, 1864-01-08
SEIZURE OF R7.OOO4COO con-
FE DERATE NOTES.
Arrest Of the Guilty Partics-Intercst.
Ing History of the Case,

O1G OF inc most important EOYernne0E
cases ever worked up in this city, which was
completed at late hour on Saturday night,
and has resulted in the seizure Of about
&c, Con, ,0C0 IN Confederate bonds, 81 ,000 600 in
Confederate treasury notes, aud large guam
tfty Of dies, printing presses, lathes, and other
machinery for doing fine bank note engray-
to end is full Of incident, and tho measures
taken by Marshal Murray to ferret the matter
out and bring to Justice tho parties inpli-
cated& are highly creditable to the skill of
that officer aud tho efficiency Of his aids. The
services Of Chief Young, Of the Metropolitan
Detective force, and of Detective Smith, now
Of the Marshal's Office, were also invaluable
In securing the persons engaged In the trans
action, and the documentary and mechanical
evidences Of their guilt
The first information obtained By. the Gov
ernment of the matter was through letter
intercepted on its way south by the Var De-
pn1tment- This letter gaye the names Of the
parties in Eew-Y FORK who had here engaged
in the business, and this information was
ago, with special instructions to spare neither
time nor expense to ferret ont the nntter and
arrest the parties. The principal party. named
was Winthrop E. Hilton, printer, doing
business ut No. II Spruce street, aud who re-
sides on Forty-ninth street As this indiyid-
to tie Marshal, skillful detective WIS &C.
1ected to ascertain something about both. It
would hardly be wise to publish the exact
method adopted By this capital officer In urri~
wing at the Information desired, but 1t was
certainly ingenious, and attained the very
best results. The Office was visited under
excuse Of business, all its occupants noted,
and their descriptions taken down and hand
ed to the Malsha1's men, who from that time
out followed each md every one of the prit1-
cipals, day and night increasingly, until the
: case was contaminated.
On the SIst Of December matters were rfpcn-
cd SO tlat several arrests were made stimuli
Williams, were traced to an establishment at
the corner Of Ann md Gold street, over q
lager-becr saloon. Here they wcrc found to
60 several times day, and as soon as the
Marshal had secured these men, he organized
his forces into sections, dispatched one
and another to No. IL Spruce street. At the
corner Of Ann and Gold streets, several fine
1tthog1aphIc stones were discovered for
printing $1c0, $50, and s. Confederate notes.
It being 1atG at night, d guard wns placed
over the Spruce street concern with strict or
camc apparent at this stage Of the proceed
ings that large number Of parties were in-
pl{catcd in the manufacture Of these notes
and bonds, and the Marshal called In to his
assistance Chief John Young, Of the Metro
politan Detective force, and, aided by him
and Detective Smith and the other officers,
consummatel the business. At . O'Clock on
New Years morning the exertions Of the
officers were rewarded, and a portion of the
machinery, consisting Of q gcometrical lathe,
and large number Of dies and plates, we're
discovered In a room In Park-row.' Captain
Mills, of the Second Precinct, aided
conBie erably in this discovery. The room
Was entered fo1cibly, and In the room where
the machinery was stored was found between
| IS, 600 and SC, ,000, eco worth Of Confeder.
etc bonds, printed md ready for signature,
detectives then went on track Of the propEe-
! tor Of the place, md BY o'clock in the even
| Ing had him in custody. He proved to be en-.
| tifely innocent Of any completely in the mat
ter, having allowed Hilton, with whom he
! Lad previous slight acquaintance, to store
| some goods there, the character Of which be
| was ignorant. On the following day two fine
| " executed steel plates were discovered, to-
| Eether With The remainder OF the machinery.
| After the seizure the next step was to dis.
| cover the maker Of the geometrical lathe.
| This WAS soon done, the maker being found
in New Jersey, some six miles back Of New.
ark.' He was ascertained to be loyal man
who had been employed By the United States
| He stated that Hilton came to him long
time ago, and represented that he was about
starting new bnnk note company, silnila1
to the Continental Company, and TINT he de-
sired lathe made Of this description. The
! 1nachinfst put him of for some time because
! succeeded in finishing the machine md de
| l{yerirs The same about ten days ago. liz
was arrested and brought to this city, but
succeeded in showing Ills entire innocence ane
loyalty.
On Saturday several lawyers were at tht
3Iarshal's office In search Of Hilton, but that
gentleman, as precautionary measure, 1lat
down the harbor.
From further information obtained BY Mar
shal Murray, it appeared that the bonds an1
notes already printed, as well as the mnchtn
cry for making them, were to have beer
shipped on the 1st Of January, to: Halltax
agent. From there they would have beel
gRjpped on blockade-runner for the coast o
Florida. Tie plates, dies, &c, were spOkel
OF In the intercepted letter as being superb
and 1t was also stated that Hilton would &C
in perfect good faith, rom the very large pc
cuniary interest he had In the matter =:
1t was further ascertained that Hilton ha
1egulnr contract with the rebel Secretar,
Memmipger to furnish him with the bonds
plates, dc, in question, md TINT his zeal an
dispatch in forwarding the same should b
well rewarded Hilton Is nun Of unusua
ability, and discovered TINT the detective
were on his track on the third day of thei
search for him. he at once took precaution
arr measures, and scattered the evidences q
his guilt about in various places. Nearly al
these have been ascertaiued, and the propert
found, and the Marshal and his officers are i
track Of the others. The parties having then
In charge. VIII be held strictly to acco1nt 70
the manner in which they besame posscsse
Of them. Altogether, it Is one Of the moe
important and best worked "jobs'' ever don
tero by. the Government, and will tend a
much to discourage the rebel leaders rs
gSeat victory by our forces In the field. y
LYNCH I.AW mi NGAIHEARNIA