Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1891-04-12
FORGERS A MENACE.
Grown So Skillful as to Endan-
ger National Finance.
A MOST GIGANTIC INDUSTRY.
New Photographic Processes Have Revo-
lutionized Their Business-Uncle
Sans Engrayers Cannot Tell
Bogus from Real Dollars.
Special 20 the Gazette.

Special 10 the Gazette.
WASHINGTON, April 1.-THE chief en-
grayer If the bureau Of engraving and
printing was closcted the other day Tor a
long while with the treasurer OF the United
States. Spread before them were two sill
yer certificates. one Of regular government
issue, and the other q specimen of the new
~ counterfeit which has occaSioGed such a
sensation by reason of the perfection OF It's
execution. After spending full hour ex-
aiming the real and the false notes with
powerful magnifying glasses, the famous
expert in money designing turned to the
guardian OF Uncle Sans cash box and
said:
There are no diferences.n
To such point. in fact. has the art OF
counterfeiting been developed. The work
of the fraudulent money maker4 IS no
longer feebly initiative Year after year II
has grown more difficult OF detection. until
At last il may be said that the swindler can
make as good paper dollar rs the govern
neut Is able to produce. | asked high
treasury official yesterday what was the
chief difficulty that a CounteCfeiter had to
overcome in the manufacture of
A SUCCESSFUL BANK NOTE Or CERTIFICATE.
He has no difficulties to encounter - was
the reply The last of them has been
swept away by recent invention \ while
ago, although some of the most skillful en-
gravers in the world belonged TO the crimi-
nal class, their work was nevertheless in
yariably distiugUishaole from the true BY
differences beyond the power of hands or
tools to avoid. But the new phOto-mechan-
zeal processes have revolutiounized coun-
terfeiting With no labor worth mention
ing, the camera reproduces the design Of q
note upon metal plate, which,
after passing through simple
etching process, becomes TO all in
tents and purposes a fac smile OF the origi
nal steel engraving. ready 10 print the
money from. Thinks to late discoveries in
photo-Chromy. the execution of greeroacks
and red seals in precisely the proper shades
IS the easiest thing IL the world. Here IS
the last report of the chief of the secret
service. He says: The genuine govern
meut notes nowadays. especially the series
OF $50. are marvels OF the engraver's art,
aided by the wonderful geometric lathe.
One would think il impossible TO success
fully counterfeit such work, upon looking
over the complex area Of lines and pat
terms: and yet at this moment counterfeit
erS are reproducing 1t SO perfectly that
the elaborate beauty OF this paper money
may be said TO offer no protection 10 the
public or defense against fraud. -
But how about imitatirs the paperl"
That is no obstacle to the counterfeiter.
The special paper used by the treasury
doesn't amount to a red cent as d protec-
IlOL. IlpN Sl-OulN IL 1GI Cdu DLS ne
same stun, according TO quality, at any sta
toner's. No, of course, /. lacks the threads;
but of what use are theyl If Z note APP
pears satisfactory il other respects, who
ever thinks ot looking for the threadsl
Suppose, however, that one did, the swind-
Ter has
SEVERAL WAYS OF SUPPLYING THEM.
With ruler and a fine pen loaded with
light blue ink, he can draw them to per
lection across the face Of the note. Or he
Creases the bill very hard lengthwise with
his thumb nail, 50 that anybody who is
looking for . thread will swear he sees one
IN the fold, the illusion being caused by
breaking of the dner in the paper Possibly
the suspicious person may try to lift out the
thread 1T point with pin. Ii he does, it
is hundred to one that the toughness of
the papers fiber will lead him to think the
thread is there. Oh, no; the paper IS no
safeguard"
Whit on earth is to be done them"
at is hard 10 say, Something has GER
tainly got to be done when the treasury en-
gr;.vers cannot tell counterfeits from the
work they have themselves executed. |
would suggest that radical changes De made
respecting the paper on which the money is
printed. Our designs are Reproduced to
perfection: therefore we have nothing but
The paper 10 fall back upon. 1t should be
made absolutely distinctive, legal en-
acJment fOrbidding the manufacture of any
paperlike the the money paperof the govern
meEt. Each denomination of note or GER
tifcate ought TO have its own special
variety of this kind Of paper so that one
could tell dollar bill from 4 five by the feel
merely. True, the paper could be initiated,
but it is not possible to make fine paper
wi hOut bulky plant of machinery, and
all factories here and abroad would be care
fully watched
y few days ago the secret service bureau
OF the treasury received with renewed ex-
the latest production of the
pen-and-ink counterfeiter. This extraordi-
nary man, who may fairly be considered
the most remarkable maker of false money
known TO history, must devote the greater
part Of his time year after year TO his
chosen pastime. 1t can be nothing more
with him, inasmuch as the remuneration is
necessarily small The wonderful thing
about his limitations of United States notes
Is that they are
EXECUTED ENTIRELY WITH THE PEN,
even to the vignettes and most elaborate
bogus lathe-work. To produce one must
require q vast deal of patience. Appar-
emily he does about two a year, for once in
six months pretty regularly u specimen
makes its appearance, to the disgust of the
government detectives. 1t is always either
4 fifty or twenty, and is q very curious
fact that 10 two are sent to the department
here from the same city. The supposition
is that the forger, as quickly as
he has passed one of his works of
OF art, changes his residence TO
another city. He gets rid of the note he
has just completed, which may remain in
circulation for some time before reaching
4 bank, and departs long ere the police
agents have chance TO arrive upon the
scene. The most plausible theory is that
he is Z nlonomaniac OF means, who graft
ties . morbid vanity in this way His
work bears scrutiny with the naked eye,
though not with the magpifying glass.
One Of the most dangerous counterfeits
at present extant is bogus United States
treasury note for $1,000. Not only are q
number Of the notes themselves supposed
10 be in circulation-tiye of them have been
passed on one hank-but the plates them
selves are in existence somewhere ready TO
strike of millions in currency OF large de
nomination. These plates are known
to have been executed by that
most expert Of living forgers,
Charles Fl. Smith. He was the man who.
being employed as an engraver to execute
certain $1,000 United States bonds eleven
years ago. made duplicate plate at home
in the evening. printed sos, GOO worth of
bonds, and was only caught and prevented
from negotiating the Doodle by sheer acct
dem
HAUNTED HOUSES
Washington is the greatest town for
ghosts in this country. The city IS dotted
AL over with haunted houses, which re-
main unrented year after year on account
Of the SpookS that are supposed TO inhabit
hem. al the way from the great empty
Tayloe mansion at the corner of Seven