Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1874-02-26
"Old Sam" "
And How u Detective Found Him
Out

People who live in the BOwe-
ry, or the vicinity Of Hester
street, New York, or who have
had occasion to be much in that
locality, VIII probably remem-
Der a hobbling old man, some
what lame, and supporting him.
self on thick stick, who was
0ften to be seen there on Sun
days, as we'll as week days, some
two years ago. He was decent
ly dressed, but was only known
Is "Old Sam" He was sup
posed to live ia New Jersey,
but no one precisely knew. He
was generally taken for far
mer, or for a resident ia some
little outlying place. People
called him also "lame Sam" and
whoever heard his ever-quie t
mode Of speaking, and saw the
friendly smile that was always
lighting up his face, must have
taken him for a very harmless
man. And whoever met him on
Sundays vending his way to
church with a most devout as
pect, must assuredly have
thought that he was a very good
old man, who was going there
out Of pure piety.
But lame Sam" was very lit
tie of a saint; on the contrary,
he was q most arrant scoundrel,
who, to get money, was capable
OF any wickedness, and only
went to church for bad motives.
In everything he did he had a
dishonest object in view; and,
although he was generally con-
sidered as a good old man, he
was,m truth, nothing else than a
crafty, deceitful scoundrel, and
| the confederate of a notorious
forGcr, burglar and safe thief
named Crosby.
Sam had been running his evil
course for some years, and had
Systematically circulated coun-
terleit money wherever occasion
had guided him in his wander
ings; a proceeding which was
easy enough to him with his
seemingly honest face, and an as
pcct from which one would have
thought that he could not have
said "boo to n goose" And
fortune favored him so well and
so long that he succeeded in ac-
cumulating a sum Of money
which enabled him to buy a fine
farm in Quakertown, which
brought him in a handsome re-
turn.
Sam was always at work, for
the circulation of counterfeit
money continued to remain his
Oily occupation. But he con-
tinued this vile business so eau
tiousiy, so craftily, and under
such pious air, that it never
occurred TO any one to take him
for what he really was. And
so, as he hobbled about from
place to place, he was always
the subject of a friendly good
word, until one day the chief Of
the United States detective po-
lice, Col. Whitney, conceived
a suspicion against him, and
thus the man who had for so
many years been cheating peo-
pie with false money began to
be watched.
As before remarked, Sam al
ways carried a thick stick, which,
as he said, he could not do with
out, because he was 80 lame,
that he therefore required a
strong support. Wherever he
was seen, wherever he went, sit
ting or standing, he had the
stick constantly in his hand.-
He never let it go from him.
But one day the thought oc-
CURED to the detective who was
intrusted with the case, that
there must be something more
about that stick than at first ap-
peared, and he determined to
come to the truth Of it.
About that time there was a
large number of counterfeit
notes in circulation in New Jer-
sey, and as far down as Mary
land. The detective officer,
working under the assumed
name of Rugg, found out that
Sam often paid visits in that
direction.
So the officer scraped an ac-
quaintance with Sam. At first,
meeting him on the road, he
would 90 with him, then he very
soon took a journey on the rail
road with him, and the two were
constantly in bar-rooms and
beer-houscs together, He