The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1885-03-18
CONTEMPLATING.
WONDERFUL INGENUITY AND DELI
CACY OF WoRKMANS SHIP.
Splitting a Ten-DOilar Greenbnck in
Helves-MethOd of Tracing the
Lines o: the Engraving on
the Plate-Caught.



United States Detective W G ro,ar ra.
turned from Memphis announcing the con
viction OF the celebrated counterfeitor Mar
tin Osle A re olter found Detective Baucr
in his room surfoun led by piles of counter
felt ills and looking over the tools with
which the counterfeiter accomplished his
work. To The reporter he explained the pro.
ce'ses, which certainly display q wonderful
amount OF ingenuity and delicate workman
ship.
OEie had procured genuine SO bill and
split this III halves, this being in itself q r5-
markabie operation. The two sheets thus
made were so thin that they were transpar-
ent. He made plate Of copper and brass,
little larger than the bill, and spread one
of the sheets on the top Of it. With q steel
tracing pencil of his own manufacture no
engraved through the sheet its exact coun-
terpart on the plate. The other half was
engraved on different plate in q similar
manner, and then he was ready for printing
lis spurious money This method Of work
manship locks very simple, but it is the first
time it has heen done by a counterfeitar, as
it Is almost impossible to split the bill.
The method always before used is as fol-
lows: The workman took, say, Il SO bit,
AID spread over it picca of Transparent
geiatIne paper and traced the figures Of tae
former on the latter. The metal plate was
next put in use, and was coated with a sole
t.un # sheliac. On this she gelatina paper
was pasted, and when torn of it Left on the
aii"liac The outline OF its figures BY follow
ing these in the solution they were also
traced III delicate lines On the plate. The
shc'lac then being VIZ he'd of the latter they
could lie cut to the right depth, and the
cotnter.eittr was ready for his work Oyle's
methods ohvialel these three or four method,
and rendering tho engraving On tie plate
far more accurate, as tde correctness of
tic lines was necessarily lost through SC
mGny transfers This man thus accom-
ulsnel piece Of work alone and unaided,
With tools of his own manufacture, wheT
tile national government paid over $4,000
,lr - stearn machine TO do the same thing
Detective Bauer showed Ogle's tools, which
We're fitted TO rough wooden handles, bu
10 eSSed points as sharp as steel He also
lis layed the genuine bill split in two sheets,
and perfectly transparent He hai Oh q
table several packages OF bills II OGe's man
uiacture, amounting in all to So, 0JO in tens
and twenties They were all on the Third
National Bank Of Cincinnati, but the new
plates were intended for the Queen City
tank.
"Ogle,7 said Detective Bauer, SIS the frs
man who has issued any spurious money
during the last SIX years and lie has shown
an almost nexampled skill and astuteness
His brother. who has been returned to thu
Pennsylvania ponitcntiary, knew nothing
about this wur!;EanaEip, but was merely {
kind Of head servant 10 Martin. The lattel
did all his work on natboat. and scattere.
the money chiefly at river points III
turned over to me in all $50 600 Of abOu
| the best comterleiting l ever saw.