The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1884-06-25
THE SECRET SERVICE.
Avlsi' to the Headquarters a, washington


On the third floor of the Treasury build.
ing ore the headquarters Of the Secret ser
vice officers. called there one afternoon
and had an interesting chat with MIR. Knight
Massachusetts, man, by the way, and one
of the most capable and efficient officials In
the service. He took me into small room,
around which were hung the trophies cap
tured from counterfeiters. In one corner
was an immense sectional I" jimmy used
by burglars, and near by small press used
for printing bank and national notes, Said
he:
The operation of the corps of secret SER
vice detectives extend all over the country.
There is not city or hamlet in the United
States which is not liable to receive q visit
from one or more of the forty men who are
constantly on the watch to suppress the
counterfeiting of the coin and paper money.
The movements of our officers are of course,
from the very nature and danger Of the work
tn which they are engaged, kept in the
strictest secrecy. They wear no badge, nor
do they even carry document showing that
they are in any way connected with the SER
vice. oftentimes months and months are
taken in the detection of single case, aud
when man has once been 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 suppressing counterfeits, can
tell you that we have not seen O new issue
of had monav Cor ovar two x,oo,s o,,5 - bolf
In that safe which you see there, there are
81 900, 900 in counterfeit and about 5000.
600 III bad coin. This sample book, IN
which you see pasted bank aud national
notes, with the word bad punched out
in each, contains 1876, 900, and we have here
the histories and photographs of 2 500 crimi-
nails, perhaps ten per cent. Of whom nre wo-
men. VIM. f. Brockway is the most nota-
BILE person in the entire collection. He is
called the king of counterfeiters, and oc-
cupies the first place in this album. Next
to him are his two pals, Dole, the man who
passed the money, and Charles e.. Smith,
the most expert engraver of crooked"
work in the country. Several years ago
very shrewd dodge was played by one OF
Smiths confederates on r. II. White & Co.,
of Boston. A woman entered their store
and looked at some expensive shawls. She
concluded to take one and rendered 81 600
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 Tho
answer came that the bill was good beyond
the shadow of doubt Then the clerk said
that the shawl would be sent to the women'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 iiounced out of tie
store in great rage. About an hour after.
ward she returned and told the clerk that
she had visited Jourdon, Marsh & Co.'s,
Shepard & Norwell's, Hogg, Brown d Tay-
lor's and c. Il. Hoyey Il Co.'s, but that she
had been unable to find shawl which
suited her as well as the one she left in their
establishment. She said she would take it
with her, and rendered 81 900 bill in pay
ment. The shawl WAS valued at $500, and
the woman took it away with her, together
with $500 in charge. The bill first rendered
was genuine, the second was o counterfeit.
Smith engraved the plate from which this
counterfeit note was printed, and it was SO
nearly perfect that only minute examina.
tion would have caused detection.