Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1893-11-18

Ing through which dishonest ind ridualS
might asperse the integrity Of govern
ment officials
( In forwarding money 20 the CON
( science fund The sendeIs frequently re-
quest that acknowledgement shall be
made by publication in the papers To
do this the treasury department. is not
obliged 10 advertise, inasmuch as the
I reporters gather Items Of the sort every
day and print them as news Very
many u the contributions are IN sums
Of only few cents each. some people
are morb.dly conscientious and under
/ 90 tortures Of mind in consequence of
such peocadilloes as using a few sheets
+ Of government paper for private pur-
Z poses. BY RENTING a few pennies 10
+ the proper quarter they can save them
selves many agonieS. Sometimes the
I inclosue Is only . cents. Probably that
/ signifies repentance Tor postage
stamp used twice Now and then il
/ happens that stamp does nor get can.
ce,ed Oh its way through the mails
Being still perfectly good. there is a
temptation 10 stick il upon another
letter.
/ II is a melancholy thing to be obliged
TO say that the swindles against the
I government which bear such fruit Of
4 repentance seem 10 be a sadly small
I percentage OF the malrifarious cheats
that are pTslctiCed undetccted and ap-
parently rnregFettcd by those who per
.
continually trying 10 get ahead Of Uncle
\ Sum in one way Of another Chief
/ Special Agent Tingle Of the treasury
4 department said yesterday that if Ger
tain New York importers would hand
/ ever 10 the Conscience fund what they
had withheld 10y fr ud in customs
duties the depleted Golfers of the na-
ton would be now filed 10 overflow
/ ing II is likely that nearly hd1 the
/ anonymous contributions referred 10
are from individuals who have been
tempted TO smuggle in a smal. way.
I This method Of robbing the government
! IS by far the most popular
/ Yoyagers returning from across the
seas fetch gems concealed in cakes Of
soap, ia the followed heels of boots,
beneath porous plasters and even in
/ rife cartridges, the powder behind
each bullet being removed. The device
Of folding diamonds in a slice of meat,
/ feeding the latter to a dog just before
reaching port, and killing the animal
la few hours later is a familiar one II
( is actually said that pet pelican was
landed on one occasion with a necklace
/ Of rubies in It's pouch. Dolls carried
/ By little children have been used rs
hiding places for such treasures, and
/ customs officers have been obliged t.
I administer emetilS 10 steamer pas
|s,rrers and sit down to wait for swat.
I lowed precious stones TO reappear.
( The government only eXacts q ga'- Of
| 10 per cent on cut diamonds, because,
I IL it were higher, thy would all be
struggled ana Uncle S,al would get
nothing Havana cigars are thrown
overheard ut quarantine in rubber bags
with floats attached, to be picked mp
by boats The same thing is done with
cans Of opium on the Pacific coast
The canned juice Of the poppy is hidden
in the coal on transatlantic steamers
or iuclosed in followed logs shipped
from Canada to the United States in
cargocs Of timber.
1t is believed that couutcrfeiters
whose business il is to sW1ndle the
government, never repent, At al
events, no contributions from them ever
reach the conscience fund As a rule
they keep at the business until they
die, save when in prison Even while
in durance vile they have been known
to produce false money and put it in
circulation through coIfederates out
side Within three years a lunatic IN
an Indiana asylum has uttered fOrgerfeS
on the United States currency. II is
form Of crime most difficult to sup
press However, owing to The efforts
of the secret service and TO the high
quality Of the engraving Of treasury
and bank notes. this kind of fraud has
almost been put dn end to- Tie great
cOuuterfeiters Of former days are pass
ed away, in Jail: or closely watched. In
the last category is the celebrated
Charles Smith, greatest Of all forgors,
who, after keeping the treasury in
alarm for twenty years, was caught,
escaped prison by turning states evil
dence, ana is now working for a bank
no.e company in New York. His form
er colleague, BrockWay is living in
Brooklyn ON a fortune acquired in
the nefaIfous occupation, having sery-
ed his sentence Pete Mccartney,
who invented the plan Of washing the
ink from real 81 bills to get fiber paper
to print 500 bills on, is dead. Dead
likewise is Oue-eyed Thompson who
was the first man to send an explosive
box for the purpose OF blowing up an
enemy. His fad was for turning 81
notes into tifties. With the arrest of
The greatest living expert in that line
last year the industry Of raising notes
TO higher denominations has been
brought practically TO an end The
mysterious pen-andin& bills, executed
10y an initiative genius. still turn up