Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1873-02-13
SELECTED STORY.
FIVE MILLION DOLLARS.
TIL STORY OF THE LATE CONFEDERACY.

The story I am going to relate oc-
Cured in 1861. 1t owes its origin to
the great war that then took place, and
like many other interesting episodes,
has never been published. The facts
were learned several years ago, narrat-
ed by persons then residing in Rich
mond, and although in some minor
details there may be some slight in
accuracies, in the main the story is true
Shortly after the Cotton States
troops commenced their influx to Vir-
ginia, Treasury Department was es-
tablished at Richmond. At that time,
the currency, outside of gold and silver,
consisted OF State and stock bonds,
which was found insufficient to supply
the demand of the accumulating armies
of nearly four hundred thousand men.
Richmond being the headquarters of
the rising Confederacy, if was selected
by the leading men as the most suitable
place for the issuance Of their national
currency. !.
In the Treasury Department there
was employed man by the name of
Elan, a .compositor. He was shrewd
and tricky fellow, as the sequel will
prove.
After rejecting on the great op-
portunity he had of becoming a
millionaire, be determined to strike off
a large amount OF this money. No pre-
cautionary measures were taken in re
gard to this establishment, as all seemed
to be engrossed in the furthering of
Southern independence. But while
Elan was patriotic in tho cause, he
had an eye also to business. So one
night he concluded that the opportune
moment was at hand for carrying out
his design. Walking along the street,
he met and accosted man who went
by the name of ''Napoleon,". divulging
the object in view and offering an
equal partnership in the great scheme
he had concocted. His assistant was
foreigner-a native of Poland and was
nicknamed "Napoleon' from a facial
resemblance to the then Emperor Of
the French. ,a
Perhaps there never was a. period, in
either ancient Or modern !, times, that
offered like occasion for the possession
of such wondrous wealth, considering
the slight risk to run, and the small
amount oflabor performed in its achieve
ment. Not even Sinbad the Sailor, in
his most successful voyages ever met
with such thrilling adventures as fell to
the lot of these two men.
Between nine and ten o'clock they
entered the Treasury building by a.
back window, and taking the ':'cuts,"
from the denomination OF five dollars
up to one thousand dollars, they placed
them on the press and printed off five
million dollars. The bonds were prin-
ted on kind of thick, white paper,
with no impression on the back of the
bills. There was no more difficulty in
printing them than there would have
been in printing a common business
card. After dividing the funds and wash
ing the "cuts," and placing them .in!their
proper places, they left the house in the
manner they entered it, going to their
respective abodes, no doubt, in the
highest glee of exhilaration, for at that
time Confederate bonds were equivalent
to gold and silver, and in some Of the
cotton States commanded a premium.
The issue was then being signed by
young ladies, and there was moreI than
hundred so employed. Elan had a
lady acquaintance or two in this de-
partment, and by this means he had his
own and his partners bonds signed
After remaining a few day; he and one
of the young ladies went on visit to
Lynchburg, little dreaming Of the. de
nouncement which was so shortly to
follow. i
Napoleon, feeling richer than his
nalnesake, took one Of the young ladies
to jewelry store and bought her an
outfit of jewelry, rendering a hundred
dollar bill in payment, for which here
ceived in change about sixty dollars,
mostly in gold and silver. Next door
he purchased, in dry goods house, a
silk dress ahd other articles, and here
rendered another hundred dollar bill.
Late that evening. the two merchants
happened to come out on the pavement
| at the Same time and one. spoke TO the