Arizona weekly citizen., 1890-09-13
A GREEDY EX-SOLDIER.
THE REMARKABLE HISTORY OF A'I
 ITALIAN IMPOSTOR.

PensiOnS-He Was Detected While Try
 ing to Secure Some Unpaid Counties.
 ''Talking about pension swindlers,
 said Maj. Harry Phillips recently, ''the
 most remarkable case that ever came
 under my observation was that of aI
 Italian Ey the name of GiusettO. Hs
 was as Eeen as a raZOg. well educated,
 but with q nerve and audGcity which
 few men po>ses. A year after the close
 of the y.sr {, ci..i-n for pension was filed
 for man banned Jacques ROllinger, of Springfield, O. He had enlisted as a private ii one of the Ohio regiments in
 1862, and had worked his way up until
 he had obtained commission as lieu
 tenant. His claim was on account of
 rheumatism contracted in the service.
 After proving tlIct it was contracted in
 the service. and that 1t continued from
 the date of lis discharge up to the date
 of the anI licatioa. tle question was
 asked if he :,ad basa n the service pre- vious to his enlistment in the Ohio regi- ment.
 To this he answered that in 1861 he
 had enlisted in the First New York In- dependent battalion. Upon searching the roll of the First New York Inde- | pendent battalion his name was found. The records showed that Rollinger, on | Jan. 30, 1861, had been transferred to | Company E of the Forty-seventh regi-
 ment, \. '. $. volunteers. and that at the battle of Oiustee. on Feb. 30, 1864,
 he was reported wounded and taken prisoner by the COnfederates. They further showed that his name appeared
 on the roll of the Andersonville prison,
 and that he was reported as having died
 there on Aug. 21, 1861.
 HE IMPOSED ON SECRETARY STANTON. Upon further search of the war de | partment records 1t was found that in 1865 man claiming to be Jacques Roll finger, accompanied by little boy, had presented himself to Secretary Stanton, the then war minister, with a very plaus- ible story, stating that he had been in the AndersOnvilie prison, was sick there and feigned death in order to escape; that he was carried out of the prison inclOsure with lot of dead men, all being dumped to the ground together early in the morn ing. Watching his opportunity when the coast was clear of the guards he crawled unobserved toward a neighbOr- ing wood and finally escaped, reaching the Union lines about the time of the general surrender.
 Secretary Stanton was impressed with the apparent sincerity of the man, who readil ,. answered the questions concern ing the prison and its surroundings sat isfactOrily. He believed the story, had the death record cancelled and caused all the back pay and allowances to be paid to the supposed Rollinger. Shortly after ward the man filed claim for pension on account of disability resulting from gunshOt wound incurred while in the service, which was subsequently, allow ed. \ few years after this pension was secured another claim for bounty, re- muster and allowances was filed m the second auditors office at Washington as being due Jacques Rollinger, of Com pany B, Forty-seventh New York volun- teers, by d party claiming to be the father of Jacques ROllinger. Evidence was filed proving Jacques ROllinger's death and burial while a prisoner of war at Andersonville, Ga.
 About this time pension and claim agent who did business at the New York city hall happened to call at the office of another claim agent in that vicinity. Upon entering the office of the second agent the first agent recognized man present and called him by the name of Giusetto.
 THE DISCOVERY.
 While conversing together the second agent told the first that the man he had accOsted was not named GiusettO, but Rollinger, and that evidently it was a case of mistaken identity. He was posi- tive of that, because he was then engaged in prosecuting claim before the govern ment for back pay and bounty due on account of his son, who had died in the Andersonville prison. The first agent answered that he could not be mistaken. for the reason that he had already secured pension for the same man on account of gunshOt wounds under the name of GiusettO. The two agents, on compar- ing notes, made up their minds that there was something crooked somewhere, and reported all the facts in their possession 1 to the authorities at Washington.
 The secret service officers of the pen | sion bureau, upon searching the records | at Washington, found that GiusettO had | been a member of Company A, Forty | seventh regiment, New York volunteers; that Rollinger was born in France, near the Italian border, close to GiusettO's | birthplace, and that while both had been | in the Forty-seventh regiment | of New York volunteers, though in diff | ferent companies, they had become | warm friends, understanding each others | native language. They were both taken prisoners at Olustee and sent tO Ander~ where GiuSettO, during their long and weary prison days, learned all | about the family story of ROllinger.
 The secret service officers also ascer- rained that GiusettO was the man who personated ROllinger immediately after the war and imposed on the secretary eff war. 1t was also ascertained that through another claim agent Giusetto had secured a pension for himself, i'll his own name, for wounds received when he was taken prisoner at the battle at which Rollinger was captured. Had he been contented with the double pension he was receiving he might have escaped detection. He was tried, convicted and tent to the Sing Sing State prison for erm of seven years some time in the Ferly seventies. After Giusetto served ut bis time he returned to Rome, Italy, where few years ago he was occupy ng responsible position in large busi- less frm.-Brooklyn Eagle.