Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-04-25
THEY BEAT UNCLE SAM
Why Oounterfeiters Occasion the
Treasury Alarm.
FORGERS ARE A MENACE.
They Can Buy Real Treasury Paper at Cheap
Rate and Photography Does the Rest-Ths
Forging Of Coins NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. the
Most Frequent Countsrfsitsrs.

Moot Frequent Countsffsitsrs.
THE RECENT CIRCULATION OF FRESH
Il counterfeit paper money Of extraordinary
excellence has called public attention very
strongly to . menace to the country's finances
that is practically new. Photographic and photo
chronic processes Of late invention, a STAR re-
porter was informed, have been Of great
assistance to forgers In the reproduction Of
notes or certificate SO far as the designs
are concerned. As for the paper to print
them upon. the government sells 1.-THE
real stuff Of treasury manufacturers cheap
rate to any one who wants to buy. If you
don't believe it, you can easily obtain FIR ON the
secret service bureau here O full account Of the
manner in which, not long ago. = skilled
operator took large number Of real one dollar
bills. washed them in chemical bath so as to
remove every trace of the printing,
and then used the plates he had pre-
pared to print on the same paper AZ
many $500 bills. the profit on each being S499.
That the counterfeit. was effective is sufficiently
secret service people that in one day he
passed four Of the $500 notes on one bank. not
being afraid to hand them right over the coun-
ter to the receiving teller. who took them with
out question.
ITALIANS AS couNTKRrErrRRs.
1t is IN interesting thing, in view of the
present italian complication, to consider the
fact that the Italians in this country, according
to the records Of the secret service, are SO
peculiarly addicted to the crime Of counter
letting that in 4 single year moro people of that
nationality have been arrested and convicted
on this charge than of all other na:ionalities
put together. Most Ut those caught, too.
were Sicilians--the tribe to which nearly all of
The lynched New Orleans ,nurderers belonged.
One feature characteristic of italian counter
feiting methods is a widespread organization,
seldom betrayed by traitors which renders IL
possible to issue the same forged money stimuli
taneousiy from points great distance apart
scheme calculated to occasion the government
detectives much trouble in their efforts to dis
cover the source Of supply and track down the
producer.
TIE coUNfHRFEffrSo OF COINS
has by no means kept pace in recent years with
the Improvements which the forgers Of paper
money have been able to accomplish. Most Of
them are clumsy and it 10 only once in a while
that piece Of metal appears which occasions
discomfort to the authorities About the only
dangerous coin out at present Is a bogus silver
dollar, which the secret service il applying its
energies TO wiping out. II combines in most
unusually accurate degree the essential ele-
ments of ring" weight and ZAP
pearance." On the whole, the coun-
terfeiting Of coins would not ap-
pear to pay. inasmuch a. seven-eights Of the
makers of imitation money captured are in the
coin business. 1t must be remembered, how
ever. that this branch of the profession attracts
many votaries. whose knowledge and skill are
not equal to reproducing cash on paper. The
latter Il the uneducatsd branch. Most coun-
terfeits OF gold coins are merely alloys. each IS
piece containing "a worth Of the precious
metal, or in some such proportion. There is no
very remarkable one out at present. There are
limitations to the possibilities OF coin forging,
which, it il to be hoped, will preclude its ever
reaching the status Of Q fine art.
HOME OF MECHANICAL GENIUS.
America IS the birthplace of mechanical
genius par excellence. One cannot bat ad-
mire the New Hampshire man who not long
ago devised what he appropriately termed a
much the shape Of lemon squeezer, Only that
in the places where the halves Of the lemon
go were set two dies for the diverse and re-
verse of IS gold piece. The in
veutor made it his business to travel
prising agriculturists of means on the subject
OF his machine. Money comes notoriouslv
slow in farming. and thus it Is perhaps that
tine small rustic capitalist is ap: to have an in
chnation for accommodating cash rapidly BY
means legitimate or otherwise. Upon this |
green goods men do feed and wax fat; |
but they lie in wait for their victim |
when he visits the wicked city with |
q wallet full Of greenbacks and q heart
filled with guileless confidence in the good in |
tentions of the ostensibly benevolent stranger
who has won prize in the lottery. The New |
Hampshire man, on the other hand, sought the |
farmers on their rural estates, and his method |
was to show how easily IS gold pieces |
could be manufactured with his machine and TO |
thepo int h,.; ~ HI
share IN the prohts- In one side of
the squeezer, when closed, was inserted
a funnel, into which curious metallic |
alloy was poured, melted. AS soon as it
had had time to cool the squeezer was opened
on Its hinge and 10, there was 50 piece of
gold sure enough-iust like a real one, save
that it had a silvery color. This. however,
was quickly rect.fed by the Yankee. who
dropped a little liquid on it from a bottle, |
Is turned . permanent golden hue
gold piece should be.
HOW IT WAS poSf.
Nor was this surprising, inasmuch rs the coin
was actually IS gold piece fresh from United
States mint. The secret was all in the machine |
whiah was constructed not TO cheat Uncle Sam. |
but to deceive the farmer. The msltcj tai |
poured in SIMPLY flowed into concealed cavity |
in the squeezsr, while the New Hampshire |
gentleman. in locking the continuance osten-
SAoiy W iuoAc INC CoSe- tcucdeu KNOB Wnlen /
caused a real S5 coin. previously put in, to |
slide into the sunken hole occupied by the die |
on one side. Thus, when the affair was opened |
the gold piece appeared. Just rs if i. had been |
newly nodded. IL had previously been coated |
thinly with quicksilver, so that it was only |
to put drop or two OF acid upon |
it in order to eat OF the mercury and |
expose the gold Of the coin. The purpose |
OF the quicksilver was merely to make the |
newly cast coin the same color as the metal |
poured in. OF course the enterprising farmer |
was willing enough to put 81, 600 or 20 into 30 |
promising a scheme for turning out IS pieces |
nd infinituni, and the New Hampshire gentle |
man walked away With the cash. The latter |
had no use for counterfeitine when he could |
earn real money 20 easily.
RENAaKABLE CoUyrEaFEIrERs.
One Of he most remarkable counterfeiters |
that ever ived--at present in JAIL happily--is |
John Peter Mccartney, known as the King OF |
the Koniakers." who has record Of thirty-five |
industrious years employed in the business |
This ingenious old scoundrel has figured % Q csp-
italist during that period. providing the money |
required, in nearly every important combine |
fiar of forpera ON this side cf h.. xvafar A.