, 1877-08-19
Capture of Walter r. Carter, the
Silver-DolIar Counterfeiter.'
All by Himself He Started NIL
on West Fifteenth Street"
4 Machinist By Profession. and
Coney Man by Compulslon.
The Entire Counterfeiting Outfit
Seized at His Den.
He Is Held in $4,000 Bail to the
Criminal Court

The recent arrest on the West Side OF
mention Of which was made in
yesterdays TRIBUNE, proves to be more I'M
portaut one than was supposed by those outside
of the police circle. After keeping the tacts as
secret as possible Tor four days in hopes OF
tstAe rest Of the gang,'' Capt. scavey
came to the conclusion that be had all there Was
to get, and opened his mouth yesterday after
noon. 1t appears that the arrest was made
Wednesday afternoon. and that the prisoners
name is Walter 2. Carter, though he gave tue
alias Of James P. Ferguson when booked. While
Policeman Devcren was walking his beat on
Randolph street, be was hailed By Dr.. John Il.
Byrne, the proprietor Of drugstore At NO.
235, who told him man had attempted to pass
On him what he believed to be counterfeit
trade dollar. Accompanied by the suspected
.tahoyer,n the officer went to the Office Of
Preston & Kean, the bankers but they
couldn't tell whether the piece was good or
had. Thence he went to jewelers. on Aadi-
son street, who pronounced it all right IN
satisfied, he stepped into another jewelers., who
used acid, and said the dollar was spurious.
Then Deyeren took the fellow to the
statiou. He WAS turned over to Detect
ives Flynn and Lansing, who proceeded to
runp hin, men in the "Queer" line being
noted as the greatest squcalers among criminals.
But this one was an exception. Not thing
would he tell. He asked, as is customary, what
benefit be would derive from talking, aud was
informed that bic might save several years OF H.
Then he wanted to know If he gave up the
maker, whose word would be taken. Ihe de-
tcctives couldl't say. And that was the result
OF their efforts. Having noticed that his fingers
were stained, as if be had been using acids,
they nut him down for the manufacturer, anu
locked him up in order to give him an
2pportu2ity to think over his situation, believ-
~. ifh> had anything to relate, he would
-... around In time. Only two
COUNTERFEIT TRADE DOLLARS =
we're found on him. But among the other
articles taken from him was bank~book, show
;ng that be hsd about 500 on deposit in the
Fidelity. The name on It was Walter 2. Carter
This was the best Of clews. Flynn and Lansing
called at the bank, and ascertained that Carter
lived at No. 500 West Fifteenth street. Pro:
=uring searrh warraut1 they went 10 the mousse
gitllout delay, and there found one OF the most
.oup|ete coin o"ifts which has ever been
rantured in tie West, # not iu the tcountry..
carter occupied two rooms on the second noor,
fa,ing the street. One be used for sleeping pur-
90 ;cs, and the other as his ''mill-" There we're
Two entrances to the latter, one from the nall,
the door being locked and barred upon tne IN
side, aud the other through the bedroom, there
being two locks on the door, one OF which was
necuiiar and yery hard to open. The officers,
however, forced their way ill., and were more
than surprised at their success. IN one corner
Of the room, which was only sxlo leet, was
Of them broken. Near BY was 2 smaller
one, also full -oI mo!ls. On one side was
pa*1ery, such as is used for plating, anl pendent
in the solution UPON wires were TWO or thFee
dozrn "coins'' taking bath tastene! TO
table was little machine with bnrr-wheet at-
tachment- which iss used for milling. on the
table were number Of molds, into which the
.uetal had been run, awaiting the next stage OF
the operation,-a bath OF Silver; While scattered
On tic floor were acids, glue, sand, whiting.
which couuter1eitess use u their ouslness.
There we're in nil nearly 3OO sets Of plaster-ot-
Paris molds: tor n:caes, ia!Fcs,,. anu
dollars, and about SE!5 in queer" All
this stuff vas removed to tne MaMsop - fs91 s1
ter, and then he Laid down. but stuck to it
tLat he was alone-hal gone into tue business
by himself, made the molds, aud did all bis own
passing, not selling dollar to any one else.
&c, however, admitted that he had been in
s.troublc.' once. having served three years al
Vaupun, in the COS for forgery.
FROM LETTERS FOUND
in his room it appears thai Ca1tcrss mother, a
very respectable lady, lived at one time on Wa
lash avenue She is now dead. Alter MS re- re-
lease from the Psni.cnt'a1y in 1859
the time be embarked in bis last
venture ser had held the position OF
b.o1kecpc7 in several stores OF factories: He
claims to be 3 years Of age 9qt IT, Is pr psooaoiy
Juches high, has sandy complexion. brown hair,
md small side -whlskcrs. For what be says he
j., a ,nachin:s., he is remarkably intelligent,
l,lving good knowledge Of chemistry, aud Is
what tie detectives call "slick :, one. which
Indicates that he is far above the ayerage man.
When a TRIBUNE reporter visited him vester-
dav afternoon he seemed inclined to converse,
and advantage wns taken Of the TACT to get his
experience So the reporter said:
hsasa "%hen =, did you 20 into tue e0unter1e't'ns
about " May, 1876 p was the reply.
"To get living. was out OF work."
"What had you been doing?''
~ had worked at the inacllinfst'G trade.''
SHOW did you commence operations?"
II experimental with gambling checks.''
SIN what wayt''
II took impressions of them,-made plaster
Of Paris mofds."
"Mhat success did you havca'
*tVery poor"
+ ttWhat was the next step2''
~ then took up nickels, but didn't do much
better.'
"What was the dificulty!'
at didn't pay to make them very good"
t-Was the operation cxpensive2"
"Tolerably SO, compared with halves and dol
lars.''
How much does it cost to make bogus
uickel!''
We'll, there are about 100 in 4 pound, and
the metal costs 80 cents; and then there is the
time OF running.''
" "How long does it take to make nickel
<o1da'
Half day-half dozen are made at 9
tme-"
What material did you use7"
Plaster Df Paris"
" Is that tho best!"
"-About the best"
WIN yor tell me how you do it?"
"No. I decline to give the modus operaudi. :,
When did you give up the nickel business2''
ln about week after commenced.n
" " nat Was Your uc1t venturcl''
Halves They hadn't come out muer at
that time l think mine were the first that
.,,,,, PIT IN GENERAL CIRCULATION"
what was the extent OF your fssue{'s
II have put out about $500 in ~f1arteen q
fourteen months"
Did the halves par4''
out-'' 1'' "e'*ul'e coln came
.4Ihey interfered with the passine1n
les rather. mad either to make them
scales.'' A~
Then you advanced to trade dollars, I SUP
pose?'' 7Nr
"lc=, and Mexican dollars, and South Amer
ian dollars; and duallyl got the regular Unitcf
States doliar Of 1877 :"
Ibid they pass readiyl"
"les, the trade and United States dollar did
1~@&A = &hn~~ ia