sensational ending of an attempt to bribe one of fur-
long's operatives in the noted miles will case.
how the conspiracy was exposed.
in the latter part of the '90s, stephen b. miles, a wealthy resident of nebraska, died, leaving an estate consisting of lands in nebraska and kansas, bank stocks and bonds, and other property valued at several millions of dollars. he was survived by a wife, from whom he had been divorced, two sons, joseph h. and samuel, and a daughter, a number of nieces and nephews and several grand-children. one of the sons, joseph h., was a prominent banker and business man of falls city, nebraska, and also had large interests in other towns in that state. he had been a telegraph operator in his younger days, and was highly esteemed by all who knew him, not only as a good citizen, but a wide-awake, clean business man.
the other son, samuel, was about forty years of age, and resided with his family on one of his father's ranches over the nebraska line in kansas. he had been rather wild in his younger days and had caused his father much trouble because of his dissolute habits.
shortly after the death of the elder miles, a will was found in an old suit case, the provisions of which made[pg 298] joseph h. miles executor and trustee of the estate, and the chief beneficiary, samuel being left, besides some money, a life interest in the ranch on which he and his family were living. at the death of him and his wife the ranch was to be deeded to samuel's children. the will also plainly provided that samuel could not either entail or dispose of the land.
the provisions of the will were very unsatisfactory, of course, to samuel miles, and, at the suggestion of his counsel, he began court proceedings to prevent the probating of it, and, not succeeding in this, later brought suit to have the will set aside.
in 1900 i had in my employ an operative by the name of d. f. harbaugh. this man had become well known and had obtained considerable newspaper notoriety in and about kansas city through cases he had worked on under my instructions. one day harbaugh was approached in kansas city by one of the lawyers employed to break the will, and asked if he (harbaugh) could find a man whose former reputation had been good, who would go on the witness stand and testify to having drawn up and witnessed a will made by the elder miles, while on one of his numerous trips to st. louis during his life time. during the talk the lawyer told harbaugh all about the conspiracy that had been formed to break the will—by "finding" a later will, and gave the names of all connected with the scheme. one of these men was a prominent lawyer in falls city, nebraska, another a man of great prominence at omaha, and who had a big political pull throughout the state, while another was in good standing at the bar in st. louis at that time. harbaugh was further told that he would be paid a fee of $10,000 for his part when the will was broken, and as a further compensation the lawyer would send him[pg 299] to the paris exposition and back, paying all expenses up to the sum of $5,000. harbaugh agreed to give the lawyer an answer in a few days, and left that evening for st. louis.
the next morning harbaugh told me all about the proposition that had been made to him, and asked for my opinion as to the best thing to do. i at once said, "there seems to be but two things to do in this case. one is, for you to completely ignore the proposition, as there can be no doubt as to the rascality of all the parties who are in any way connected with the scheme. the other, and in my opinion, the right thing to do, is for us to try and locate this man joseph h. miles, and appraise him of the conspiracy that is being worked up by these lawyers and his own brother against him. for, if we keep quiet and ignore the matter, they will, in all probability secure a man who will accept the proposition and we would be parties to this conspiracy for not having exposed it."
"well," replied harbaugh, "you are the boss, and it is up to you. i have told you all i know about the matter. i told this lawyer that his proposition was very important, and coming to me suddenly i would need a few days to think the matter over, and it would require at least a few days to select the right kind of a man—one that could be trusted. he approved of this and expects an answer from me in a week or ten days."
i at once undertook to locate joseph h. miles, and succeeded in twelve hours. i found that he lived at falls city, nebraska, that he was president of the first national bank of that place, had a bank in another nebraska city, and had a large interest in a bank in york, pa., that he was a respectable citizen and prominent business man, and very well known. after locating him i wrote him a letter, which read about as follows:
[pg 300]
mr. joseph h. miles,
falls city, nebraska.
dear sir:
if you are the son of the late stephen b. miles, and have a brother by the name of samuel miles, and a number of nephews and nieces who reside in kansas and nebraska, i have important information for you, and will impart it personally if you will come to st. louis.
i would suggest that you bring your lawyer, as i believe my information important enough to justify you in so doing.
on receipt of this i wish that you would telegraph me, stating when you will leave falls city, and at what time you will arrive at st. louis. on arriving at st. louis, go to the planters hotel, look at the register where you will find my name, and you can then come direct to my room, where i will be waiting for you and your attorney.
i am using a fictitious name, for reasons that i will explain to you when i see you.
yours very truly
on receipt of the above letter mr. miles wired me promptly that he would leave falls city the same evening and would arrive at st. louis the following morning, via the burlington route, and would carry out instructions as per my letter.
i went to the planters hotel that evening, registered under the name i had given mr. miles, and was assigned to a room on the fourth floor.
the next morning about eight o'clock, mr. joseph h. miles, accompanied by his lawyers, ex-judge gillespie of falls city, and ex-judge martin, of the same place, and the latter's son who was a stenographer. i admitted them, and mr. miles stated his name, and asked if i was mr. foster, to which i replied in the affirmative. he [pg 301]introduced the other gentlemen and after they were seated i began my story by saying:
"gentlemen, my name is thomas furlong, and i used the name of foster in writing to mr. miles, because my name and business are known to a great many people in nebraska, and a party connected with what i know to be a conspiracy against mr. miles, resides, and is an old citizen of falls city, and would probably know my name if he heard it, and i did not know but what he might be connected with or know people connected with the telegraph office, and would thus learn that i had communicated with mr. miles, so i deemed it advisable not to use my own name. now, gentlemen, before i give you the information that i have promised i wish that you would call on any of the general managers of any of the railroads that enter st. louis, or the president of any bank in the city whom you may know, and ask him as to my character and standing."
mr. miles asked, "does mr. william nickolson know you?"
i replied that mr. nickolson knew me very well. mr. miles said, "mr. nickolson is my correspondent here and has charge of more than a million dollars of our estate."
we walked over to mr. nickolson's bank and mr. miles entered the private office, leaving me standing in the corridor outside. as he entered the office he left the door open. mr. nickolson arose and greeted him, and at the same time spoke to me. after the greeting, mr. miles said to mr. nickolson, "i see that you know mr. furlong."
"yes," replied mr. nickolson, "i have known tom for years, and he is welcome to anything i have."
mr. miles said, "mr. furlong told me that you knew him and insisted on me coming down here and asking you about his standing in st. louis."
[pg 302]
after a little further conversation mr. miles shook hands with mr. nickolson and we returned to my room at the planters, where judges martin and gillespie and the stenographer were awaiting us. i then related in detail the story that i had recently heard from harbaugh. after i had completed the narrative, all of which was taken in shorthand by the stenographer, the younger mr. martin, harbaugh was sent for and he verified the statements i had made to the gentlemen. the conference then adjourned, the luncheon hour having arrived. all parties again assembled in my room at the planters at two o'clock, when judge martin said, "we have been considering this statement of yours, mr. furlong. we have known for some time that these lawyers you have named have been trying to make trouble, but did not know until you told us today just what they intended to do, and now i want to say that mr. miles and myself appreciate what you have done in this matter so far, and we are anxious for your opinion as to what you think is the best way to proceed."
to which i replied, "i believe the best way to proceed would be for harbaugh to go to the lawyer in kansas city and tell him that he would accept his proposition, and that he would secure a man who could be relied on, and who would assume that he had written the will for the elder mr. miles. i would then select a man that i could trust and turn him over to harbaugh. harbaugh would take him to kansas city and put him under the guidance of the lawyer. after these conspirators had thoroughly posted and instructed this man, whom they will expect to deliberately commit perjury, they will probably have his deposition taken in st. louis. he will take the stand and be able to answer all questions put to him until asked if he wrote the will. when he is asked this question, being under oath,[pg 303] of course, he will tell the truth. in this way we will be able to prove the enormity of the crime and the cool audacity of the parties connected with it."
i turned to mr. miles and said, "that is my opinion, but if you do not approve of it and prefer to employ some one else to handle this case for you, you, of course, are at liberty to do so. i felt that it was my duty to advise you of this conspiracy and the manner in which i had received my information."
judge martin said, "mr. furlong, we want you to handle this case for us," and mr. miles nodded his head and said, "yes, i want you to handle this case for me, and to handle it in your own way, and i will pay you your regular charge, allow you the expenses incurred, and pay you extra for your service." i told mr. miles that i did not expect anything of that sort, as i did not believe in rewards and never worked for them. he insisted, however, on paying me extra for my services, which he did, and i divided it equally with harbaugh.
i instructed harbaugh to go to kansas city and get in touch with the crooked lawyer, which he did. i selected a man whom i knew well and believed to be honest. i instructed him as to what i wanted him to do, and in due time he was introduced to the kansas city lawyer, by harbaugh. the lawyer began instructing him and gave him a minute description of the deceased stephen b. miles, whom, of course, this man had never seen. he posted him as to a room in the old st. james hotel that had been occupied by stephen b. miles in one of his trips to st. louis. this was the place where the fake will was supposed to have been written. the lawyer was pleased with the man i had sent and feasted and dined him on several occasions when he was in kansas city rehearsing the part he was to play in the conspiracy.
[pg 304]
in the meantime harbaugh had grown to be the apple of the crooked lawyer's eye, and from the good treatment he received from this creature harbaugh had begun to admire him for his liberality.
at last a day was set for the taking of the deposition of the man who was supposed to have written the will. due notice was served on the respective parties interested, and at the appointed time our man appeared at the office of the st. louis attorney, and the taking of his deposition began. after being duly sworn, the st. louis representative of the conspirators began to examine the witness in the usual way, asking a few preliminary questions, and at last reached the question, "did you know stephen b. miles, deceased, and did you not write this will for him?" indicating a paper he had in his hand.
the witness said, "i have known a number of men by the name of miles. allow me to describe one of them and if his description suits i will be able to answer your question."
i had previously requested mr. miles' attorneys to let the st. louis lawyer do all the questioning and examining, and not to object to any question that he might put to the witness, unless it was entirely out of reason. therefore, they merely sat still, carefully noting everything and objecting to nothing.
of course, the conspirators were anxious to get a strong deposition from the witness, and, therefore, he was permitted to describe the man miles, for whom he was supposed to have written the will. the st. louis attorney kept nodding approval to his fine description of the dead man. when he had fully described mr. stephen b. miles to the satisfaction of the conspirators, he took the purported will and examined it carefully, saying, "the [pg 305]handwriting on that document looks like my handwriting, but (in a loud, clear voice) i did not write this or any other will for mr. stephen b. miles, or any other person. i have never met the man stephen b. miles, nor the man that i have just described. i was instructed to give the description that i have given here by these lawyers (pointing to the st. louis and kansas city lawyers, who were both present) and i was expected by them to testify that i had written this will, and i was promised five thousand dollars if i would."
the reader can easily imagine the consternation that reigned among the conspirators at this testimony from the one they trusted would be their star witness. our man left the stand and the further taking of testimony was discontinued, it is needless to add.
mr. miles and his attorneys believed that these conspirators had ceased their efforts for a time, but later on they produced another man whom they claimed had written the second will for stephen b. miles. he was a young man, also a lawyer, and had at one time lived in st. louis for a short time, married there, and had gone to old mexico. he was discovered in mexico by the kansas city outfit and induced to come back to chicago, illinois, where his deposition was taken. he claimed to have written the will for an old man in st. louis, but he was either afraid to describe him or could not do so, therefore his testimony was worthless.
the conspirators continued to try to break the original will until it was finally pronounced legal and valid by the supreme court of nebraska, and joseph h. miles' rights were thoroughly and legally established.
during this litigation, however, two of the parties in the conspiracy died, and the others were not prosecuted[pg 306] for complicity, although their actions had put joseph h. miles to considerable trouble and expense. they had made several indirect propositions to mr. miles looking to a compromise, but he promptly repelled all of them.
harbaugh's connection with my service has long since been severed, and he is now in the employ of mr. joseph h. miles as manager of his large stock range in nebraska, not far from falls city, where the writer is informed he is doing well.
