Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-10-20
c,cFD coUNTERFE1TERs.
.,art,sble Career of Buck and
fhe t' '5,s ~ Bogus Money Makers

oIA', ,1onr Daniel Mcsweeny, whose
gem TORS is at Pittsburg, has Just
iea0i Ia ~ m the biggest haul of counter
f'ulo' aver made at any one time III tne
gs'e' states. The prisoners NUMBER
Uu'9' dozen and the field OF their opera
FoanU ended from the New York state
Hol' 1'est virginia. The captures were
lns F." +bA three counties of Clarion
D'', ..on and Armstrong, ana as tne
lsl..bsrs Of the gang were opera lnS ~
Dslaprofe localities, az distances i'iyi -
,ef I've TO forty miles apart, .ne no.l.i,eo.
Tal1 and his associates III bagglhg
AesN ata band in the short space OF Two
lHe euen nj he TOO much commended.
iaAs O@ ',n,.y off this daring band OF law
lDe ~. ,nd their famous leader, Boston
JTeahe,,s like a romance. BUCK is
BnGA' Az farmer living near fryburgh,
Eel-9'" a,,fntv lust on the border be-
.iafoN IA sattled or farming portions OF
tween Nv and the great forest which
toe couu'!, areas Of Northern Clarion,
covers TlI and Jefferson. He is now 10
fGesl' IN, and is a man of much more
4 yea .lira,.y shrewdness and executive
1 Ils9 mad mis- talents been directed IN
a9h'H o,hannels in his younger days be
Il Ou-i5 rave made an admirable railway
Il Nou,a mr. chief organizer OF great
lla 9.i,, ar manufacturing establishment:
m"'aarlg became famous as maker anu
s. 80 n oueer money, his nrst success
& sy,ssav al the business being IN Tue
.sono If counterteits OF the iractlohal ana
81 fl0lC Lar currency, which took the
,1 1oo An other forms of money during
II was easier to suspect BUCKS
l1s . J,'a money operations than to detect
p,' however. His neighbors, some OF
. Ltl11 we're i'm league with him, and the
VIZ whom were afraid of him, would give
afnformation regarding his doings,and he
.-t5,s enabled to carry on his neIarlous
81 ,@;1oes for wears undisturbed. The
ynitad states detectives ran him to earth
"a 80 iong chase. however, Jan. !, els,
ard he was indicted at the following May
Ar, If fine United States Court held at
n..tsbnrg On three charges of making
Al M nossing counterfeit quarters, halves
uJ 5.dollar Treasury notes. He gave
saii in the three cases to the aggregate
sno1nt OF $4,000. Before the cases came
ntraj he skipped his bail and dlsap-
rsarad nothing being known OF MIN by
ba officers for five years. In May,
~ he was recognized and captured at
Rankin. Venang0 county, by Othcer
Br5sIvn and returned to the United
statas authorities at Pittsburg. The wit
resses by this time were either dead OF
"A zone 10 PARTS unknown and the
garioIs district attorneys who held Buck
,nder hail for the next four years were
1nabla 10 procure proof of his crooked
MSS with which they were willing TO go
trial District Attorney Stone finally
included to let the cases go by default
1889 in order to clear the docket, and
Bnck was permitted to go where he
leased.
Bg EAiBARKs ANEW IN THE BUSINESS.
A though getting to be an old man,
pk's uredilections for making crooked
oey induced INN to embark IN the busI-
es again The fractional silver had be-
,me tie coin of the realm, and every
plv's pockets were full of it. He rea-
1Bed that when SO much OF this coin was
reirculation people would take it with
nj careful scrutiny. He lived so near
e border OF civilization that it was easy
ahim to hide in some hunters cabin in
DEPTHS Of the forest While making the
Furious coin With a few trusty conted-
bates Buck engaged in the business on
srge scale. He not only made the coin
mself, but taught others his secret for
be sum Of S150 each, and when the off
ers inalIv got on the track of the cOun-
erleters they found that there were five
farent plants engaged in the manufac-
pre-, one OF which was run by Buck him
and the other four by persons who
al learned the trade of him. It was
ecessary to ind method of distributing
be spurious coin, and here Bucks genius
Hne to his aid. In the sparsely settled
eighborh0Od, adjacent to where he lived,
l.r. FrFl
lslness Of hucksters. They bought the
litter, eggs and chickens of the farmers
tive or three counties and peddled them
pt in the various oil towns. Buck
nceiYed the idea of making these
en- the distributing agents of
worthless coin. His plan
lcceededed for a time admirably. The
cEsleFs who lived hand-to-mouth sort
life at best, we're not averse to in
easing their small gains by this means.
ley PAID for their butter and eggs with
product Of Bucks mint, and gave 1t in
rSnge 10 the oil country people, who
hgli their wares, thus being able to
Iculate 1t extensively. In addition to
method Of distribution, a portion of
y gang made speciality OF attending
camp meetings and country fairs, and
@Ilg the coin upon the crowds as
loIed at those places. They also had
sohsrs, who bought it for distribution
we Mexican and Warren oil fields, 80
ss 70 the north. Through these many
ahaes continuous stream of the
'Ai4ss com was kept in circulation,
nsiye
~ immense volume Of counterfeit
" oVlQ not circulate a great while
nf n
lea states authorities, and when the
eeuVes began to look up the matter
~ was suspected at once. 1t took a
q Wofk up the case, but the work
u.le tueeJually. Agent McSweeny
s1eH charge Of the business and Sc
~ lls assistants Capt. John Casen,
alulespurger and A. w. kinch.
4tee assistants disguised them
~ aud appeared sometimes in
M, greasy garb of oil-well
Il, sometimes in the good clothes
msn-toned demeanor of investors
u eIIllory, and sometimes as lumber
ar W. search Of cherry and walnut logs.
~ sueIe ana all the time they were
- ~ NaeA y Buck and his associates.
ro,.li made the acquaintance Of sew
pm ,agilosrs OF the gang by representing
ne II ' rs as eX-cr0oks who had served
d ma elf Penltentiary and were sworn
eoesuloefs Of the counterfeiters' guild.
. gleers thus came into possesslon Of
yIpiela system Of grips, passwords
m s asn5 Used by the gang, and were
r Tasoiel u locate the various plants
N \ sta,o S5lEnint out the coin. AS be-
N ssfa3 ia Wy there were five OF these,
Ian.. n lne widest and most fnacces-
]. long '9 ol the country and separated
msa., distances. I've men who did
mn 'Wil't,lactlrng wen Boston Buck,
q rmon " . 1lle.ltmnore, samue. seeeriest, Ed.