The Great Spokane Stock Forgery Escape
After allegedly forging a million shares in mining stock, a well-connected broker slips out of a sanitarium to evade arrest.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Howard T. Kressly, a confessed forger, is believed to have fled Spokane to escape arrest. He had been staying at the Lidgerwood sanitarium under the assumed name of 'C. Howard.' He left there about 10 o'clock Tuesday night after a warrant for him was issued, entered a carriage, and was presumably driven to the Northern Pacific train station. Kressly had been a guest at the homes of various friends from the time of his exposure until his flight. Witnesses report mining men were seen at the depot at the time the east-bound train departed. Attorney R. W. Nuzum stated he had not seen his client for days, and police admitted the warrant for Kressly had not been served. Friends of the broker reportedly made efforts to induce him to leave town, and some offered to cover the losses of victim B. C. Riblet if he would withdraw the criminal charges. J. H. Thierman, a major stockholder in the Lucile Dreyfus mine, estimates Kressly's forged and raised certificates total nearly 1,000,000 shares.
“Friends of the broker admit that there has been a determined effort on the part of some of the victims to induce Kressly to leave here.”
Financial fraud in the Pacific Northwest's mining and resource sectors was a recurring theme in the early 1900s, often shielded by the 'good ol' boy' networks of the local elite. This case mirrors modern white-collar crime stories where access to private healthcare and legal counsel acts as a buffer against accountability.
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