Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1865-02-11

the sWiadlng operations II New York. a
large number of arrests have been msde.
The forging process OF ehlisting is thus de-
scribed by the Tribune:
Twenty men are enlisted for the navy at
the Brooklyn rendezvous. These are gen
uine recruits; their papers are officially
drawn up and regularly s.tested; and they
arc accordingly sent on bOsrd the receiv-
ing ship North Carolina. But, few hours
later, Mr. John DeyliD, who seems to have
been one of these most extensively engaged
in the forgerias, goes to the Office where
these mon were enlisted, aud, through his
| confederate, the chief Clerk, or his assist.
ant TURNER, obtains access TO the register,
and makes Memorandum Of the twenty
newly registered names, with the particu-
lars attending their enlistment. Then re-
turning to his own office, he deliberately,
with the assistance of a few o.hers con
cerned, makes twenty duplicate enlistment
papers, torges the respective names at the
bottom, signs his own, sffixes bis notary
seal and stamp and the paItio.ie labor il
half completed. The next act is ID forge
the receipts of the bounty money which
the brokers are accustomed to take to pre-
sent for the bounties due thereon. Upon
presenting these, it is not necessary that
they should have eccomplices in the men
who tall out the money. The forged en-
listmeHt papers and the forged signature
| of the United States recruitiDg officer on
boaid the receiving ship, are ample evil
dence that the men have been received; ths
fact that the names Of the recruits are iden-
tical with those upon which the money has
been already paid, on shiP-board q else
where, IS not known as the Office in ques-
ton, and the greenbacks are forthcoming.
Enlisting into the army is more simple
thing. There is hardly recruiting officer
in the city which is not haunted by brokers'
with their experienced jImpers-sOme Of
whom have been through the shsn enlist
ment process upward of twenty times, and
few of these fellows, if they are adopts, will
ever go so near actual service as peaceful
Governors Island, after they have clutched
the bounty and divided it, according to the
customary rates, among their associates.
Once on the Island, if they ever get that
far, 81 hours seldom elspses before they re-
turn to the city by system of bribery
equally ingeniocs. But it must bs under
stood lhst this part of the programme IS d
jumping.
CarroD, whose name we have mentioned
as one of those now in custody, operated in
this line exclusively. His business was I OF
TO get men into the service, but to get them
out. The friends, or broker, OF an enlisted
man offers Carron, say two hundred dollars,
to get their man off the island. He i'm
.mediately communicates with Sergeant
Mulhorn, Brown orz zKeecksn, pays the fee
of fifty dollars, and the Sergeant, as he has
power TO do, obtaining pass from thecom-
mandant, and passes the jumper to the
shore, where perhaps tho broker is waiting
for him, in order to push him through
another recruiting cffica.
Colonel Baker has thoroughly tested the
whole sff.ir by personal experience. Act
ing under his direction, HIS three subordi-
mates have repeatedly enlisted at different
offices in this city, and Tegsined their lib
erty before evening Of the same day on
which they enlisted. The Colonel also tried
it personally, and, through the MEDIUM Of
money, had no difficulty in obtaining their
release. One of his assistsE Is enlisted il
this city On the morning Of one day got
away at nooD, with plethoric pocke.-books,
went TO Trenton, n. j., ealisted again, got
another bounty, and returned oNew York
by evening of the same day.
FILLrNG QUOTAS WITHOUT MEN.
But probably the most startling feature
of the whole affair is the wholesale filing
of town and country quotas by forged re-
turns. Not long sitter his arrival in the
city. snd having taken up his hesGqaar-
ters at the Astor House, Colonel Baker
communicated with James Devlin, saying
that lie was an agent of town in . re-
mote part Of the State, and stating his de-
sire to obtain enlistment papers to answer
for the quota of the place. Upon being
asked what he could afford to pay, be said
that be would give $500 for each recruit, or
for each set Of papers representing one.
The bargain was struck, ths number OF re-
craits stated, sn1 two thousand dollars
handed ss first installment TO the bro
kers. They thereup0n departed, aud in
due time returned with the necCs Cssary
number of bogus documents having work.
ed many hours in preparing them. They
received their money! large sum, be-
tween ten and twenty thousand dollars,
and bt gan TO congratulate ePSue30 agent
upon his new "recruits" before they dis
covered that they were in q snare.
The Colonel Immediately arrested them,
confronted them with the many signatures,
which he proved to have been written by
their own hands and by those of their as
sociates in crime, aud won a confession
from them in regard to their past opera
tions. Others were implicated, and one
after another, the riuglesders were captur-
ed, but SO silently and skillfully that their
manner of exit from their accustomed
hsunts was complies mystery to their
numerous confedersles who remsined at
large No srrests were made without
abundant proof being first collected, in
the shape of forged documents. and, IS an
instance Of the wonderful secresy with
which tho captures were effected, an sd
vertisement appeared in the Express of
Monday, in relation to the unscc0untable
disappearance = of one Of the parties cap
tured.
Colonel Baker has already in his posses
sion seven hundred and eighty sets of
forged enlistment-pspers, which were drawn
up during last month alone. OF course, all
of the signatures were fictitious, although
the city or State have been duly credited
with the names, as belonging to actual re-
cruits
1t is the opinion of Colonel Baker that
most of the naval enlistments, through
which we were saved fsom the lasE draft,
ASP W,re fctjtio Is.
In addition to the forgeries, he consid-
cred one man out of every six as large
estimate of the number of the recruits act
uslly enlisted in this city who ever reach
the armies for which they are intended.
SergsaIt MulhorD, the prisoner who as
sisted in escapes from Governors Island,
gives the estimate of one inten as the prob
able number who really enter the service
He acknowledges to have sided in the es-
cape of hundreds Of bounty jumpers from
the island.