Elmore bulletin. [volume] (Rocky Bar, Idaho) 1889-1906, 1893-09-30
THE PUNCHED K0PECK.


they could be read v0nld excel the most
extravagaut imaginngs of your Belots
and Gaboriaus," said handsome, heav-
lily whiskered man who was one OF
. little party OF FIVE gentlemen in small
: room In "a st. Petersburg private palace.
ave have excellent writers of fiction
here in Russia 1.-TWO of his auditors were
Frenchmen), land they sometimes go TO
the real for material. but am sure that
the shrewdest of them have never heard
Of the punched kopeek which belongs to
the annals of the police just mentioned
The man with the whiskers emptied
his wineglass and pushed it away ~ he
continued:
about fifteen years ago Count fasil-
witch was one of the best known mobiles
Of the empire. His St. Petersburg estab-
lishment was conducted on style OF
royal magniticence and he had the i'm
perial ear oftener than any other man Of
his rank Well, one morning the count
was found dead in his mansion and un-
der Circumst which went to prove
that somebody nal helped him out of
the world. As q matter of course the
Russian police took the affair in hand
and that was the last we heard Of 1t.
AT that time there was said to be at
tached to the Third section man named
Paritz. Rumor invested him with all
the attributes of the ideal sleuth. No
body could be found who had ever seen
him, but all the same the great discov-
cries in crime continued TO be placed to
his credit He worked out great results
from impossible beginnings, and some
said that il was Paritz who was adding
most to the criminal population Of 81
IBERIA. OF course every one expected To
see Count Yasilvitch's enemy dragged to
light through the agency of this secret
man hound, but as weeks and months
passed without anything of the kind
transpiring, ParitZ became the laughing
stock of st. Petersburg.
Count Yasilyitch was known far and
wide as numismatist His collection
of coins was the most complete Of any in
the country, and had drawn from the
mint large offers of purchase. In tine
collection were two kopecks which had
been curiously punched through the
center. Count Yasilvitch valued these
coins above any in his possession, and il
was understood that they had a history
which ne would not reveal.
"When the police came to examine the
counts coins after his death they diseoy.
cred that number Of pieces were miss.
ing. and among them was one of the
kopecks. OF course the authorities did
not care to publish their discovery from
motives which you can easily understand
and the world at large knew nothing
about it. The coin which was not taken
by the assassin. admitting this for oul
story's sake, gentlemen. was given TO In,
misty Paritz, with orders to find its matt
and the counts enemy as we'll
..Paritz took the case with his nsua
bow, and there the chief of police left It
The counts coins were put up for sale
and the numismatists who We're draw
TO st. Petersburg by the event wonderel
what had become of the punched kopeck
Half a dozen bidders stood ready to pnr
chase 1t at any price. Time rolled el
and everybody forgot Paritz and hi
trail We did not hear 80 much abou
his prowess now, and there were fewe
great discoveries in crime, although Tn
number of exiles was moi lessened.
81 recolect that ! took considerable
interest in the trail OF the kopeck at TIA
time. | was rather intimate with
member of the police, and he told IN
much about the counts death and til
hunt. But question him as adroitly &
| would, | could learn nothing Of III
identity Of the renowned ParltZ. II
deed. | was more than ever inclined |
consider him myth, and to beheN
that the name had become generi
term for the Third section. ] WEI
abroad few months after the Nasi
witch mystery was sprung on soclei
and travelled almost necessarily for Il
wears. visited nearly every part OF Il
globe. finding wherever | went seer
representatives Of our police, with WHOM
being a native Russian myself, beeau
as intimate as possible. tried by the
means TO keep track OF the mythic
Paritz and his trail. The secret ageli
had heard about the missing kopeck. b
they did not know how far Paritz h.
progressed, nor where he was then.
"There was something ludicrous
the story Of Partz and the punched !
peck. The coin had continually BATH
the cars spy, and he had heard mol
ing of it from the time 1t left Gou
AasllEttChs 5 possesSloh iouI HAtd
detectives might have done better, ;
poor Paritz, he could find nothingl
ABOUT year ago interest IN
counts death was Suddenly revived
the arrest of man who had lot Of n
coins on his person. There was said
be some of these missing from the IN
dered mans collection, and they VI
subjected to the closest scrutiny. /
fellow arrested was an honest and II
crate mudjik, who averred that he
found the coins in the weed grown Z
den attached 20 the late counts r.
dence. He was not released till the
den had been spaded over for more c
BY the authorities, whose labors We're
warded by the finding Of several
roubles known to have been described
the Yasilvitch catalogue.
"Now more than ever Parttz and
punched kopeck became objects OF d
sion. Several Of the Russian news
pers received pasquinades on the