Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1885-06-17
NOTED COUNTERFEITER CAUGHT.

United States Marshal Gross and Detec-
tive Bauer returned from Versailles, KY,
Saturday morning to Louisville with Alonzo
Fuget, who is charged with counterfeiting.
The capture is The most important that has
been made in many years. Fuget is one of
the best known and mostsuccessful counter
feiters in America, and his record covers
pages in the books of the Secret Service.
An expert engraver, he has organized gang
after gang of confederates and produced the
most deceptive currency ever uttered as a
fraud upon the government. He was first
heard of in New York sixteen years ago,
where he was the leader of the most stub
born and expert gang of counterfeiters that
the detectives ever encountered. This was
finally broken up by one of the crooks turn
ing State evidence, but Fuget himself escap-
ed, and he was next heard of in Pennsylva-
mia, where he operated for several years i'll
despite of dozen government detectives
who at different times attempted TO hunt
him down. at last the State became too
warm for him and he disappeared, throwing
the officers completely off the scent as to his
whereabouts.
Eight years afterward it became known
that he was snugy intrenched in The noun
tains of Tennessee, where he had been since
his departure from Pennsylvania, with his
house as the rendezvous and himself the
chief of all the counterfeiters in the South.
About the time descent was to be made
upon him by the officers, he obtained in
formation of it through some of his spies
and disappeared He then became the head
of the notorious Crabtree gang, which was
rooted out in 1876 and most of its m members
captured. Crabtree received ten years, Nor
gan twelve years and Stoll, another of the
members, ten years, imprisonment in the
penitentiary, where they are still serving
out their sentence. Fuget himself was re-
ported as having been killed in one of the
many skirmishes with the government
officers. 1t WAS not long, however, before
his peculiar counterfeit was again observed
by the Treasury experts, and the detectives
were once more placed on his track. by
this time he had come to be regarded as the
most skilful and dangerous counterfeiter in
the country, and every possible effort was
made TO obtain clew to the place where
he was working.
Nothing came of it until last Wednesday,
when United States Marshal Gross was SO.
cretly informed that Fuget could be found
about nine miles south Of Versailles, where
he went six weeks ago, and was quietly
preparing to work with his dies. The mar
shall arranged to have Fuget decoyed into
the woods by an old pal and arrested him
at ten o'clock Friday night. He had oeen
persuaded to strike off some bills that night
and the marshal's confederate had called
for Fuget in a buggy to take him and his
tools to the place where the work was to be
DONE Fuget protested that he was poor
old man and quiet citizen. He weakened,
however, when the marshal pulled out the
bag of counterfeiters' tools from under the
buggy seat, and after that refused to talk,
although he said that afternoon that be ln-
tended to make clean breast of everything
before the examining trial on Monday.
Detective Bauer regards it as the most i'm
portant arrest in ten years. Hundreds OF
tools of the finest and latest pattern were
found in the bag he had with him. In ad-
dition were the dies of a two.dollar Treas
ury note, series of 1880; a fve-dollar note,
vignette of Jackson, series of 1875, and a
ten.dolar silver certificate, series of 1850.
These counterfeits have given more trouble
to banks than any others extant, and de-
monstrate in themselves the mportance OF
the capture.
Fuget has recently been calling himself
Fuzine and he says that he is sixty-iive
years old, but he looks ten years older.
Decrepit, stopped and feeble looking, one
would take him to be on the edge of the
grave, but his movements are nervous and
full of strength.