Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1889-09-19
AFTER A WEBSTER HEAD.
HISTORY OF 4 DANGEROUS couh-
TERFefT AND IT'S MAKERS.

HISTORY OF A DANGEROUS couN-
TERFeIT AND IT'S MAKERS.
Jtm Guyoa. Ben Boyd. John Bowdrs -
Oshsr Noted Crosks-rAs Way In wAtsA
CAssG Bsai. u tbs secret ssrvses. nreAs
U - e..g-rAs Esr.pe Of Gsyoa-
M ualeg 1t money by the government
-. I'm d~cribsd . thoosand timls-how
The paper Is rolled fron pulp II Dalton
Ma. and a mysterious six thread woven
into IL. which combination Is about the only
thing a eounterfsiter can't initiate, how each
plate is engraved in four pisces, no one man
making the whole plate, in fear that be VIII
repeat the operation, how the four pieces are
placed together, and an impression tAksn
from the whole on . soft roller, how an i'm
presuion Is made from this On q piece Of sun
steel. which Is afterward hardened. how
each sheet Of paper Is counted. and how the
plate printers ink and wipe on the plates by
hand. with all the safeguards thrown about
the process 70 prevent an operator IN any
way securing bill or the means OF making
one.
The great obstacle In the way d eontinu-
oux. brazen and successful counterfe,ting y
the secret service Of the treasury department.
1t Is composed Of chief. few clerks and
minimum u about fifty detectives, which -
sometimes considerably increased when work
piles up on them, - it did when, within
few weeks, no less than fifteen counterfeiters
were caught, all for passing ten dollar
Webster head treasury note, printed from
q plate whose history probably has no par
AlleL
A DANGEROUS COUNTERFEIT
1t was in February, 1850, that this note ap-
peared at Chicago, and the arrest on suspi-
cion soon followed Of Terrence Mullen, Of CHI
caro-, and Jim KenealIy, Of st. Louis Mullen
bad been arrested in 1876 with others for
conspiracy 10 steal the body Of Abraham Lin
coin from It's tomb at Springfield, and bold 1t
for the ransom OF Ben Boyd, noted Chicago
counterfeiter, who bad been convicted and
nsnteuced for year. These arrests led TO
the arrest Of John Bowdre, alias John Hill,
in May, 1880, on a datboat In the MisAassipp
river, near st. Louis, with Sl9,USO OF these
tens in his possession, 27s sheets OF paper
cut the size Of the note, and steel plate Tor
printing upon the paper good imitation OF
fiber
Bowdre was imprisoned, and through him
IL WIS ltdf Thai ViAt oAAe>S A~%.AA-f
alias Hamilton, had sto ell the plates and
&40,OOO OF the dangerous" tens. 1t was -
though Guyon and the plates and money had
dropI.d out Of existence For more than
seven years nothing was heard Of them, until
last February it was flashed from dozen
banks in as many western cities, almost stimuli
taneously, that the Webster head" had again
appeared Sure enough 1t was the counter
felt Of 1880, Of which Guyon held the mo
nopoly, again in the field.
At once Chief Bell Of the secret service con-
centrat..d his men and took the field himself
dozen arrests soon followed all Of them
persons who had purchased the notes from
others. Through the attorney who defended
some OF these men it was l"erned that Nelson
briggs and his wife Cert u,!r, who kept .
road house near d toii, o.. we're middle
men" for the sale Of tie money. Chief Bell
secured an introdi CT IN to Drla as Andrew
NcWilliams,h a CT r.ked attpr..ey at law OF
Hartford, Conn his plans 70 make his iden-
tity good wer IN. ;n.IIs aud thorough He
was received wi iiJut Susp'cl IN as one who
wished to d al III The ''YI,,H." and then en-
sued weeks Q feucin,; and oll iomacy on both
sides, de. cription Of which would fill u book.
The manner lii which Chief Bell ingratiated
himself III the good graces of the two would
have been worthy of Vidocq briggs met lis
wife in prison, and when they had sa.vld
their time, married her. though she VI rs less
than oilethird Of his age. She was sus.'ei u
BILE to !iattery, like most people, am. Delfs
nimble tongu. soon left no shadow OF suspi-
cioi. in her mind that he was other than he
represented himself. He soon discovered that
the principal in the transaction was to be no
other than the mysterious Guyon himself,
lifelong counterfeiter, the man who had the
webster head" plate, and who Ead GOT
away with $40, 900 of the bills when Bowdre
was arrested, and who operated constantly
STRIKING THE BARGAIN
After week, Of finesse Bell and Guyon met
The latter talked of every thing but money.
He was sizing up" the supposititious attor-
ney, who wished to buy counterfeit money.
AT last every body was satisfied and the bar
gain was struck. "McWillams" was TO buy
$25,0o0, more or less, Of the tens, at 22l4 cents
on the dollar. Every precaution was taken
TO prevent trickery in the transfer. On the
day it decided to be made two OF the tin
cans containing the bills were put in posses
sion of the Drggses. The old man was to de-
liver the first, and while he went for the sec
ond Gerry was to count it and get the good
money for it. Meanwhile Guyon was to pro-
duce the remainder from some spot not known
even to the Driggses, SO fearful were they
that Mac" would trick them in some way.
The first can was delivered and paid for In
a back room OF the hotel, and when briggs
went for the second he was quietly taken In
custody by Bells assistants, who were hidden
outside, and the chief himself suavely in
formed Gerty that she was his prisoner. Sew
eral men had been set to watch Guyon. Three
of them followed him to an adjacent wood on
their hanis and knees through a field OF oats.
They were close his heels as he kneeled
down beside an old stump Of a tree to get the
money He could have been captured rlAny
times, but the purpose sas to capture him
with some OF the money in his possession
As he was uncovering the tin cans ter
rife shrek came from the direction OF the
hotel 1t was the scream of Gerty when put
under arrest. Instnctively Guyon's trained
ear told him there was trouble. Ne sprang
to his feet and ran like a deer. Donella, one
Of the detectives. called on him to halt and
throw up his hands He did hut 1t was be-
hind a tree and he threw up his hand quick
as lightning and shot Donela, tearing piece
from the side Of his head Donella dropped.
Guyon sprang away through the underbrush,
and that Is the last seen of him. though Chief
Bell VOWS he will have him behind the bars
at no distant day. Over 81. 600 of the Web
ster heads" were captured, but they were Of
a later issue than the $4,000, and it is not
known that any of them had been passed. but
the plate is not captured and so the romantic
history of that ten years old plate is not yet
ended. Washington Cor. Pittsburg Dispatch.