The Princeton union., 1895-04-04
MONTEIIBANO'S MINT.
A MYSTERIOUS WORKSHOP IN
THE MOUNTAINS,
The Pacific Coast Furnishes Moro Coun-
terfeiters Than Any Other Section of
the Country-Under the Sod He Made
Spurious Coins.

Spurious Coins.
The Pacific coast is the home of coun
terfeiters. In the past ten years more
cunning bands of manufacturers Of
spurious coin have been arrested here
than In all other parts Of the union COM
olned. These manufacturers of the
queer hide in rugged mountains. do
their work in lonely forests or secret
caves in regions seldom visited by hui
man beings
Inc most mysterious hiding place OF
counterfeiters ever discovered by the
government officers was unearthed by
Assistant Secret Service Agent Harris.
VINO explored it and found many coins
their production.
1t was the workshop of Giavanno
Montelbano. He has made and circulat-
eo more dangerous counterfeits of silver
dollars dimes, and quarters in the past
nVe years than any other ten operators
combined. His output was very large,
ana the coins were so well made and
polshed as to require the most careful
examination to detect their character.
1helr ring was almost perfect and even
Montelbano's mint was in cave four
miles from Fairfield, in Salona county,
lonely spot in the rugged foothills,
the entrance to which was so cunningly
closed by the sod that there was no
external evidences Of it's existence.
Within that odd subterranean cham
ber it was his habit to work in
dustriously at night the cavern walls
being thickly studded with tallow
candles, by the Pickering rays Of which
ne made the false coins. The only ears
save his own which ever heard the
strange sounds he made in their manu-
1acture were those Of the coyote and
other wild animals which infest these
lonely regions.
removing his shoes before entering
or leaving his strange workshop, the
thl11ty manufacturer never left any
tell-tale footprints. For practical pur-
poses he was as isolated as was Robin
son Crusoe on his island. The ashes
from his furnace were always carried
miles away, and secretly buried. 1t was
a mere accident by which his hiding
place and workshop were discovered,
even after his arrest at Vallejo for pass
ing the bad coin.
A hunter once fired a shot in the
vicinity of Montelbano's mountain hid
lng-place, and it SO startled the coun-
terfelter that he suddenly came forth
as If from the bowels of the earth.
The hunter took flight and ran away
with the utmost speed, thinking that
the Strengthening being thus sudden
ly emerging from the earth was
maniac or a wild man.
The hunter told of this incident after
MontelbanO's arrest, whereupon Officer
Harris, using the points obtained from
the hunter, explored the rugged region
until he came upon the mysterious re-
treat. His account of the strange place
and of the way Montelbano was able
to battle the authorities for years, is
as follows:
This cave is the oldest thing ever
unearthed by the agents of the govern
ment. 1t is situated about three and
and a half miles from Fairfield, in
side hill, and is SO located that one
might pass by it and never suspect it's
existence. I learned. that hunters re-
Gently set their traps for wild animals
within a few feet of the entrance to
this strange working place, never
dreaming that it was even the tempo
rary abiding place Of human being.
l.
sod, after which I stepped down about
four feet, being invisible except above
the waist. I then crawled in about
ten feet, and came down to second
bench, which was the entrance to the
manufacturers den proper. I had to
bend over to get into the Second bench
and crawl some distance, after which
I was in this Internal chamber so mar
row and cramped that a man of or
dinary height could not stand erect
therein. It was filled with candles and
plaster of paris. The candles were skill
fully arranged in the wall, and when
they were lit the stalatites around
them glistened. and the appearance
everywhere was wild and uncanny The
talloW had run down in streams in
various parts of the cave. showing that
hundreds of candles had been used dur
ing the process Of his work.
His furnace was made out OF an
empty powder can, one part of which
had been cut away, and his chimney
or f1ue was a long piece Of we'll tubing,
which, after running to the top of the
hill through the earth, terminated some
distance away in heap Of brush, SO
far distant from the opening that no
passer-by could have seen the smoke
There was a bench. and around it
many ladies', crucibles, pincers, and
reeding machines were to be seen There
We're also broken molds and several
sacks filled with unfinished dimes, quar-
ters, and dollars. There were also q
splendid emory wheel and a complete
polishing outfit. Here and there were
strewn large supplies of antimony,
block tin, bismuth, and isinglass His
money was made of these metals-the
isinglass being used for the purpose Of
giving the coin the proper ring. After
carefully molding his money, he polished
the dollars with emory powder and
washed them in a silver bath.
1T was Montelbano's habit to work
in the cave during the night time and
to sleep in his house, rude hut nearly
two miles away. Not far from his house
was a very common shed or barn in
which I discovered several sacks Of
plaster of paris secreted beneath the
hay.
Il found about 70 silver dollars in
the cave. A large part of the coin had
not been fully worked up, many O. the
quarter-dollar pieces be- lg polished on
but one side. There We're numerous