Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1869-02-05
Counterfeit Money.

AS THERE is9a large quantity OF coun-
terfeit money, now in -, circulation, we
thought that the following description OF
how the stuff is made and circulated
would; not prove uninteresting .5ooi .
Almost all counterfeit engraving is done
exclusively by hand, while much of the
genuine is executed with the finest and
most costly machinery. The latter is me-
cessarily much the. most perfect, and by
experts easily told. &. In!all large bank note
engraving establishments there are many
workmen, each one being engaged on
some particular part: oneifor the print
ed letters, another for the scrip, an
{ other for landscapes, and 50 on,
each perfect in his Individual part,
while counterfeit notes are engraved by
one lerqtwo persons, rand, therefore, are
not as well done rs. the genuine. Gener-
ally, counterfeiters select, as place for
doing their. work, retreat as far from
large citiesIas possible, but. accessible to "a
railroad station; and, to avoid arousing
suspicion, always have some other BUSH
ness with it., The man who does the en-
craving and painting rarely leaves home,
but his BROTHER" who is "peddler,"
travels most of the time. sd =: .
The plates are engraved and the notes
printed about the same as in any genuine
establishment The travelling brother
takes the money, done up in packages of
one, two, three and five thousand dollars
each, and goes off to large cities, where
it is given to others, who sell it to- the
ones who do the passing. We almost for
got.tossay that the bills, after being printed,
are slightly dampened by rubbing over
them a sponge saturated with tobacco
juice, and then ironed. This process takes
away their new appearance, and makes
them look as if they had been a long time
in circulation. -@..'-s''' -...t~ ..r-.. -a'sst.
The men who pass the stuff, generally
start out in parties of three. The one who
does the passing has a pocket, book well
filed with genuine bills of large denom-
ination, and mixed in wit them is single
one of the counterfeits He also has one
other counterfeit, which he folds up and
tightly congresses into a small wad not
much larger than grain of corn. This
he places on the inside Of his left hand, in
the. joint of the little finger next to the
palm, at the same time closing the finger,
80 that the bill cannot be seen, and, in
case of being arrested, he can readily
throw this bill away without being de-
tected. On, /: sd, .r.-l ...--. .s .-t,.f-- T;;
The second man remains two squares
behind the first one, and has in his pos
session only about a dozen bills, which he
supplies when wanted to the "shover."
The third party, who is styled "the bank"
keeps entirely out of sight a long distance
off, and has the wholesale department of
the concern. These men have their signs.
tokens of recognition, etc, by which they
can commune with each other at long
distance. For instance If the middle
man has reason to believe that the 9. shov-
er" is watched, he carries his handker-
chief in his left hand. If the first one
wants new supplyof the stuff he crosses
over the Street, sign that the other is to
follow, and by preearrangementt they meet
at some unfrequented place, where a new
supply is given '.''.. t~'-a. - .,
Most.=of. the money. is passed in small
shops, where it is reasonable to suppose
that the persons are aot very good judges
Of currency. The mem thus working to-
gether manage to, get rid Of about $500 in
a day of bills, and of about $50 per day
when at work with the fractional eur