St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1888-06-02

KING OF couNTERFElTERs.


KING OF COUNTERFEITERS.
4. Old scoundrsl Who wos,d Rsthss
Mako had Naoaev rhsa Find Good.
Oh Petc Mccartney. the chief OF
American counterfciicrs. who was
released from an Indiana prison after
serving a term Of eleven years. hss
again succum bed to the ruling passion
and has been arrested as Now Orleans
on the charge Of raising small bills to
big dcnomina ations
Pete. who may well b. AWARDED the
title of the king of Conn.crfcitcrA" "
was An all.aronnd operator Of highest
proficiency. To begin with. fc was
an expert cngraver and could make
any plate equal to tho original Then
he was as thoroughly . practical
printer as there was IN the country.
This made him his ownScngraver and
printer As mani pulator Of the stun
that is to put it in circulation-he
had no superior and few equals in the
country. He was nervy and full Of
resources, which never lailed him but
once. anil that was whd he was set-
tied at Michigan City "A November.
1876.
Before that dat, ho tai been ar.
rested times innumcrabe. but always
escaped convection. 1t Dvas favorite
method with him 10 buy his way out
of iails. station houses aAaAhc custody
of officials. and it is altogether prob
able that he has sud cfcssfully cor
ruptcd more officials than any other
man in the United States H. was al.
ways supplied with plenty of money.
and never failed to mako tho most ef'
fec,ivc usc Of it upon tho slightest
opening.
When he couldn't bly his way ou'
of prison he turned his ingenuity IN
the direction of making his escape,
and succeeded tim, aftcf time.
When Mccartney was mpris .ncd a
Michigan City. upon h!nt accidently
dropped by him. tho seclc:-servicc Of.
ficcrs procec lcl to his liomc and tore
up the floor Of his chicken house. and
there fund between 400 0oo and
$500. 600 Of coun,crfei( boads and
notes Of mos, ingenious description
F,r the use Of II .ath's Dctector thu
Government permitted % publisher
to print plates thcrel from th'
genuine plates with mutllation mark
upon them. these markss being heavy
dark lines across the facc3 MtCartnel
bought mp these detecior2 and cuttin:
out these rlatc4 split cm BY SOM
process and pasted thcu ON bond o
baak-no:e paper. accohling to r.
| quircmen,. and then subj lcted them :
great pressure. The result va
genuine bonds and bills - far as plat
and printing were concerned. wit,
only the canccll alton marks on thcT
in the shape Of black lines. Taking
ccnmae bill or bond he cut out sma
strips just large enough 10 cover til
lines, which he pasted over them. an
they were again subjected to prcssnr
and the boad or bill was all ready c,
cept the signatures which hc coul
put in.
These counterfcits were OF rs dau
gcrous a character as werc ever made
and the whole bundle would have bee
nut afloat but for his conviction fiftcc
years ago
| Mccartney was known as an cxpel
countcrfcitcr a third Of century ag'
ard previous 10 the war put afoat va
quantities Of counterfeit State ban
notes and State bonds When the W:
came the National banks and ne
grecnback notes opened new fcl
Cor him. and hc worked it vigorous
and successfully. H, counterfcite
almost everv bond and note put o.
by the Govern mcnt. and his operation
reached far into the millions
He operated sometimes by himse
and sometimes in connection wi
others. At one time lie was in par
ncrship with Miles o gle. who needs !
introduction. The termin alton OF tn
partnership was peculiar. abrupt AZ
made Oslc III, mortal foo OF NJ
CARNEY. and he hunted the COUNT
over with y gun for the purposs
shooting him
1: seems that thsy had lot OF Il
very finest plates. and hal printed
vas: quantity Of boollc. which was b
away awaiting favorable opportun
, ty to put it aflo,t.
Olc night McC rrtncy rcsurrect'
the stuff and the plates and ran aw'
with them. leaving O.lc in the lur
ard pretty nearly broke. This p
Miles in fury and he huntc | for Pc
every where. and would undonbted
hare shot him on sight BIT McCal
I ncy was as succcssf ii in clnding o.,
rs between the officers of the law.
In addition TO his Acknowledged Al
. universally recognized proficiency
a eountcrfeitcr. he was rs sleek
cracksman rs the best OF them. ~
T ,hcrc is no doubt but that he had
!. hand in many Of the big burglaS
= and bank robbcries OF tho last quart
# ccntury-if not as an actual p'
$ ticipan'. rs tho brains and leader
u the work. Chicago Herald
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