Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1877-01-24

New HAMPSHIRE, January II.
Editor Irish World:
Having spent much time and
money in learning how to detect
spurious bills, and having taken
valuable lessons from experts, | have
become the possessor Of some infor-
nation on the subject, which l
would have your readers to share.
So much conSummate knowledge,
skill and cunning have counterfeit
eys acquired that a note manufac-
tured by many Of them is only de-
tected by certain points which they
have not, and never can possess,
the power to successfully initiate.
Indeed, it may be said that they
have reached as near excellence as
they can ever go, without possess.
ing instruments and machines Gust
ing fabulous amounts, and for
which there could not be found a
place in the world where they could
rest long unknown to the ever vigi-
liant secret service officers. Hence,
countorfeiters depend entirely on
their initiative and artistic ability.
Take, for instance, n ten dollar
biz. In the left-hand lower corner
of the Gace we find a beautiful cut
of Benjamin Franklin in the act of
making the discovery of the iden-
tity of lightning with the electric
fluid. All the artistic work of this
cut can be successfully initiated by a
skilled counterleiter, except the rep
resentation of the sky and clouds.
In these We see many lines running
horizontally, perpendicularly, dia-
gonally, and circplaFly, in the
most perfect parallelism, be they
curved, straight Or otherwise. These
lines are the work of the "ruling
engine" 4 ponderous machine
which does this work so that it is
absolutely impossible TO initiate it
by hand or anything smaller; and
thus its work becomes one Of the
very best means TO detect spurious
notes. On the same bill, and i'm
mediately over the cut in question,
we see the word ten" and on the
opposite corner the numeral 60"
on beautiful shields, on which we
find lines involved and intricate,
running to and fro in the most
marvellous manner. These lines
defy accurate imitation, The most
perfect imitation made by hand can
5g instantly perceived under a
glass. These inyoluting lines are
tie work Of the "geometric lathe"
an instrument vliase complicated
wheels can he set to wosk out any
combination of curved lines which
the humsn mind can possibly con-
ceiye. The enunterleiter, even with
the same lathe, would bS pOwerless
to produce the same complications;
he would grow gray in endless and
useless experiments, and even with
q record of the combination he
could not then so exactly reproduce
it that an expert could not detect
the imposition. Hence the work
of the "ruling engine" aud "ge0-
metric lathe" as above described,
is the only absolute safeguard to
deeting spurious notes in our cur
rency.
The paper is no barrier to the
counterleiter, as he can manlCScr
ture, OK buy manufactured from
French papep-makers, as good and
exactly the same us ismanuGactured
by Messrs. Wilcox at Glen Falls 70.
the government. Countorfeiters
can now successfully initiate the To-
calized blue libre" made Of jute,
which runs through the rigbt-hand
end Of the fractional currency gus
bank notes aud back Of bonds
This fibre has heretofore been con-
sidered the obstacle to counterfeit
ing, but is so NO longer.
Every bill, from a ten-cent script
upwards, has on its face and back
the work of these two machines,
and / would have YOUR readers moi