The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1895-03-30
COUNTERFEIT COIN.
Uncle Sans Secret Service and What II
Has to Guard Against.

Has to Guard Against.
The Secretary Of the Treasury has
completed his report, which is ready
for the public and deals ably|wlth
financial questions. Uncle Sam, like
other men, needs filthy lucre, and the
all.important question OF the day
now seems to be how to raise the
needfuI, says the Philadelphia Times.
While there is scarcity OF the
genuine article, your uncle keeps his
eyes open for those who counterfeit
the coin of the realm, and there IS al
ways force Of detectives at WORK 10
that branch.
The Secret Service" is a bureau in
the Treasury Department., whose head
is an expert detective, and whose
subordinates are unknown to the out
side world. But the ramifcations OF
this service reach out to the different
cities of the Union and explore the
secluded haunts in quiet country
owns
Up in one Of the numerous rooms
of the Treasury Department we find
small chamber which is museum,
in which are collected the tools, pic
lures, and work Of the counterfeit
ers On one side IS a case OF ugly
pistols; on the other a frame full OF
photos of famous 'shoVers OF the
queer" while behind glass are num-
berless speciments Of counterfeit o.
''bad" money in bills and coins.
To those whose curiosity is excited
by tie queer exhibit the polite Chief
Clerk is always ready to give informa'
tion.
The annual report Of the Secre-
5ary is just completed" he exclaimed,
"but there are many little things of
interest in the service outside Of dry
statistics. For instance, it is not
generally known that it Is against
the law to print, photograph, engraVe,
Or paint facsimile Of a United
States note or coin, but such is the
case. We have there" be continued,
pointing to a large placard bearing an
engraving representing So bill, "a
picture which was placed in win
dow to advertise some So shoes This
drawing was seized by the officers. A
photographer had as an ADVERTISE
ment a representation OF q So note
and this also was confscated.
''This photograph Of man seated
in chair and held by two others Is
the picture OF famous counterfeiter.
He was determined we should not
catch his face, so, you see, he has
wrinkled it up so as to be almost un'
recognizable. >
l. "One of the easiest ways Of coun-
terfeiting is to change a bill from
one denomination to another-say a
$40 bill to a 500 note, or 500 to
5000. BIT, as rule, large bills are
not those most often counterfeited,
for the reason that it is much easier
to pass 81 note undetected than it
is one for 800. A small note passes
unnoticed where larger one could be
challenged.
"Of course, the counterfeiters are
fine engravers, and their work is sim.
ply wonderful; still, they meyer get
off as good a specimen as that put
out by the Government The lines
in the portraits are not near so fine.
wien a fellow has made false
money his first object is to give it an
old look, so it can more easily escape
detection. Some do this by rubbing
q new note in the sweat from an
over-heated horse, as this gives a
soiled, oily look, and others use coffee
, or tea, to effect stain.
1--WE have in the Department here
a lady who is remarkably gifted with
such a delicate sense Of touch that 1t
is simply impossible to pass coun.
terfeit on her. One bad note, which
had passed the sub-treasury In New
York, was detected and thrown out
while passing through her hands
"Mutilating coin is foolish habit
| with some people, and they do not
seem to realize that they are prac-
tically withdrawing it from circula.
tion. For instance, the 10 cent
| pieces used by ladies for bangles, OF
| on which initials are cut, can only
! be redeemed as bullion-they arc
money no longer, as they no longer
represent the coin Of the realm"