Bidwell''''s Travels, from Wall Street to London Prison Fifteen Years in Solitude pot

Bidwell's Travels, from Wall Street toby Austin Biron Bidwell The Project Gutenberg EBook of Bidwell's Travels, from Wall Street to London Prison, by Austin Biron Bidwell This eBook is f

Bidwell's Travels, from Wall Street to

by Austin Biron Bidwell

The Project Gutenberg EBook of Bidwell's Travels, from Wall Street to

London Prison, by Austin Biron Bidwell This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and withalmost no restrictions whatsoever You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the ProjectGutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org

Title: Bidwell's Travels, from Wall Street to London Prison Fifteen Years in Solitude

Author: Austin Biron Bidwell

Release Date: March 2, 2008 [EBook #24739]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1

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BIDWELL'S TRAVELS

FROM

Wall Street

To London Prison

Fifteen Years in Solitude.

FREED A HUMAN WRECK, A WONDERFUL SURVIVAL AND A MORE WONDERFUL RISE IN THEWORLD TO-DAY HE HAS A NATIONAL REPUTATION AS A WRITER, SPEAKER AND IS

CONSIDERED AN AUTHORITY ON ALL SOCIAL PROBLEMS HE WAS TRIED AT THE OLD

BAILEY AND SENTENCED FOR LIFE CHARGED WITH THE £1,000,000 FORGERY ON THE BANK

OF ENGLAND

THIS STORY SHOWS THAT THE EVENTS OF HIS LIFE SURPASS THE IMAGINATIONS OF OURFAMOUS NOVELISTS, ITS THRILLING SCENES, HAIR-BREADTH ESCAPES AND MARVELOUSADVENTURES ARE NOT A RECORD OF CRIME, BUT ARE PROOFS OF THAT

IN THE WORLD OF WRONGDOING SUCCESS IS FAILURE.

490 Pages 80 Graphic Illustrations

Copyrighted 1897 by BIDWELL PUBLISHING COMPANY, HARTFORD, CONN

Editorial New York Herald

Referring to a Whole Page.

"If an American dramatist or novelist had taken for the ground work of a play or work of fiction the story ofthe Bidwell family to-day related on another page of the Herald, all European critics would have told him thatthe story was too 'American,' too vast in its outlines, too high in its colors, too merely 'big' in fact

"The story has its lesson The play is not a mere spectacle The lesson is that in the doing and undoing ofwrong the Bidwell family expended enough ability and energy to stock a good many reigning Europeanfamilies for generations

"Let the Comedie Humaine write itself and it will outwrite Balzac."

Hon Lyman J Gage

Having read the Bidwell book I believe it will benefit every one to read this marvellous history of humanexperience

Aside from its dramatic interest there are great moral lessons involved of especial value to young men andemployees in positions of trust

Therefore, I recommend this book as unique and a valuable acquisition for home and office

Bidwell's Travels, from Wall Street to by Austin Biron Bidwell 4

From Chas M Stead, Union League Club, New York.

"Dear Sir I read your book with a good deal of interest, and would like to change it for a higher-priced

binding if you have one."

The Worcester Spy

"Mr Bidwell's book has been compared with Dumas' famous 'Monte Christo.' The extraordinary character ofits adventures, indeed, would render it dramatic and powerful as fiction; as human truth, it is simply

overwhelming No one can read this book unmoved From every conceivable standpoint, physiological,sociological, and literary, it is a marvel."

Philip W Moen

Mr Moen, of Washburn & Moen, Worcester, Mass., writes: "I have read Mr George Bidwell's book with thedeepest interest It is a book that deserves to be widely read, and I am very glad to recommend it."

A Niece of Oliver Wendell Holmes

writes: "Few books have so stirred my mind for years as the book by George Bidwell Hearing of the book,

prejudice immediately seized me against it The history given by himself, to be interesting at all must be

sensational, therefore disastrous to morals So avowed prejudiced thought; and, determined to find fault, I began this remarkable history IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND FAULT WITH THE BOOK, WHICH IS

VALUABLE AND WONDERFULLY ABSORBING."

From Ira D Sankey, Esq

"MR GEORGE BIDWELL, Dear Sir I have read with great interest your book, and believe it will do much

good among young men wherever read Your life is a proof and your book a burning record of the truth that'Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap.' I believe in throwing light into all the dark places of thislife, that men, seeing the dangers, they may avoid them I wish you success."

From Hon Robert G Ingersoll

"GEORGE BIDWELL, ESQ.:

My Dear Sir Knowing as I do that you will tell a candid story of your career, I believe you will do good.

Crime springs mostly from a lack of intelligence and imagination Only the foolish can think that the practice

of vice is the road to joy As a matter of fact, the wrong does not pay You have, in your remarkable book,

made this fact perfectly clear, and you will enforce this great truth on the platform In the world of crime success is failure Good luck to you."

Rev Dr Edward Beecher

writes; "I recommend this book to the friends of morality."

Office of Street's Insurance Agency, Hartford, Conn

"MR GEORGE BIDWELL, Dear Sir A clergyman consulted with me regarding his son, who had fallen into

bad associations, taken part in many small thefts, and seemed hardened against shame or dread of exposure Ibelieve the mean, dangerous boy has become a man by reading your book." Yours very truly,

F F STREET, Hartford, Conn.

Hartford Daily Times

"This autobiography is a story of thrilling interest."

CONTENTS

A NEW YORK HERALD EDITORIAL

Bidwell's Travels, from Wall Street to by Austin Biron Bidwell 6

CHAPTER I.

Brooklyn Public Schools in the Sixties Old No 13 Parents Suited to the Golden Age A Curious

Preparation for the Battle of Life Knew that Brutus Slew Caesar George the Third Was a Bad Fellow WhoGot a Tea Kettle Thrown at His Head In Boston Harbor My Model Home Library An Innocent LeavesHome 19

CHAPTER II.

In a Broker's Office A Nice Old Gentleman Situation in Wall Street An Up-to-Date Young Man Visions

of Wealth Speculations Wall Street in the Sixties The Hon John Morrissey, ex-Pugilist His FamousGambling House I Try a Game of Faro Midnight Banquets I Have Entered the Primrose Way 24

CHAPTER III.

Pleasure Before Business Result of That Method On Financial Rocks James, Otherwise "Jimmy,"

Irving He Was a Model Chief of Detectives Police Headquarters, 300 Mulberry Street, in the Early

Seventies He Takes Me for a Drive out Harlem Lane A Trio of Detectives They Make a Startling

Proposition A $10,000 Temptation Mental Conflicts I Dare Not Be Poor C'est le Premier Pas Qui Coute.28

CHAPTER IV.

History of the Famous Lord Bond Steal "On the Office" Three Sneaks Stumble on a Fortune A $1,250,000Tin Box Dazed Crooks What to Do with Their White Elephant Excitement at Police Headquarters Bullard

et al. A Violin Virtuoso Superintendent of Police Kelso Presents a $500 Silver Punch Bowl to the Daughter

of Boss Tweed Paid for with Stolen Cash 36

CHAPTER VI.

The Bank Looted Irving Notified by Bank Officials His Feigned Surprise Hunts the Burglars, but Dividesthe Plunder at His Own House Count Shinburne and His Palace on the Rhine Twenty Years Later 58

CHAPTER VII.

I Arrive in Paris Field of Waterloo Meet the Antwerp Chief of Police He Is on Trail A Dutch Van Trompand the Countess Winzerode His Dream of Bliss and Tragic Death My Negotiations in

Frankfurt-on-the-Main 65

CHAPTER VIII.

Marpurgo & Weisweller, Bankers Francoise Blanc, the Gambler King His Casinos at Monte Carlo,

Homburg and Wiesbaden I Meet Van Tromp's Countess Outlived Her Beauty Now a Hanger-on at theRouge et Noir Tables Takes My Advice Marries a Rich Burgher Becomes a Good Stepmother Her PiousEnd and Epitaph 73

CHAPTER IX.

I Sell the $80,000 Bonds Reach London Safely Drifting Success in Crime a Failure A Desolate

Woman Beautiful Barmaid Show Westminster Abbey Good Resolutions Sail Home Irving at the

Wharf Meet at Taylor's Hotel The Total: "I Have Another Job for You" A Fool's Game 84

CHAPTER X.

Edwin James, Q.C., and a Possible Lord Chancellor of England His Extravagance On the Border Land ofCrime He Oversteps Disbarred Comes to New York Richard O'Gorman's Great Heart The Brea WillCase A Dark Plot $20,000 out of Wall Street Jay Cooke & Co Narrowly Escape Loss of $240,000 ChiefIrving in the Plot Detective George Elder Not in Our Ring Accidentally He Appears and Thwarts Our Plans.94

CHAPTER XI.

Eastward Ho! The James and Brea Exit Ezra, the Shrewd Lawyer Three Unhappy Daughters He MarriesOne Detects Forged Will Flight of Brea to Montana A Sunrise Surprise at Butte City James Returns toLondon Fills a Pauper's Grave Instead of a Lord Chancellor's 114

CHAPTER XII.

Bordeaux, Marseilles and Lyons "Donate" $50,000 A Bad Quarter of an Hour Eggs and Peasant

Women "Sweets to the Sweet" A Mysterious Stranger Disappears Among the Tombs 123

CHAPTER XIII.

A Starry Talk Contrast Between Mac's Philosophy and His Errand A Financial Trip Through

Germany From Leipsic Fair to London Return Loaded with Thalers 132

CHAPTER XVII.

Brazilian Law Visit Police Headquarters A Douceur to the Chief In a Tight Spot A "Doctored"

Passport A Detective on Trail Who Ingratiates Himself into Mac's Confidence Manoeuvres The Detective

on a "Wild Goose Chase" Safely on Board A Distinguished Party in a Rowboat A Stern Chase Off at Last.173

CHAPTER XVIII.

Rio to Buenos Ayres Return and Meet Mac in Paris Determine to Abandon a Dangerous

Business Vienna Watching the Game Must Have More Money Good Resolutions Vanish Return toLondon Determine to Assault the Bank of England Deposit $67,000 186

CHAPTER XX.

A Council of War Description of Bills of Exchange Frederick Albert Warren, the Great American RailwayContractor The Great Bank Proves Fallible Discounts Bogus Bills of Exchange 200

CHAPTER XXI.

Draw Fabulous Sums Bags of Sovereigns by the Cab Load In a French Railway Wreck Baron Alfonse deRothschild, Head of the Paris House A Famous £6,000 Draft 206

CHAPTER XXIII.

Fifty Thousand Dollars a Day The Golden Shower Continues to Fall Operations Shrouded in MidnightDarkness No Possibility of Discovery Finish and Begin Again Amazing Oversight Pitcher Goes Once TooOften Noyes Arrested Unparalleled Excitement on the Stock Exchange 224

CHAPTER XXV.

Hunted Through Ireland $2,500 Reward for My Capture Detectives "Spot" Me at the Cork Railway

Station Obliged to Abandon Taking Passage by the Ill-Fated Atlantic A Game of "Hare and

Hounds" Eluding a Detective "Trap" English Misrule in Ireland Am Taken for a Priest A TypographicalThunderbolt at Lismore An Early Morning Walk A Ride on an Irish Jaunting Car "On the Road to

Clonmel" Shelter in a "Shebeen" How Thirsty Souls Get the "Craythur" In Ireland A Good Old IrishLady Pursuit and Refuge in a Ruined Cottage at Cahir 248

CHAPTER XXVII.

A Marriage at the American Embassy in Paris Anxious Moments at Versailles Off for Spain Crossing thePyrenees Gunshots Train off the Track Captured by Carlist Bandits Released Through the Pass on OxCarts A Mountain Blizzard Camp in a Snowstorm Mutiny A Morning Dream 275

CHAPTER XXVIII.

A Carlist Officer A Picturesque Caravan Arrival at Burgos Startling Telegrams Revolution at

Madrid The Railway Seized My Party in a Trap Madrid Cathedral and a Bull Fight A Special TrainProves a Slow Train No News Good News 292

CHAPTER XXIX.

Arrival in Santander Gloomy Forebodings Sail for Cuba Watch the Pyrenees Sink in the Sea Two Sisters

of Charity, Innocents on a Voyage Circus at St Thomas Sunset Gun in Havana Thirty Seconds Change MyDestiny 301

CHAPTER XXX.

Slavery in Cuba Life in Havana The Million-Pound Forgery Discovered My Opinion Asked Trip to theIsle of Pines The Cuban Rebels A Battle Field A Slave Cook The Missionary and the Cannibal Goinginto the Interior 312

CHAPTER XXXII.

Friendly Spanish Officials Plots to Escape Leap for Liberty Escape out of Havana Travel the BeachNights Refuge in the Jungle Days Construct a Raft Food and Water Gone, but Pluck at the Fore I WillJoin the Rebels And Win Military Laurels Man Proposes, but 338

CHAPTER XXXIII.

Creeping Across a Bridge Sentries Discover Me They Challenge: "Quien Va?" They Fire Flight andEscape on the Raft A Tropical Night Swim Sharks Everywhere Knife Between My Teeth Regain theShore Nearing the Rebel Camp The Black Soldiers Surprise and Capture Me I Strike the Captain HeDashes at Me with a Bayonet Stopped by a Woman Desperation 355

CHAPTER XXXIV.

Back in Havana Curtin's Story Extradited Spain Delivers Me to England Pinkertons Escort Me on BoardSteamer Arrival at Plymouth Newgate at Last When Time is Old and Hath Forgotten Himself 372

CHAPTER XXXV.

Life in Newgate Legal Sharks A Pattern Solicitor A Lame Defense Before Lord Mayor Waterlow Trial

at the Old Bailey Thronging Crowds Days of Mental Torture Jury Retires Suspense Guilty 383

CHAPTER XXXVII.

Events of the First Day Hopeless Outlook Lack of Mental and Physical Food A Shakespeare Won andHope Dawns In the Infirmary Effects of Prolonged Imprisonment 401

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

Prison Management Warders Under Military Discipline Their Long Hours and Small Pay Their Characterand Antecedents English Prison System Not Reformatory Turns Out Murderers Prison Pets Rats, Miceand Beetles 404

CHAPTER XXXIX.

A Genius Strange Story of Arthur Heep Unwise Parents Driven from Home Temptation and Fall In aLunatic Asylum Escapes Naked in a Storm Clothes Secured from a Scarecrow Rearrested Serves FiveYears To America and Return Again Behind the Bars 417

CHAPTER XL.

English Prisons Schools for Crime Two Prison Aid Societies United States Laws Evaded Snug Berths forReverend Barnacles Contributions Go for Salaries No Benefit to ex-Prisoners How Discharged PrisonersAre Hustled to the United States 426

CHAPTER XLI.

Rev Mr Whiteley How to Stop Influx of Foreign Criminals Foster an Example Whiteley, Secretary of AidSociety, Sends Foster to Sea His Arrival in Chicago Meets an Old Prison Chum Turns Detective ChicagoJustices Foster's Story Human Tigers A Plot and $20,000 A Letter and Diamond Pin In the Toils Again.430

CHAPTER XLII.

A Gettysburg Veteran In the Wethersfield, Ct., State Prison Makes and Conceals a Set of Burglar's

Tools Liberated Returns and Burglarizes the Prison Boat Load of Plunder Captured Sixteen Years More

in Prison Then Goes to England Gets Twenty Years Joins Me at Chatham 436

CHAPTER XLIV.

Fenian Prisoners in English Prisons McCarthy, O'Brien A Plan Miscarried In the Tolls Severe

Punishments Curtin, Daly, Egan Poor Dr Gallagher 447

CHAPTER XLV.

A Dictionary and Life of the Prophet Jeremiah vs a Shakespeare Prison Hospital Proves a Paradise Nature'sCompensations Reality Not So Terrible as Imagined Human Nature Unchangeable 453