Bidwell's Travels, from Wall Street to London Prison: Fifteen Years in SolitudeBidwell, Austin
General
Bidwell's Travels, from Wall Street to London Prison: Fifteen Years in Solitude
Bidwell, Austin
Bank fraud -- England; Bank of England; Bidwell, Austin; Criminals -- Biography
"(By Cable to the New York Herald.)
"London.
"Three shabbily dressed men, who, from their accent, are believed
to be Americans, were arrested in Cork, Ireland, this morning while
attempting to deposit $12,000 in that city.
"They are supposed to be the parties who recently committed the
frauds on the Bank of England."
"(From the London Times of same date.)
"To Editor of Times.
"Sir: The case of Dr. Hessel has been so lately before the public,
and so much has been written both in the English and German papers
against the English police, that probably a little evidence upon
the procedure of the German (or, I ought probably to say, the
Bavarian) may not be uninteresting at the present moment. Myself
and son, a sub-lieutenant, R. N., made a great attempt to reach
the grotesque old city of Nuremberg on Saturday last, arriving
there about 7 o'clock. We were asked to put our names in the
stranger's book, as usual, which we did, and retired to bed.
Imagine our surprise, on rising on Sunday morning, at receiving a
visit from one of the chief police officers, requesting us to
'legitimize ourselves.' I asked him his object for making this
demand, when he replied that a man named Warren was wanted by the
English police.
"In vain I showed him an old passport and letters addressed to me,
showing that my name was Warner; he informed me that I could not
leave my room, and placed two policemen at the door. At 1 o'clock
I remembered an influential inhabitant of the town who knew me, and
I sent for him. He at once went to headquarters and gave bond for
me to a large amount, and at 6 o'clock in the evening myself and
son were released. You will remember that in the case of Dr. Hessel
four persons swore to his identity before he was deprived of his
liberty. In my case a similar name to that required was sufficient
to deprive me of mine.
"I have since received, thanks to the strenuous and prompt action
of the British Minister at Munich, a very ample apology in writing
for the blunder that had been committed. It was signed by the
Burgermeister of the city, and as the intelligence of this worthy
seems to be equaled by his simplicity, he sends me a safe pass to
protect me in my further travels, in case Warner should again be
considered the same as Warren. I remain, sir, your obedient
servant,
"CHARLES W. C. WARNER,
"Ex-Sheriff, London and Middlesex
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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