The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1846-08-01

so they were well offand we'll respected, but
that since, "eyery thing has gone wrong"
with them; that their own rightiiI property
has gone to wreck, while that acquired by
dishonest means was always quickly dissipat-
ed ; and that they are now, even in pecuni-
ary point of view, in much worse condition
than they would have been had they pursued
an honest career; while their characters and
their liberties are now sacrificed for their
crimes"
1t appears that the gang was now divided
into two classes-the cavalry, and the inian-
| try
The former who are generally mounted on
the best horses in the country, figure only OF
the higher branches of roguery; such as bur
glary, horse-stealing, and in the wholesale
dissemination of Boodlep Doodle being the
flash term ofthe gang for counterfeit money
To the infantry is delegated the lower or dem
ocratic order of thievery! Such as pilfering
from hen roosts; stealing harness, buffalo
skins, blankets, &c. from stables and sheds
wheat and other grain, from barns and gram
aries; clothing, guns aud other articles, which
are often left exposed in the porches, veran-
dahs, &c. of country houses linen, &C., left
out mt night to bleech indeed any aud every
other article upon which their hands can Gu
silly be laid To aid them in these nightly ma
rauding excursions, they generally obtain a
Wagon and horses from some oftheir associ-
ates, to bring away the plumber. Some of
! this infantry division are occasionally entrust-
ed with the retailing of Doodle which they
pass off on farmers, tuvern-keepers SC, of
the back townships. This they manage with
dexterty aud caution. They never carry
more than one bad note about them at a
! time, having at the same time several good
notes. 1.-THE note, when offered, should hap
pen to be suspected or detected, the fellow
who offers it with expressions Of surprise, re-
gret, doubt, &c Immediately offers n good
note and all is right. Or, if the parties should
proceed so far as to have the fellow searched,
all the money about is good except this one
note, and he is usually discharged. But if
the bad note. when offered, be taken without
suspicion, which it generally is (among the
class ofpersons TO whom such notes are usu-
ally offered the fellow gets his change, sup
| plies the place ofthe note which he has Just
passed with another from the Doodle bank,
and repeats the experiment some where
elsel"
The greatest caution is exercised III the
disposal of stolen goods. 1t is never taken
to their own homes, but if easy of transmits
sion to some place at distance, and if bulky
TO the woods
"Articlcs ofconsiderahlc value, and easily
removable, (says the Co'oniSt,) such as horses,
watches. bank notes which il is feared may
| be identified. &c, are often taken TO Lower
| Canada, TO the townships of Sheford aud
Durham where there is n wholesale establish
ment for issuing counterfeit money of all
sorts, and for receiving stolen goods, and
where the stolen articles are disposed of in
exchange for Doodle, ut the rate of 500
able property, or for five dollars of Bankable
paper This hoodle-is brought back and dis
posed of at an advantage of one or two hun
dred per cent. to the small fry of the gang,
| by whom it is put into circulation about the
country. The Doodle, or counterfeit money,
which is thus put into circulation, is of diff
ferent descriptions; hut large proportion of
| it purports TO be of the bank of Kingston
! Hudson River,) "New York Safety Fund" in
small letters being engraved thereon. A
great number OF these notes, of the denomi-
nation of So, are now in the hands Of farm
ers and others ofthis district, by whom they
were taken as notes of our Kingston Bank
1t is scarcely necessary to add, that these
notes are all forgeries upon the Bank which
they purport to issue.
'sThe operation of demonstrating is skill
fully performed and is always done 'dupli-
cate The horses to be stolen, and the plac
cs where they are to be found being previously
well known cithcrto the thieves themselves,
or to other members of the gang who have
|
simultaneously in opposite directions in pur
suit of their prey; one, perhaps, to the States,
and one to some distant part Of this province.
Each obtains possession ofhis horse,and they
both proceed to meet each other with all pos
sible dispatch at some intermediate point,
where they exchange the stolen horses, and
each returns TO his own neighborhood on I'M
unknown horse A very curious circum-
stance of this kind was disclosed during the
recent examinations. Two of the gang
(whose names we will not mention, as one of
them is to be tried at the next ASSESSES for
this very offence, but whom we will desig-
nate as A. and J.,) agreed to steal two horses,
. which were previously known to them; ono
in the Newcastle District, and the other in the
western part ofthe province. A. proceeded
TO the latter point and J. to the former Each
obtained his horse, A. Il fine grey, and j. Il
fine black horse. They then proceed with
all possible expedition, through the back con-
cessions these gentry never take the main
road on business of this kind,) to a place of
meeting near Brantlord where they exchang-
ed horses A. returning towards the west on
the black horse and J. returning on the grey
j horse to the very neighborhood where he had
stolen the black horse. j. having disposed
of the grey horse and having learned that A.
had sold the black horse to farmer beyond
Brantford, proceeded to the spot, claimed the
black horse as his property, which he said
had been stolen from him by A. and threat
ened to take out warrant against the farm
err. The Door farmer, somewhat frightened,
offered to give up the horse ifJ. would prove
to itn J. accordingly made affidavit that the
horse was his property, and had been stolen
from HIM by person answering to the DIS
cription of A., upon which the poor farmer
gave up the horse to j. who rode 1t OIL to the