Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1884-01-24
A MYSTERIOUS MISSIYE.
n he Chicago Police Put In Possession
of a Letter of "A Strange Import.-st
would Seem 10 Point 10 Extensive
Circulation of Counterfeit Govern
ment Bonds.
Chicago Inter Ocean.

=
picked Up letter during the day on
South Canal street that might con
tain something of interest to the To-
cal police. He tossed the letter upon
the Sergeants desk, and took his depar
ture before any leading Question was
asked. Below is given the letter, to-
gethcr with its address, and it is, IN
deed startling in its import:
THE MYSTERIOUS LETTER.
New YORK Ny old Friend. l am
glad to hear from you again, and more
than glad to learn that you have dis
posed of the 30 600 in so short time
for / told you the Western States was
the best part of the country to use the
goods in. | heard from b. e. He is
making money fast. He was here to
see me December 14th, and he took a
big supply this time-45, 900 in is. 2's.
IS, los and eos. He paid me 1000
for them, Ireceived letter from him
since, and he states that he used 500,
600 OF them. So you can see he made
splendid profits. Now, l want you to
get me few good customers who have
money and send them to me, and as
true as there is a God in heaven /
will treat them just as honorable,
strangers or not, il they can only keep
their secrets to themselves, / will
allow them the following terms, viz. ::
5000 will cost $780, $4,000 will cost
$500; $4,000 will cost S675; $50, 600
will cost 5000. Have you seen-and
the parties you sent me from Frisco
and Missouri9 And if they are true
and good men who you send me, all
right, | don't care if they are: $50, 600
will cost 81, 600.
We got holt of the $50 plate, and
had hard time in getting it from
little T., VINO has been working in the
engraver's department, and you can
depend on it he named his own price.
We gave him $17, 900 in gold for it,
but it is the finest piece of work we
have ever had from him, and we have
struck off from it $97, 600, but they
will not last long when the boys com
mence to use them They equal the
genuine in every respect. Enclosed
you will find an article cut from the
newspaper. 1t will prove that the
goods can be used in sure safety. for
| will not deal in poor stock. Now /
don't care to sell less than S., 900 for
any person, can use that amount in
less than two weeks without the least
danger. The rest of my customers
have done it in less time. Bill King
was in Chicago working there. He
bought pair of dimond earrings for
$1,000 He paid for them with the
stock he got from me. He also bought
a splendid gold watch and chain for
$500 and good team of horses and
carriage for $500, and, so help me
heaven, paid for every thing with the
stock he got from me. He was here
on December the 10th, and got $50, 600.
So you can see lie has made a clean So, :
500 in three days He is a sharp little
fellow, and says the next time he
comes he will take a batch of 800,
600. Now, any customer you get me.
tell them to direct letters to me same
as inclosed slip. But, for Gods sake
don't let any one see this letter. i
will keep the $37, 600 for you. They
will cost you $4,000, and cheap at that.
Remember, | won't send my goods to
any one. They must come here. as
1t is not safe To- send, as / must use
caution, as | told you when you were
here last Direct same as on the slip.
Wishing you happy and prosperous
New Year, remain your old friend
The newspaper clipping that the let
ter refers to is long dispatch from
Washington D. c., dated May 9th,
which dilates upon the fast that the
counter felt bonds that were discovered
at that time must have been printed
from plates that came directly from
the bureau of printing and engraving.
The dispatch fully sets forth the per-
lection that has been attained in the
printing of these counterfeits, and goes
into political harangue to show that
the employees of the bureau are not
the most honest and responsible peo-
pie in the world The dispatch further
states the Government detectives have
devoted their attention to simply re
covering the plates without convicting
the parties, found in possession of the
bogus bonds, and that by reason of the
corruption in the Department of En-
craving and printing, this only led to
the abstractings OF ther plates. The
last paragraph of the telegram dilates
fully upon the exact perfection of the
bonIs as
PRINTED BY THE COUNTERFEITERS
And it is to this that the letter mainly
refers.
The letter itself is written by the
photograph process, and plainly shows
that it was intended for wide eircu-
lation. 1t again brings TO notice the
old case of bond counterfeiting, IN
which James B. Doyle was the only
man sentenced to term in the Peni-
Tertiary As the clipping set forth,
the case, for some reason, was not
pushed to the extreme, and this letter
plainly shows that the detectives of
the Secret Service Department did not
at that time succeed in recovering all
the plates that were out. Or if they
did get all those out standing at that
time they failed to stop the channel
through which the plates RAN into the
hands of the counterfeiters The in
ternal evidence of the letter shows
that these bonds, printed by Kane.
have had wide circulation, and that