, 1864-05-15

Azrsst eth, sf the G:aaps73s$l5o,o 900 of coun-
from the Washington Star, May ILL.,
For scgernl monshR past good deal OF cx-
citcmcnt has been occtsionci b7 the iocr..a,.
irg. circulation Of cornterftit one hundred
dollar notes on the Government issuc. The
military and civic detectives and police wers
snxiously and enersotically ende.voring to
matter hsd proved a complete failure until
taktn hold Of by Gen. Hurlbut, command
ing at Memphis, who placed the whole N atter
In TIC hands Of Capt. Whitney Frank, chief
Of the United States detective police in his
Department, and E. ". Pratt, one Of Capt.
frcak's ehlst assistants. These gentlemen,
wAo are Widtl; Known IS able and efficient
efscers. set about the work some live wecks
ago. Having, By means best known to them
selves, obtained a clue to the whereabouts of
TIE parties engaged In this cou1lterfcI,iae
business, they cngaged the services OF q
Young lawyer from their own city, upon
WIG who<s intslligsnee and courage they could
the middle Of April. Mr. Williams, as we
eha1l call the said lawyer, soon Eucceedcd in
obtaining IN Introduction to some of the
partict, aud commenced negotiation for the
purchase Of s25, 900 of their money.
lie represented himself as a heavy
%ot<VA 4tAA<As Atiub uu9luc63 Ill
aud below Alemphis, and succeeded in maktng
the purchase The delivery Of the 335,ooj
took place IN IN open SPACE on the banks of
the Mississippi River, In the northern sub
urbs Of the city, for which lie paid $500 In
good money. He then proceeded to Mem
phis, and returned again in fe : days, Pre-.
tending to tie parties that he had success
fully disposed Of the money and had return
cd Tor more Of the came, and also commenced
A negotiation for tho purchase Of the plate,
Dress, Ink, paper, &c necessary In tho max
irg Of the notes. This he found very dbl
cnlt to effect, but finally made them propo-
sition TO pay them $50, 600 for the plate, &c,
including e150, 700 Of the money.
ln order to give tlcm time and to mani
fest some indifference In tho matter, he left
tic city for Chicago on pretense Of busl.
less In Cincinnati, where lie waa supposed
to be making occasional sales of large lots OF
cotton. After all absence OF four OF five days
he again returned to St. Louis, end met tue
PARTIES. They still manifested some doubt
.:0ont e1eciins the arrangement. 1t WIS un-,
dcEstood that 1t Williams could effect the pur-
chase III full, Hathaway md Vcze7 were to 70
to Memphis with him, and 60 Into the bu5i-
ness OF Nakipg this money there for him, re-
ceiVing certain per ccntago on ell amounts
dispo6cd of. These twp mon seemed quite
anxious to effect such an arrangement, and
finally Induced the other parties concerned
to make Il proposition to sell the plate,
Sl50,G0. ETC., for the sum Of ss3;5 600. Alter
some seeming hesitation Gu tue part Of vii.
ltams, lie concluded to accept the terms OF
tAe proposal and it Was arranged to effect
street, near Front, No. 9. The parties vera
hathaway, Vezey & johnson diias Brown.
The latter person is the head man In tue
business, and TaB present at the defiverf-of
tho $25, COO, apparently being afraid to trust
his contsderatcs. It WAS arranged so that
Williams and Hathaway were 10 meet on
Thursday afternoon last upon the spot ties-
ignattd, make the exchange, and Immediate
u separate, while johnson or Brown and
Fezty we're to remain few hundred 7ards
distant to see the operation
Mr. Williams and Halfway met promptly
1T the time and place, as agreed, but Hatha-
way bad neither the plate or monsy, How
plate and money, and remaiIed present to
see the exchange, while Brown remained off
E1mc hundred yards. This WAS taking m
unexpected advantage Of Williams, who In
tended upon gsttl1g hold Of the plate and
money to arrest Hathaway; while Captain
Frank and Mr. Pratt, who had repaired to
spot near the place, run to boar down on and
capture Vezey and johnson ut tho same time.
However, Williams was BY no means dis !
posed TO make a failure Of tho matter, AID
determined to proceed with the business at
all hazards. He refgnel his horse up close
to Hathaway, and examined the plate receiy-
ing both that and the money, sl50, 900. In the
meantime, Williams managed to slip his foot
through uathaway's bride rein and back
into his own stlHnp, SO as to etfectKalIy pro- !
vent his escape. then handing the package of
good money which g. took. While Fl. Was
engaged in getting the package into his pock-
ct, Wtlliams took the advantage to. draw and
present his revolver at H.'s breast, and de-
nlanded his surrender, at the same time
threatening to shoot II eltaer E. or V. moved.
The parties were thus held till Pratt cauc
dhah1DE up, and s0on. secured VeZey with
hnndcutls. Willfams then turned H. over to
Mr. Pratt, and dashed away in full speed af-
ter Brown, vLo By this time had got away
some half mile round the fort A(ter.an in
teresting and rather exciting chase over ra-
vines gullies, fences, etc, he succeeded in
bringing Brown to halt, not, ho never, until
he hadbeen fired upon twice, once BY Brown
himself and once BY some unknown man, who
stood by the way. Williams had brought
Brown to halt, and sat upon bis horse, hold
Pratt again coming up soon ended the matter
bJ selling and hand cutting him. Tho parties
being thus secured were taken to the Plan
ter's House TINT morning, and next morning
stGsted for this city, under escort Of Captain
Frank, Pratt and Williams, where they are
now safely lodged, and await trial They
brought with then, the s1f5, 900 in hsn-
dred dollar notes, and the plate, au Of which
denote the most complete mastering of the
business.
Capt. Frank and Rfr. Prntt, during the three
weeks thus engaged, were closely housed in
a room at the F1anter's House, being too
we'll known to be seen with safety to their
scheme, aiuce the parties would hare aus
pected the cause Of their presence IN St.
Louis: They were in constant commuDica-
ton with Williams, aud advised him in all
his movements Too much credit cannot be
given to these gentlemen for the ability they
aisplayed in lnying their plans in this
matter, and the patience and energy with
which they executed them. Fl: Take the
matter ali in all, tt appeara one Of
the grandeat successes of. the time
in the "detectiye world md lnnst reflect
lasting credit to the parties engaged The
benefit they have rendered to the country IN
thns brineipr to Justice so dangerous class
Of connterfEiters, can be well calculated
where It is known that there has been print
ed nearly a half million Of these dangerous
notes. and the men most actively engaged In
naki17n mort up to the time Of Their arrest.
We hope for the sake Of Justice that the ID
bors Of theso gentlemen will be duly appre-
ciated and rewarded by the Government.
, e7E The DRAFT in various parts Of Ohio was
conducted without any disorder, and .is now
all over. In Kentucky It Is now progressing,
On Wednesday 2g3 we're drafted ii Louis
vile, the greatest good feeling attending the
erent. =
t~ The delegates: to the State convcn-
tlon from. Alexander county are Col ]. c.
sloo, delegate, and A. Cummings and s. B.
Stuart, n1teruates. :'