Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1895-09-12
The Arrest Of ceuntsrfs;ters.

There is probably no branch O
the public service which is NOR
useful anu cffcient than the secre
service division e.. the Treasur'
Department. This service has t,
do with depredations upon the treas
ury in the form Of counterfeitin,
and frauds upon the internal reve
nue.. especially in connection will
the liquor and tobacco industries
1t is composed Of experienced ant
expert detectives, several of whom
have been identified with it for ovei
q quarter of century, ala has.
made study Of criminals and
criminal practices, particularly
those of counterfeiting. Most Of
the counterfeiters of the country
are brainy, crafty, courageous men,
always alert and watchful, and their
detection is only possible when men
of equal sagacity and feariessness
of character and purpose are set to
do the work Of running them to
cover.
The recent arrest in this city of
the Brockway gang of counterfeit
ers illustrates the efficiency and
methods Of the secret-service force.
These officers had been engaged for
over two years in pursuing these
offenders. Often bsffied, they nev.
er for moment abandoned their
vigilance. The leader of the gang
Lad been carefully shadowed, and
others had been located, long be-
fore the blow was struck. When
discovered and arrested they had
in their possession fraudulent five
hundred-dollar gold certificates,
counterfeit Canadian money, coun.
terfeit bills and coin of different
denominations, and complete
plant for carrying on their opera
tions, including plates and fibre pa,
per. No plant Of equal magnitude
and so complete in every detail has
been captured for several years.
The paper used in printing notes
is said to been even superior in
quality to that used by the govern
ment.
The head of the gang, William
Z. Brockway, has long been known
as the cleverest and most skillful
counterfeiter Of the time. His ca
reer is perhaps the most extraordi-
nary in the literature of criminal
practice. Starting IN life as print
er, he subsequently learned engrav-
ing, and then, becoming an expert,
took a special course of electro
chemistry in Yale. The technical
knowledge thus acquired be applied
to the production Of electrotypes.
From the very first his counterfeits
were of the highest order. In one
case ninety thousand dollars of gov
ernment bonds of a certain issue
got into the government vaults be-
fore any suspicion was aroused as
to their character. In another case
he counterfeited a considerable
quantity of six per cent. United
States coupon bonds. Arrested
and convicted, he was sentenced to
prison for thirty years but managed
to arrange a compromise with the
government. Being caught again,
he pleaded guilty, and was sentenc-
ed to Sing Sing for FIVE years. He
was discharged in 1887, and, so far
as now appears, has never repented
himself of his evil courses. not
withstaading the repeated promises
Of amendment made by him to the
authorities.
1t is little surprising that while
this man has been for forty years
the most dangerous sort of crimi-
nal, and an almost constant source
Of fear and anxiety to the officials
charged with protecting the cur
rency from fraud, he has somehow
managed to escape the punishment
he deserved. Even when in. prison
the government detectives have
been unable to relax their vigilance
as he managed by some means TO
direct the operations of outside
counterfeiters and forgers.
Next to Brockway, the most i'm
portant member Of the group re-
Gently arrested was DIR. o. Z. Brad
ford, who had managed to escape
suspicion, being nominally engaged
in dentistry. Subsequently to his
arrest. he unfortunately managed
to elude his captors, and at this
writing 10 still at large. Other