The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-05-11
THE CoUNTERFEITERs.
A secret Servica Man Talks About
Them.
Erom the Washlnqton Post

From the WGshinG ton Post
When a man has served for over seven
.esn years in the secret service of the gov
.,rpment he gets pretty we'll acquainted
with criminals, their methods, tricks, hab-
;+e and haunts, and most men would, under
tbe circumstances, become extremely cyni-
caI and inclined to look n all men as bent
ON crookedness; but Capt. A. L. Drum
T,ond who was at the head of the treasury
secret Sc vice in New York for that length
If time. bears a countenance as calm and
serene as vesterdav's NJ y morning.
He is up at the Ebbitt. If the dime novel
reader of 'Old Sleuth" aud Hawkshaw
datective stories should see his pl cid face
he ", uld never believe that he was looking
Of one of thu nerviest, coolest. keenest men
who ever broke up nest Ofsdesperate coun-
+erfeters. But that is only one item of his
record. Capt. Drummond left the treasury
service a year or SO ago, and is now at the
head Of the principal secret service agency
in New York. OF medium hight, broad
shonldered, arc powerful in frame, his face
shows the perfect health of man who has
taken care of what nature gave him. His
face is his most striking feature. II i;
broad. strong, smooth-shaved, save for a
she, t, light brown mustache, with a pair of
nleasant eyes, which can beam bene violently
through is spectacls at desperate crimi-
nal. willie MS finger lies against the trigger
of a revolver in his side pocket, ready to
shoot at the first sign of resistance.
speaking of cOunterfeiters, said Capt.
Drummond, 1.-The Italians monopolizs the
minor counterfeiting about as they do the
fruit stands, and such small occupations
Four out Of five of these Italian counter
feiters are Sicilians, and belong 10 the Malta,
a. powerful secret organization. The reason
for the T going into untarfeitng lies in
the fact that, as fmage-makers, tley lea n
TO work in plaster Of Paris, and from that
they can make coin molds. Block tin, en-
timony, bismuth and copper are what they
USE
'.Then if they know ANYTHING about
electroplating they put little silver on
their CONS, enough to keep color for a dav
or two These coins will ring, and are
about the right weight, and are passed
without much difficulty am ing ignorant
people. TIE Italia : have their confeder-
ates among the fruit dealers and barber
shops and often run some time before they
are caught
81 never knew but one italian to attempt
anvting ab We a dollar This one went to
Europe and had 81 and S. note photo
or pfed on wood, and made wood cuts.
He was quickly run down, and is now dong
twelve years.
THE usual life of a counterfeit coin is
but W weeks, though | have seen them
when they were undoubtedly fifty years
old. But after the gloss wears off they
quickly become so palpably spurious that
they are retired Who stands the loss?
Well, it usually lands on the butcher, laker
or groceryman with whom poor people
deal. A poor woman gets a dollar whic I
proves bad, and she usually tries TO trace it
back to some one she deals with, and he,
rather than have trouble or lose custo-
mer viii stand the loss.
''Ihe large counterfeit bills which hoat
around are more dangerous. There is a
law that bank shall stamp worthless or
counterfeit on sucl bills when presented
at their counters, but it Is dead letter. A
bank knows if it would take SO note of
one Of its customers and stamp it counter
felt that customer would be furious and
transfer his business to 3other bank. He
would say if the note had not been stamped
he might have put it back where he received
it. But the law should be enforced and
strengthened b. making it a penal offe Sc
for bank otfic to TAIL to stamp counter
felt AID spurious money. If they would
obey the law it would greatly aid the secret
service officers in getting such bills out of
circulation