The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1877-12-20
OUR STORY TELLER.
ADVENTURE In A COINER'S DEN.

During the year 1S4S the West was
flooded with counterfeit coin. 1t was
so well manufactured that it passed
readily. The evil at last became so
great that the United States authorities
requested that skillful detective might
be sent to ferret out the nest of coiners.
/ was fixed upon to perform the duty.
i had nothing to guide me. The fact,
however, that Chicago was the city
where the counterfeit coin was most
abundant, led me to suspect that the
mandatory might be somewhere within
its limits. 1t was, therefore, to the
capital of the West that / first pro-
ceeded. / spent five weeks in that
beautiful city, but without gaining the
slightest clue to the counterfeiters.
/ began to grow discouraged, and re-
ally thought | should be obliged to re-
turn home without having achieved any
result. One day 1 received letter
from my wife, requesting that l would
send her home some money, as she was
out of funds. / went into a bank and
asked for draft, at the same time hand
ing sum of money to pay for it, in
which there were several half-dollars.
The clerk pushed three of the half
dollars back to me.
Counterfeit" he said.
What" said /, edo you men to tell
me those half-dollars are counterfeit?"
al do"
Are you certain?"
Perfectly certain. They are remark
ably well executed, but they are def
cient in weight. See for yourself"
And he placed one of them in the
scale against genuine half-dollar on
the other side. The latter weighed down
the former.
'That is the best executed counter
felt coin | ever saw in my life," l ex-
claimed, examining them very closely.
Is all the counterfeit money in circu-
lation here of the same character as
this?"
40, dear no." replied the clerk, ait is
not nearly so well done. These are the
work of Ned Willett, the famous New
York counterfeiter. / know them well,
for / have handled a great deal of it in
my time. Here is some of the money
that is in circulation here" he adj
ded, taking several half-dollars from a
drawer. You see the milling is not
nearly .as perfect as Ned Willett's, al
though it is pretty well done, too"
l compared the two together, and
found that he was right. / supplied the
place of the three counterfeit half.
dollars with good coin, and returned
the former to my pocket again.
A few days after this / received infor
nation which caused me to take a Jour
ney to a village situated about thirty
miles from Chicago. l arrived there al
night, and took up my quarters at the
only tavern in the place. 1t was &
wretched dwelling, and kept by an ole
man and woman, the surliest couple
'hink 1T has ever been my lot to meet
In answer to my inquiry as to whether
/ could have lodging there for the night
l noticed that the host gave peculiar
look at his wife, and, after some whis
pering, L was informed in the most un
gracious manner possible that / coulc
have a bed.
L have frequently in the course O
my life been obliged to put up will
wretched accommodations, so I did no
allow my equanimity of temper to b.
destroyed by the miserable fare set be
fore me, and the still more miserabl
sleeping apartment into which I wa
ushered after / had concluded nv re
past.
The chamber was small in size, bu
was certainly well ventilated, for
could see the stars peeping through th
roof. The bed was simply bag O
straw thrown into one corner of tn
room, without sheets or covering O
any kind. This last fact, however, wa
not of much consequence, as it wa
summer time and oppressively hot.
stood for more than an hour gain
out of the opening which served for
window. Before me was spread an in
mense prairie, the limits of which coul
not see. The tavern in which 1 ha
taken up my abode appeared to be isc
lated from all other dwellings, and saw
the croak of the tree-frog and the hun
OF the locust not a sound reached m
ears. 1t was a beautiful moonligf
night. and so bright that could see t
read the smallest print.
AT last / began to grow weary, an
throwing myself on my pallet I ws
soon plunged into deep slumbe
How long slept know not, but W.
awakened by dull sound which r
sembled some one hammering in tt
distance. ! suppose it was the pecul
arity OF the sound which awoke me, fc
il was by no means loud, but conveye
to me the idea of some one striking ira
with muffled hammer. Trose up fro