The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1884-06-26
TnF SECRET SERVICE CORPS.
Operations OF Officials who Hunt Counter
feiters.


of the Secret Service officials in th
United States treasury building. Mr
Knight, one of the officials, said: 9Th
operations of the corps of secret service
detectives extend all over the country
There is not city or hamlet in th,
United States which is not liable to re
ceive visit from one or more of th'
forty men who are constantly on th'
watch to suppress the counterfeiting o
the coin and paper money. The move
ments of our officers are, of course, from
the very nature and danger of the worl
in which they are engaged, kept in the
strictest secrecy. They wear no badge
nor do they even carry document show
ing that they are in any way connected
with the service. Oftentimes month:
and months are taken in the detection o.
a single case, and when man has beer
convicted of counterfeiting, or of passing
counterfeit money, he never is out from
under the reach of our eyes. To show
how successful we have been in suppress.
ing counterfeits, can tell you that we
have not seen new issue of bad money
for over two years and half. In that
safe which you see there there are 81 ,00O-
900 in counterfeit money and about
$4,000 in bad coin. This sample book,
in which you see pasted bank and nation.
al notes, with the word "bad" punched
out in each contains $4,000, and we
have here the histories and photographs
of $500 criminals, perhaps ten per cent.
of whom are women. William E.
Brockway is The most notable person in
the collection. BE is called the "king
of counterfeiters," and occupies the frat
place in this album. Next to him are
his two pals, Doyle, who passed the
money, and Charles F. Smith, the most
expert engrayer of "crooked" work in
the country. In all their operations
Brockway furnished the money, laid out
the plans, and was the brains of the
gang. Doyle passed the "stuff," and
Smith was the engraver. Doyle is now
serving twelve years sentence in the
Illinois State prison. Brockway was
captured some weeks ago on the charge
of counterfeiting some railroad bonds,
samples of which we have here in this
office, and Smith is living with his fami-
ly in Brooklyn, N. Y. Smith engraved
the famous plate from which the 81 900
seven.thirty bond of the issue of 1865
was printed, and $4,000 worth of it were
actually redeemed at the treasury depart
ment before it was discovered to be
counterfeit. The impression was so good
that the experts were unable to deter
mine whether the bonds were genuine or
counterfeit, and the matter was only
decided when the government issue bear.
ing the duplicate numbers came back for
redemption. Smith also engraved what
is known as the Hamilton $50 greenback,
and the $100 note on different banks,
which are the finest known of these
series.
Several years ago very shrewd dodge
was played by one of Smiths confeder-
ates on r. Fl. White & Co., of Boston.
a woman entered their store and looked
at some very expensive shawls. Finally
she made up her mind to take one, and
rendered 81 900 bill in payment. The
clerk took the money to the cashier, who
sent it to the bank to find out whether it
was genuine or not. The answer came
that the bill was good beyond the shadow
of doubt. Then the clerk said that
the shawl would be sent to the woman's
address, but she proceeded to get very
angry, and said that if they could not
take her money without question that
she would go elsewhere, and she aounced
out of the store in great rage. About an
hour afterward she returned, and told the
clerk that she had visited several other
large firms, but that she had been unable
to ind shawl which suited her as we'll
as the one she left in their establishment.
She said she would take it with her, and
rendered 81 600 bill in payment. The
shawl was valued at 5000, and the woman
took it away with her, together with
$500 in change. The bill first rendered
was genuine, the second was counter
felt, and the firm was just $1,000 out of
pocket. Smith engraved the plate from
which this counterfeit note was printed,
and it was so nearly perfect that only q
minute examination would have caused
detection. Smith also engraved the plate
from which the $1,000 six per cent.
bonds were printed, but we captured the
entire issue on Doyle in Chicago,
amounting in all to 100000. A curious
thing about his arrest by our detectives
was the fact that they took him, suspect.
ing that he had the old counterfeit $l0O
bills in his possession, when, imagine
their surprise, they found new bond.
It will be several years before we shall
have to look after Mr.. Doyle again.
Next to Smith, the best eugraver of
counterfeit money is Charles Ulrich, who
served term of nine years in one Of our
Northern prisons. He is now in Germa.
nv. George White is another expert of
note. He stands accredited with the
best counterfeit IS bank note ever issued
and but few people are able to detect
them. The counterfeit is on the Mer.
chants national bank of New Bedford,
Mass. Here is picture of George
Albert Mason, noted counterfeitor, who
came from England to this country and
engaged in this business. He was ar.
rested, tried, convicted and served nine
years in prison, but he is now at liberty
and has sued the government for $50, 900
for false imprisonment. His papers are
in the hands of British Minister West,
but I wouldn't care to gamble that he
will recover anything. Now l wish to
call your attention to two curious facts:
Counterfeiting runs in families, and
without exception the men engaged in it
are all poor. For instance, take the
Ballard family. Thomas, Benjamin,
George and John, four brothers, all in
our clutches, together with an aunt.
There is one brother out of Jail, but we
are satisfied that he is an honest man.
Thomas Ballard is a wonderful fellow.
He is tue only person, so far as we know,
who has succeeded in initiating the fiber
;ot, nH