The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1885-09-03
COUNTERfEITIEL
,lr,ch ma uallard-Thc Mo SS,cd
Bogus Money Makers Ia
America.

ulr,ch ma naliard-'The Mo Noted
Bogus Money Maker. Ia
America.
In the Treasury Department at Wash
ing;on the visitors can see copies oil all
the counterfeit notes that have been 1ade
since paper money and bonds were irst
issued ly the Government, as well rs pno-
tographs OF notoriol. counterfelters ana
some of the tools that have been taken
from them. There II one note OF large d.
nomination in the book OF counter elti
which looks like an exceedingly clever M
iiation which even expert bank tellers
might be deceived BY. The whole thing
was executed with pen. 80 marvellous
is the deli .ate workmanship on It ana the
drawing OF the faces that II Is almost I'M
possible TO believe that one man should
have had the patience to SIT down anu
copy genuine note so c,rltciy. AZ
the Treasury men relate the c.rcuinstan-
ces OF its origia, Il WIS done by an expert
p,nman as II pastime with no iuea OF
leaking counterfeit yet when II was
finished it VAS spah II wonderful imita-
ton that he concluded to got the tcstimo-
ny of others MS to the accuracy OF his work
by passing it upon them MS genuine
note II was long time in circulation
before the fraud was discovered. The an
thor of IL must have done $50 worth OF
work upon It, whereas the face value OF
the note Is not above $40. The Treasury
officials know the histories of all the III
nous eounterfeiters, and speak of them
with degree of ADMIRATION such MS po'
liceman feels for a prize tighter. They
will Show you tie photograph OF char
| ley" Ulr!ch, the most expert counterfeit
enqravcr who ever piled his art IN this
| country, and who eventually found his
way to the renitentiary. There Is n set OF
plates made b. hun on exhibition in the
department upon which he was at work
for fifteen months. They are for Govern
ment Loads, and at the time of his arrest
he had in his pc session nearly 100000 IL
counterfcits which he had taken from tac
plates The work on the plates Is Ia som'
instances superior TO what the Govern
ment engravers have been able to do.
Tom Ballard was one OF the great couh
terfeiters of this country, and Il man Wit
caused more trouble to the Treasury OF
tcials at Washington than any other indi
yidual. He was very dangerous man t.
be at large, not so much from the excel
lence of his engraving bat from the sue
cess with which he initiated the bank not
paper which the Treasury officials ha
been fattering themselves was not poss
Bile of imitation. 1t may lie said that Q
nil the criminal class the counterfeiter
| - To
and stability, the foundations OF govern
ment, are undermined by him. What
the use of having a government currenc
if one man can 90 to work and upset tn
who'e thing! The coun erfeiter may b
called the king OF criminals. lndeet
, bank robbers, highwaynen and mnrderei
are mere dabsters CONF AIRED to him, an
he is such danSerou, character tha
there is u disposition to class him all b
himself as above the criminal mass. ii
) is a sort of an intellectual, n high-tone
I outlaw, :Drt of modern Claude puva
l only his power of evil is a thousand time
s that of such men as Dural. Well migt
| orr ancestors issGe notes with the legent
! ITO counterfeit is death" for they kGo
that no penalty could b, too severe Il
such Il crime. Tom Ballard then, whe
he was ut large was one of the most inst
ious enemies o, society. The paper q
/. which the ordinary bank note is printed
made b. the Government, and the seer
:, of its man fracture was regarded US one
the safeguards of our society. 4 ma
might engrave as well as the Govern mel
engravers, but where was he to get Il
), paper TO print his spurious notes upon
II This was such an obstacle IN the way
d the counterfeiter that the Treasury
4 Washington was at one tine robbed OF
lot of this blank paper, which could In l
/. other way be obtained. Baliarl, howeve
4 hit upon plan of making the paper, Al
- his first notes carried cons. ernation ID
Il the Treasury and the White House. Tn.
=, caught him at last in his den at Bufal
! through the efforts OF ex-SupcrintenGen
le of Police Wolfe and Curtin. He is no
!. serving out his term in the Albany PEI
Tertiary. Three or four years ago hO col
municated with the Secretary of Il
!. Treasury at Washington, and offered
- tell the Government how to make an II
y counterfeitable paper ii they would
If him 60. The offer was refused, aud
attempted suicide.