Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1889-01-16
CAUGHT IN A TRAP.
A Good Story Told by . Secret
Service Detective
How " Queer Man" Of Note was Ar
rested-An Expedition in Which Good
Luck or Accident Was on the sIds
q Law and Justice.

III bu0 oprtuR Ok 1000 GFSTy Qc00uuluNll02
or ia-plastern currency had been
counterfeited and circulated, and every
issue Of greenbacks, from the dollar bill to
the twenty, had been reproduced by the
queer" men, says writer In the Detroit
Free Press. Counterfeiting hourished as
never before nor since. Any thing that
looked like money would go, especially in
the country towns.
The gang which was working the q and
- plates was located at Sandusky, but We
did not get this pointer until they had hoatr
ed out a good many thousand dollars. The
case was assigned to me, and proceeded
to Sandusky in the guise Of an army con-
tractor. had no details whatever, but by
keeping my eyes open and picking up .
note here and there, / satisfied myself that
our information was correct. Then
selected the most popular drug store In the
place, told the proprietor my business, and
arranged to make q capture Men "shov-
ing the queern will call at Q drug store
sooner than any other place Of business,
because they can purchase from such Q
variety, and can carry the purchase away
in the pocket This druggist had been Bit
ten several times, and was anxious to heip
nab some one I felt that it was only Q
question Of time when some Of the spurious
would be offered again, and I was right.
On the fifth day after took up my station
in the store, a respectable-looking middle
aged man rushed in, holding his hand to his
cheek and exclaimed:
"For Heavens sake give me something
for the toothachel ! am almost crazyrn
The clerk hurried to put up something,
the stranger danced around and groaned
and moaned, and when he received the
bottle he handed out q ten-dollar bill and
said:
''Quick-rve got to catch the tramp
The clerk glanced at the bill and began to
make change, but stopped to take second
look at it. started forward, but before
had taken five steps the man was on like
fash Ipursued, but he lodged me in the
crowd. Invent back and looked at the bill,
and l0l it was q counterfeit, but one so
nearly like the genuine as to deceive almost
any one except cashier. For the next
three days did some tall hustIing, and the
result was to drive the gang out Of San
dusky without having the luck to arrest
anybody. There were four Of them, and
they had job office which turned out work
for the public. The fellows had put out ct
least $4,000 in the West, having several
plates Of different denominations, and the
worst of it was they got on with the plates.
Almost purely by accident learned that
one Of the gang had brother living near
Rocky river, few miles out Of Cleveland,
and it was possible he might go into hiding
there for q time. AS this was the only trail
! had determined to look the ground over.
Going up to Cleveland, got horse and
buggy for q country drive and started for
Rocky river. 1 was only well clear Of the
city when saw heavy thunderstorm COM
ing up and had to look for shelter. had to
drive a couple Of miles to find it. Il was an
old barn on the lower end of farm. It
xryna in f,rrn n I,,,%
was a shed under which could put the
horse. was only two minutes ahead of
storm which ragged for an hour and a half.
! found corner of the barn which did not
leak, and for the first half hour scarcely
glanced around me. When I did come to
size up the interior, about the first thing
saw was paper package resting on q
beam running across the barn. II could not
have been seen from any other position In
the barn, and 1 may say it was the queer
sound given out by the drops of water as
they fell on the paper which caused me to
look up.
had the package down s.ter dirty
climb, and as opened il out fell the plates
of the counterfeits used at Sandusky-
every one Of them. There were plates for
a 81, 3, IS and so bill, and for ten, twenty
five and fifty-cent shinplasters, and the ink
from the last impressions had not been en-
irely cleaned of. While 1 was swelling
with the importance Of my discovery the
storm passed over, and while engaged in
doing up the package buggy stopped at
the gap in the highway fence and one Of the
two men in it jumped down and came run
ming into the barn. He did not see me at
first, but started to climb up after the pack
age on the beam. knew then that he was
one of the gang, and grabbed him He
was a stout fellow, and we had q savage
tussle for it, but / finally got the irons on
his wrists and made him prisoner. As soon
as seized him he shouted to warn his COM
panion, and before our struggle ended the
man was q mile away. The one caught
was Sam Dixon, a "queer man" OF note and
known to US better under the alias Of "SIy
Sam" He was the chap who counterfeited
the Brazilian currency and got rid Of $4,000
worth before any row was raised. he hept
close mouth and would not peach on any
of the gang. Even when he got his SEN
tence, which was for twelve years, he
calmly remarked:
"Weil, business viii go on at the old
stand just the same,