The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-12-09

sury DEPARTMENT. lie was charged with having
assisted IN making the celebrated counterfeit
7'30 bond plate, by means of which bonds were
printed and plat ed in circulation to the ,Itent
of nearly 800 000 without exciting any suspi-
cun on the part OF the Go ieTnment as to their
genuineI ess. According to the statement of
Federal officials the accused commenced his
operations in company with several counter
feiters SIX or seven years ago, or at the time
that the National Government first printed bonds
of the seven thirty issue. 1t is said that he
labored for years, with the assistance of his
sociates, for the purpose of engraving plate
from which to print bonds in exact imitation of
those issued ut Washington. The bona ttde
bonds we're executed in such a manner that it
was deemed utterly impossible for any one to
counterfeit them SO as to evade detection. The
utmost nicely was displayed by the Govern
ment engravers in making the various parts OF
the plate from which the genuine bonds were
printed, and scientific means were utilized to
make it perfect. A system of photography was
used for the purpose of drawing some of the
lines on the face of the bonds. These lines
were so faint that they were not perceptible eX-
cept with the aid of a magnifying glass. Des-
pite all these obstacles Brockway, as alleged,
undertook TO initiate them, and succeeded SO far
that, after years of patient toll, he was enabled
to gain a large fortune by dealing in the coun-
terfeit bonds. 1t is said that the accused who is
expert engraver, prepared the vgnette for
the fraudulent plate, and that one
Ulrich, very skilful German, now serving
long term of imprisonment at the State Prison
in Missouri, executed the other portions of the
plate. The engraving was done in this city,
and the ringleaders of the plot were aided by
select corps of assistants, sworn to secrecy
Charles Adams, who is now confined in jail, in
Maine, on charge of burglary, was one of the
counterfeitera, and was the man who placed
the bonds in public circulation. 1t was through
him that the daring conspirators were betrayed,
his expose being made after very large amount
of the bonds had been purchased by bankers
and others in ignorance of their true character.
About $2S 900 in good money. was expended at
the SubTreasury in this city in redeeming the
bad bonds, which were mostly sold by
well-known bankers, including the firms
of Jay Cooke & Co. and Vermilye 81 Co. The
latter, it is proper to mention, were not
aware that they were couuterfeits at the time,
nor were they discovered to be bad by the Gov
ernment officials until after they had reached
Washington Even after they had been detected,
it was found impossible to trace them to any
particular source, and the investigation was
finally abandoned Subsequently Charles Adams
fell into the clutches of Chief Wood, the head of
the secret service force at that time, and 1t was
through the latter that the conspiracy was re-
vealed to the Government. Chief Wood has the
reputation of being the most skilful detective
IN this country, and of having sent more
culprits TO prison than any other living man.
By means of the custom known as pump
ing" among detectives, he gained a slight
clue as TO the origin of the counterfeit seven
thirty bonds which he followed up by seizing
Brockway, whom he found sojourning at the
st. James Hotel, in fashionable style. He re-
City, and in a very short time he came into pos
session of information in regard to the trouble
some plate. Brockway agreed to deliver up
the plate at the house of ex-Judge Stuart, who
acted as his counsel. Chief Wood visited the
house of the latter gentleman, and, sure
enough, he found the plate, together with a
counterfeit die of the red seal, which appears
| on the face of the genuine bonds 1t transpired
| that the plate and the die were left
| at ex-Judge Stuart's house for the
| purpose of falling into official hands. Captain
! Wood subsequently sent the two trophies Of his
| detective skill to Washington, but the die was
| afterwards distracted from the Treasury De-
| partment. A search was made for the thief, but
| without success, and the officials came to the
| conclusion that one of the attaches of the de-
! partment had been bribed to steal it. The plate,
| which was considerably battered at the time of
! its capture was brought to this city lew
weeks ago, and was introduced as evidence in
| the suit commenced by the United States in the
District Court, before Judge Blatchford, against
Jay Cooke IL Co., for the recovery of several
thousand dollars. The suit arose out of the
redemption of some of the bonds by the Gov
ernment.
| Brockway was sent to Ludlow Street Jail,
| last evening, in default of $780, 900 bail. This
arrest was caused by District Attorney Davis
and Mr.. A. II. Purdy, to whom Chief Wood
made strong representations concerning Brock
ways fraudulent operations. The cause of the
long delay in securing the prisoner is attributed
| to the fact that the Government desired tC
ascertain whether the bonds could be proven II
| be bad in court before they took measures tC
arrest any of the alleged offenders.-N. Y
| fO-Hn1J