Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-04-01

mas practically become In this untrv. No
| new counterfeits worthy of serious considera-
ton are produced here any longer. Those
| which excite attention from time to time are
nearly all old ones. Some of them are turne d
off from plates made many years ago. new
editions being issued from them occasionally.
Nenerai appearance is a prime quality in
successful counterfeit. There are very few
people who scrutiniZe note when offered
! They accept it if it has the right look That is
! the reason why the treasury fears the initiative
powers of such processes as acknowledgements
| and photo engraving. Such mechanical meth
DDS do not produce creditabe forgeries con-
| sldered from the experts point of view but
the bills bear a fair superficial resemblance to
| the originals from which they are copied The
criminal makes in a camera an ordinary glass
negative of the design on note. From that
| he takes positive and prints it on steel plate
| covered with gelatine film. etching it with
acid. Thus he obtains what is called a photo
| gravure. which is completed with engraving
| tools. That is only one of many WAYS. Direct
photographs of note designs on paper make
wretched counterfeits
THE LAST GANG CAPTURED
The last gang of counter.eiters arrested was
captured just year ago. They did their work
| by the process above described 1t was car
ried on at the house Of William Hera. photo
engraver by trade, in Newport. Ky. With him
were associated Ralph Wishorn. who supplied
| tho capital, and William Brown, wood en-
graver. Hera made plates for IS and $40 sill
yer certificates. Brown cutting the SEAL Secret
service detectives found them busy at it, They
captured twenty glass negatives and zinc etch-
lngs, together with other materials and proofs
printed from the plates. Not dollar of the
false money has been issued, the scheme being
nipped in the bud. Brown escaped punish
ment by turning states evidence, the other
two went to prison.
These were but clumsy fellows at the busi-
ness. Their notes would not have been &C.
nnrfn r<,f ,A1.Is-
man. Yet of such small caliber are the modern
successors OF the experts in this unlawful pro-
fession who kept the government in terror for
years by their attacks on the national currency
There were giants who made their mark in the
criminal annals of those DAYS. What has be-
come of them2 Some Of them are dead and
others are in prison, while those who remain at
liberty are kept continually under surveillance
While 1t ia true that nearly all counterfeiters
have spent most of their time in Jail. the
greatest OF them all has never known q days
confinement in a reformatory institution
That man is the famous Charles Smith, who
employed his leisure for twenty years in the
preparation of an unparalleled series Of imita-
tive crimes. Himself Of unassaied reputation
and the husband Of n bankers daughter,
nobody Tor moment suspected him to be the
author Of the wonderful couuterfeits which
from 1862 to 1888 kept the United States
authorities in continual state of ALARM
When discovery came he turned states evil
dsnce. and. to secure their freedom, he and the
notorious Brockway. who did the printing, sur
rendered an enormous quantity OF plates and
dies. Smith 10 now employed by one Of the
bank note companies in New York. Brockway
resides in the same city a man of leisure.
having accumulated a handsome competence
by bis efforts in the profession OF which he
proved such an ornament. Pete Mccartney,
who invented the plan of washing the ink from
real 81 biiis In order to get fber paper to print
$500 bills upon. ia dead.
THE FAMOUS TOM BALLARD
Dead likewise ia One-eyed Thompson, who IL
credited with having been the first person to
send an explosive box for the purpose of blow
ing up an enemy. One OF his fads was the al
tering OF 81 notes to $50 each. The famous
Tom Ballard emerged from prison not long
ago, after serving sentence Of nearly thirty
years. 1t wus his gang who ran an opposition
to the treasury during the war. turning out
notes Of all denominations to the extent OF
many millions Of dollars. When the fiber paper
was adopted he initiated that by means of
plates engraved with irregular curliuueues.
rubbed over with blue ink and printed from.
Too close watch cannot be kept upon an ex-
counterfelter, because experience has shown
that this form OF crime has an almost irresisti-
BILE attraction for those who have once been en-
gagged in it. There have been very few in
stances where successful forgers have been
content to retire on their gains after securing
fortune.
couNrERFEITs on THE BANK OF ENGLAND,
During the last 1876 years counterteits have
been offered at the counters of the Bank of
England averaging from els, 600 to $40 900 an
nually. In August 1886, several notes on the
institution for ESQ each were taken in Boston,
They we're OF extraordinary excellence and de.
celved many experts. About the same time
notes of the same denomination were offered in
Chicago to broker on Washing Ton street. who
subjected them to critical examination While
ne was ga zlng at the water marks by holding
the bills between his eye and the light the per-
son who offered them said that he would leave
them for closer inspection and skipped out
Similar ESQ notes have recently been found
circulating in Antwerp and many Of them have
fallen into the hands OF emigrants on their way
to America. large number Of notes on the
same concern for fl0O and $500 dated August
16. 1888. have been offered from time to time
and declared bogus.
In the Office of the treasurer of the United
States at Washington two Bank of England
notes are exhibited, framed on the wall, along
side OF some artistic specimens OF Uncle Sans
currency. The contrast is very striking.
whereas the bureau OF engraving and print
ing here depends for protection against coun-
terfeiting upon the elaborateness of its designs.
the paper money which is good as gold in
England is SO simple to apparently invite
limitation by the forger. There is a small
amount OF lettering and nothing else. How
ever, the great financial establishment which
sustains the credit of Great Britain depends
mainly upon the water marks in the paper it
uses, to reproduce which would REQUIRE a
factory and the highest degree of mechanical
skill. Furthermore the imitation of its securi-
ties is so relentlessly punished as to seriously
discourage the crime
Nevertheless counterfeits on the Bank Of
England have been cashed more than once at
the very counters Of that concern. Such
thing happened not very long ago during a
hurry of business, 1t being day for the paw
ment of dividends on the national debt. Ad-
vantage was taken of these circumstances to
present twelve forgeries for ESQ each. which
were cashed without suspicion. Many limitations
OF the provincial notes of Ireland have been
circulated. Likewise numerous counterfeits of
notes on the Bank of France have appeared
from time TO time. Only few months ago q
great quantity Of 50-franc and l00-franc bills
were thrown broadcast ON the market.
Looking at counterfeiting we'll nigh o lost
art in this country, it is interesting to consider
how it originally came into being and grew to
such proportions as to seriously imperil the
finances Of the nation. Before the rebellion
and almost up to the close OF the war all Of the
paper currency was supplied by state banks,
each Of which owned AZ its private property
q full set Of plates for the various denominA-
tons. Under the then existing laws wildcat
financial institutions sprang up in every direc-
ton, issuing notes which were worth no more
than the paper they were printed OH. Many of
these concerns had NO place of abode save per-
haps dingy Office for the shaving Of notes-at-
hand. After getting many thousands Of dollars
NJ THAR aIleOod he kat vwould