Huntsville gazette., 1886-05-29
A FAMOUS CASE.
Mr.. Brooks Breaks Up a Noted
Counterfeiter' Gang.


treasury building, I learned from Mr..
Brooks, the Chief Of the Secret Service
Department, for the first time the true
history of afamous counterfeiting case,
which attracted much attention all over
the country, a few years ago. I was
fortunate in forming his acquaintance
as Kansan, for he had been in Kansas
in 1856 with Jim Lanes crowd, and
told me that he saw men taken off the
cars at Glasgow. Mo-, and hanged for
no crime but that Of being Northerners
Che being foreigner. escaped.) Those
were days when men shot the way they
voted on both sides. I said: '.Mr.
Brooks. please tell me how you dis
covered one counterfeiter, that will
better explain the Secret Service than
any other talk about it. In the first
place, how do you get the counter
feiters?" He said: ssThe ladies who
count the. money have charge of but
one denomination; thus, the woman
who handles the 800 notes counts no
other. Fast as they seem to run
through her fingers, if q single line is
DETECTED, she, can perceive it. Thus,
the money that is returned is the chief
source, although bankers and brokers
also send them. &
lone time a 500 counterfeit note
came up. l compared it with all the
engravers' samples which have in my
books, and after much deliberation,
- ~ cf
two men, both, as I supposed, in New
York. wrote our agent, telling him
to shadow Haskell and Brockaway,
the suspected individuals, in no way
connected with each other. After con-
siderable search he found Haskell work-
ing at card engraver's in Philadel-
phia. He was followed closely for
some weeks, when he was taken sick
and went to his home, little village
in New York, but instead of getting
better he died. The counterfeit 500
bills continued every now and
then to appear. wrote our agent,
Where is Brockaway? He must be
the man. / had before discovered that
he sometimes passed under the name
of Spencer, was tall, slender with
gray hair and long gray beard, all OF
which our agent knew. After more
labor than, 1 can tell you, we found
that a wealthy gentleman, by the name
of Spencer, had yacht, and was of
on a pleasure tour. Again we were
literally at sea as well as they, but at
last we found such vessel anchored at
country place on Long Island. One
day a tall, slender, gray-haired man,
with long, white beard came down
the beach, accompanied by beautiful
girl, they were followed by another ell
derly man and young girl.
1.-The four boarded the yacht and
started of. Our men took a yacht,
and followed in the same direction
their Yacht came back, ours returned.
Mr.. and. Mrs. Spencer, to all appear
ances. had a fine residence in a fat on
one of the most fashionable streets in
New York. They lived quietly. never
went out, received no friends.
Several weeks after they were
Joined by a tall, broad-shouldered,
dashing, fine-looking fellow from the
West; he called himself Foster. Now
here is where experience comes in
Our agents report every night. Al
soon as I heard this description
wrote our agents that the new arriva
was James w. Doyle, from little
town in Illinois. He married woman
by the name of Foster, whose father
was q counterfeiter. Shadow him.
''The truth is, ten or fifteen years
before, that chap had to leave Phila
delphia under circumstances which
looked as if he was in the business
then. In the Illinois town they fount
he left boy under the name OF Eos
ter, but most Of the mail that went int
it was addressed to James W. Doyle
80 my guess was correct. He soon
however, returned to New York
These men were followed day ant
night for five months before we saw
single suspicious thing. Doyle spen
much of his time at the fat occupies
by the Brockaways. One day the mel
came out with 3 broken seal, some
thing like this" (here Mr.. Brook
took up q stamping machine. lik
an ordinary notary's seaD, ''they tool
an omnibus to 60 down town. and let
The broken seal in the bus. At th