Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1879-02-26
value at the United States treasury in

I ~ VIZ N''A'Nh A1Nt3kIN Ii CdNbiN Al
! all cases.
AT THE SECRET SERVICE DIVISION.
Much of the above information wa.
acquired IN the course of a visit to the
Secret Service Division of the Treasury
where the statistics OF counterfeiting Oh
eratlons are recorded by Col. Brook.
with the precision attending the opera,
| tons OF the entire department. Indeed
the apartments of the Secret Service Di
vision are little treasury in themselves
A number of safes, reaching well up &c
the cellIng, are stored with the spoil o
the raids Of the Secret Service men
ilies OF apparent greenbacks and nation,
al bank notes done up in bundles and
labeled like the resources of the Treas
ury Itself occupy one set of these safes.
In the adjoining safes are heaps Of cloth,
bags OF apparent coin, each tied up and
sealed with red sealing wax, like the
contents of Uncle Sans great cash room
III another part of the building. Indeed.
were some burglar To make an en-
trance some night into the Treasury,
and 10y chance come across this "boo-
de he would fancy that he had come
upon the genuine treasure itself so de-
luslve is 1t in its outward seeming. In
tins curious museum of mans efforts to
cheat his fellow man Col. Brooks exhih-
its, with something OF pity and pride
commingled, the wonderful $500-coun-
terlelt greenback for which Tom Bal.
lard Is now serving his thirty yellS in
prison. -Four of the notes are all that
are accounted for. A couple of these
went through the banks without detec-
ton. A fourth, the one in Col. Brooks
collection, passed the outer portals OF
the United States treasury itself, and
was only detected in some of the inter-.
or offices. 1t is most skillfully exc
cuted piece of work. The fact that the
paper is genuine was the occasion OF
much surprise until it was ascertained
that Ballard had taken n genuine note
OF small denomination, and by acids
washed it free offs original designs. 1t
was the orthodoxy of the paper that so
greatly helped the evil mission of the
counterfeit. In this collection are also
many bundles of the famous iivcs on
the Traders National Bank of Chicago,
Il counterfeit SO well done that the bank
had to recall all its genuine notes and
change the plate.
RECENT ACCUMULATION.
This great pile Of bad money is, more
over, only comparatively recent accu-
mutation. According to the books of
the division there was destroyed by
maceration on the 18th and 10Th of De-
cember, 1876, about 81 100000 of paper
money. This was the gathering of six
years. At the same time there was
melted up less than $1,000 of bogus
coin. The destruction included $50 sets
of engraved plates and molds. With
TIE fall in the gold premium few years
ago, and the emergence of coin into cir
culation again, the coin counterleter
began to operate. Hence the books of
the division show the capture of $4,000
bogus coin from January, 1875, TO date,
or twelve times the amount of the
previous six years of undisturb-
ed paper money circulation. The
coin counterlelts are more numer-
Gus and less dangerous rs they descend
the scale of denomnations--that Is,
down to the nickes-- for the counter
felt cents and Scent pieces are such
wretched things as never would deceive,
and are only tolerated because their IN
significance preserves them from expul-
sion from currency. The larger pieces
are rarer, and when detected are en-
bargoed at once. The raids of the de-
tectiyes are nearly always successful in
stopping the counterielts before they
are numerously circulated. The swind-
Ter naturally experiments with few ut
first, and the detection OF a few Of these
gives alarm and blockades the rest Of
his work. During the interval between
December 1876, and June, 1873, the
secret service division stamped the
word "bad" on 22,408 pieces of coun-
terfeit currency Of all kinds, paper and
coin. This word is impressed upon all
bogus coin, so as to secure it against the
peradventure of loss and reissue while
it is awaiting the duty Of "eyidence"
against the manufacturer. 1t is this in
tended service as "eviderce' that &C
counts for the long preservation Of so
much counterfeit money III Col. Brooks
safes.
In short, the public, need have little
apprehension Of suffering from coun-
terieit COINS.
THE year 1878 has been the worst,
for a long time. for the British farmer