The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1884-09-19
COUNTERFEIT MONEY.

COUNTERFEIT MONEY.
Interesting Facts Learned In a Visit to thu
Secret Service Bureau-Noted and Skill
full Engravers Engaged I'm the Business
The Rogues' Gallery-Sop,e of the Diff
cuIties Experienced by the Photographic
In Taking n Picture.
On the third floor of the Treasury
Building is room 30. 1t is the head,
quarters OF the Secret Service. A per
son with an eye for the curious will see
much there that will interest and en-
certain him. 1t is presided over by a
very bald and very benign old gentle
Glan who knows everything the in
auirer wants to know. and win tell the
most of it. Occasionally you may ask
a question which may cause him to
shake his head and remark in a sly way
that certain things connected with the
office must not be told. When You
come to understand it you readily see
that this is correct. The business of
the Secret Service is to trace and arrest
the makers and showers" of counter
felt money and revenue stamps. 1t
takes a smart" man to be success
full counterfeiter. Offenders of this
class are very different from the or
binary run of law-breakers, such as
thieves and burglars. 1t usually takes
three or four to plan and manage a
first-class scheme of counterfeiting, and
they are keen, cunning, shrewd. intelli-
gent me-, who if their talents were ex-
ercised in lawful channels would make
their mark in the world. They do as it
is, for that matter, but they make it on
the wrong side of the slate. They
fully realize their danger and the, pun
ishment that awaits them if caught
Every avenue of detection is most care
fully guarded. In nearly every case
the utmost skill, diligence and patience
are requisite on the part of the officers
of the law. Of necessity, the Secret
Service detectives are the most expert
that can be found. None others need
apply. Not infrequently mouths and
even years are spent upon single case
before the rogues are secured.
The amount of
COUNTERFEIT PAPER MONEY
now in circulation is said to be less than
at any time in the last twenty years.
The most noted and skillful engravers
engaged in the business have been
caught and put where they can not do
any mischief for long period. Very
few new counterfeits have appeared
during the last two or three years, and
nearly all of them are so poorly execut-
ed as to be easily detected. The danger
Gus counterfeits are those which, even
to the m;nutest detail. are so nearly an
exact reproduction of the genuine as to
deceive the most expert handlers of
money. Such have been produced,
circulated for years, and passing
through the hands of thousand bank
tellers They have even successfully
run the gauntlet of the sharp eyes at the
Treasury Department when presented
for redemption, and been promptly
honored. An iron case IN room So now
contains ST., 100000 of captured coun-
ferfeis bills of all denominations, from
81 to $1,000. Once every few years
this accumulation of ''money" is de.
stroyed by burning. The last crema-
ton was in 1877, when $1,000, 900 was
permanently retired from circulation.
The amount now on hand has been
gathered up since that time. 1t will be
destroyed within a month.
Counterfeiters generally give the
preference to bills of the smaller de-
nominations. The care with which q
bill is scanned is in some degree pro-
portionate to the number of dollars ii
represents. In nine cases out Of ten q
counterfeit 81, 81, S.. or $40 will pass
unquestioned, while a 800, $500, or
$1,000 bill equally well executed, OF
perhaps better, will be carefully scruti-
nized and quite possibly detected. None
but the most skilled engravers attempt
the large bills, and the number of them
in circulation is small Any bill less
than $50 rarely attracts, in the ordinary
course of business, more than passing
glance. With little care and adroit-
ness good counterfeit may without
difficulty be put in circulation in large
quantities. Ali business men handle
daily more or less counterfeit money
and are none the wiser.
THE AMOUNT OF BASE COIN
in circulation has, Notwithstanding the
spurious paper has decreased. The
flood of silver that has inundated the
country opened up an inviting field for
the coin counterfeiters, and they are
not n dy in occupying it Their in
genufiy has produced combination of
base metals, the ring" of which de-
ce:rcs the most practical ear. With
dies or molds coins are made which,
when heavily wasL ed with silver, almost
liz y detection by the usual superficial
TESTS.
silver coins Of all denominations are
'Iccessfully counterfeited. Even the
ilvc-eent nickel does not escape base
imitation. To make 3 fair article of
spurious coin requires far less skill than
PAPER money. Often an engraver spends
1rom one to two years on single set of
plates Tor bank note, while but few
days at most are required to produce
the apparatus for making coin.
THE ROGUES' GALLERY
Of the Secret Service embraces a most
elaborate collection of portraits. There
are over 5000 photographs of counter
felt makers and showers" These per-
sons are of all ages, from the child of
fourteen to the gray-headed sinner of
seventy. They represent every nation
Rlity, even to the African and heather
Ghinee. The latter, indeed, are much
more numerous than might be expected.
Those thrifty pagans are perhaps the
most expert imitators in the world. and