invested hy President Oowen or his successor In otllo In Reading stock, to bo held In trusf for tbe men from whoso wages It was deducted or tho money Itself was to be kept intact for them. The stock or money must, therefore, bo accounted for or the company Is liable, "The danger tothoeonduetors, however, I thnt their claims may be wiped out In the reorganization plan and they will have nobody or nothing to recover from." There are some three hundred eondnctori who are Interested in tho search for tills fund, nnd their claims range from f500 to to S2, 'i00, so that tho aggregate amount Involved will foot up enormously. Tho Ninth Regiment's Armory.

Wilkkhhakhr, Pccember 4. Tho corner stone of tho Ninth Hoglmrnt Annnry wal laid to dny. Judgo Hire and Kx Congirss man Shoemaker deposited the box. The building will enni $,000 ond will be completed In the spring. genious bank forger had abundantly trained ana equipped him (or equal success as a literary forger.

The popularity of his Century article justified his expectations and en couraged hiin to work still further and deeper In tbe same lead. He need only elaborate the article, Invent a few more "situations "and liberally "pad" the whole with plenty of sailors' yarns, jokes, songs and nautical slang, and a book would be produced. Hence "The Cruise or the Alabama" and the other works of Haywood, based on his invented career, now in press by their publishers or in preparation by their aut hor. A CnAT WITH HAYWOOD. He Tells of His Experience and How He Came to Write the Story.

Haywood was seen yesterday afternoon at 2014 Franklin street. There is a candy store on the ground floor, which is principally patronized by the children who go to the school at the corner of Franklin and Norris streets. Haywood has rooms in the third story of the house. A man named Kruger and his wife keep the candy store and occupy tho rest of the house. Haywood received the reporter in the caudy store.

There is no private entrance to tho house, Haywood doesn't look as if he had over bocu a sailor. Ho Is about 45 years old, short and stout, and weighs about two hundred and fifty pounds. Ho is broad shouldered and has small, fat hands. A pair of eye glasses dangled from his neck on a black cord. He has a large head, massive forehead, silvery hair and white moustache and Imperial.

Ho woro a blue flannel coat and vest and dark trousers. Ho looked seedy, nnd appeared not to be neat, His eyes are very bright and every time he laughed they went tight shut. When he laughed be shook all over aud tears came to his eyes. Ho has a well shaped nose and perfect features and beautliul, well kept tooth. His manner was charming.

Ho used excellent language, and spoko of various newspapers and certain Journalists like a man of ripe experience. His conversation was dovetailed with pleasing anecdote, and while he spoke modestly of himself he didn't hesitate to tell of his story In the Century nud about the book of the cruise or tne Alabama. I wrote tho Century story." he said. a year before it was published. That brief ac count of the Alabama suggested to me tho writing ot tne book, i wrote the book in iibout ten days, taking my time to it.

Then I olfercd the manuscript to LippincotLs. They offered me fifty dollars for it, 1 laughed and went away. Houghton, Milllin Co. gave me SoOO for It, and, besides, have shown mo many courtesies since. 1 nave had a varied career.

My father intended me for a Jesuit priest. I was sent to Franco to tho College of St. Omer. I didn't like It and didn't stay. I went away from France, carrying with me a hatred for the French.

While I was on board the Alabama I was In irons as often as the rest of the crew, probably oftener. I had been a blockade runner before that nnd made over a hundred thousand dollars nnd sent it most all home to my father. A man got hold of my father who persuaded him he could make sunbeams out of encumbers or something equally difficult. The money all went, however, in a patent that dldn amount to anything. If I bad not been In China service before I went aboard the Alabama and seen men snot down like dogs, I never could havo lived through the life aboard tho Alabama.

Every man aboard her should have gotten rich. There was enough treasure destroyed to make every man a millionaire. I'm not particularly proud of my connection with the Ahtbninn. and don't care for any notoriety of that part of my record. I have, however, written an account oi myseii.

wnicu is to oe puoiisncu in book form by tne Century Company, with my portrait. They sent me 825 to have my picture taken for tho frontispiece of tho book. They were very liberal aud paid mo (200 lor my short story In the Century. "There Is a big field for sea stories. Really Clark Russell has the field to himself, al though is lueuniniy oi mem an.

no is tbe professor in tho fo'cnstle. The great secret of a sea story's success is to use the language oi a sailor. can do that who hasn't boon a sailor. Clark Russell has the advantage of having been aniidshipmau on hoard a merchantman. At present I am out of literature, although I may write a sea story or two in the future.

I know I could mako money at It, because the men who write these stories don't know anything about seamen or ships. When you read of bousing up the Jib, or setting the bowsprit sail, or topping the boom, you can make up your mind the writer never has been a sailor and that he's a land lubber. I'm engaged uow in a brass button enterprise. I am of au inventive turn, somewhat of nn artist, too. 1 havo a thorough knowledge of machinery and I hnve invented several nov elties laU'Iy in buttons, which are now being mauuiaciurcu.

unless a man can nmi nublisher who will create a steady demand for his writings, story telling is mere drudgery. There's nothing In It but bread. If tho brass button business Is not a success, then I shall probably return to literature, field that Is so crowded to day that men Jostle each other every lime their pens touch paper." Havwood concluded by saying: "No, I'm out of llteratnre for the present. I don't caro to have anything said about what I Have done; at least, not anxious. uai I did write about myself was the outcome of my story and at the solicitation of the publishers, whose liberality has been remarkable." Two Counterfeiters Held.

Wii.kesbarru, December 4. Garret Van Antwerp, alias Pete Smith, and Ellas Ober dorf, two notorious counterfeiters, wore arraigned before United States Commissioner Hahn to day and held for trial. ak the ab sence of United States District Attorney Stone (removed), David Conovcr, of Wclls boro, acted for the government. It has now been learned that Van Antwerp and Ober dorf have operated In different parts of tho country anil arc experts nt the business. A third member of the gang, Hloden by name, is still nt large, wnen last iieo ra irom no wn.

lit I 'IftiiWbOfl Miintu Tim iiuirl to have "mint" in the wilds of Kusqno haiiua county, where they make spurious money, i uus iur me aeuicuvos unvo oeen uuable to Hud their nest, 'Killed by a Mine Car. Shenandoah, December 4. A singular and fatal accident, by which Patrick Roland, a young man 21 years old, lost his life, occurred at Packer No. 3 Colliery, near here to dny. Roland, who was employed ns driver, stood In the gangway with his houlder leaning against a prop, Noticing the npproiu'h of a trip of mine cars be attempted to move nwny.

As he did so ho unto i ne sieevc oi ins smoca was cniigni uy null In the Umber nnd before be could tree himself the wagou struck blm, killing him Instantly. Ho Was Pushed Off a Train. Nkw York, December 4. Frederick Appel has commenced suit. In the Supremo Court Brooklyn against the Pennsylvania Kali road to recover 825,000 damages for Injuries received by being pushed from a train near Itoono, on March by one ol the con in torn.

The answer wns filed tc dav and It claimed that A pel was injured through his own neglect. nary at St. Omor, in France, where I learned 1 to speale the language and to dislike the peo ple for an time. My father was retired East India naval oftlecrand an Intimate friend of Sir Charles Napier, by whose influence I received a warrant as midshipman in the British navy and jolnodtho Mwlftsuro frigate in November, 1853. My messmates woro a gang of ruffians mid they hazed me for being a Yankee' I was constantly in hot water and had a miserable time of It.

"I was transferred to the Britannia flagship and was wounded In the attack fin the forts at Sevastopol, October, 1HJI. I wus sent homo invalided aud gladly resigned the iervlco. "I made tho China voyage as second officer on the ship Hedouto and then went to i India and saw the beginning and end of the Bepoy mutiny and must say that the pan dles a whit more brutal and savage than Ungllsh civilians and soldiers. "I hiid a relation In the commissary tlo partniont at Del hi and I got tliero in time to carry a musket as volunteer with the Bcvcnty flfth Regiment In tho storming of September, '57, and I saw such fighting as I bad only read of In story. "The conduct of tho men was grand and their officers wasted their own lives like water.

I had my left hand nearly cut oll'by a sword stroke, as It was all bayonet fight ing, the rebels showing wonderful courage and persistency. As soon as I could travel I crossed the l'unjnub totlio Indus and went down that river to Kurracheo and took steamer for Canton. "Tho Tulplng rebellion was commencing and there was no peace in all the land. 1 had no trouble In getting a commission us second lieutenant In the Chinese navy and orulsod along tho coast capturing pirates. As we took no prisoners It was butchering work, and I soon got tired of it.

I re. ilgned In lwio and, going ashore, made the acquaintance of General Ward, an Yankee clipper male nd the lest soldier In China bold, bloody and resolute. I also mot Captain Uordon, woll known by his memory a pen and ink portrait of him,.