St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-04-22
MADE SILVER COINS.
Counterfeiters Arrested and
Their Plant Confiscated
by Uncle Sam.
THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS
OF the Spurious Sort Manu-
featured and Successfully
Showed" Here.
THEY ADMIT THEIR CRIME.
Mystery OF Those "Queer"
State Fair Dollars Is
Cleared UP.
THEY ADMIT THEIR CRIME

the manufacture of thousands of
spurious dollars, has created SEN
sation in police and government cir
cles The arrest was made at an
early hour yesterday morning at 257
Tenth avenue south by Inspectors
Morrissey and Courtney. The
plant was confiscated by Inspect
or Walsh, of the United States Sc
cret service, and taken to the cen
will be removed to the federal build
ing, where Michael c. Crowley and
Frank Lee, the two men arrested,
will be arraigned before United
States Commissioner Bowen.
Crowley and Lee were at first dis
posed to deny the charge, but when
confronted with the evidence of
their crime at the police station yes
terday, they made a full confession.
Their story is a remarkable one,
and covers period Of active coun-
terfeiting in the heart of Mime
apolis for three years. By their
own admissions it is estimated that
they have manufactured and sue
ceSsfully showed" at least 10000
spurious dollars, 600 to 800 of which
were passed on the state fair
ground last summer.
The men admit that they have
done nothing but manufacture
queer coins of the denomination
of 81 for three years. They have
passed on an average 81 per day.
The police believe that Crowley and
Lee made all of the counterfeit dol
lars passed last usmmer by Jack
Ollinger, Rice and Ryle, who are
now serving terms in states prison
for their crime. The police were
never able to locate the plant of the
Olnnger gang, but are now certain
that the building on Tenth avenue
was the. mint where Ollinger car
ried his queer" bullion to be coined.
From letters found in the house
on Tenth avenue south the police
are led to believe that Crowley and
Lee have confederates in Chicago.
one of whom goes by the name of
Graham, and whose residence is on
Randolph street. 1t is understood
the Chicago police have been mott
hed to investigate, in the belief that
Graham has branch industry for
the manufacture of the queer To-
Gated somewhere in that city. #
outside of the counterfeit dollars
showed at the state.afair in all sorts
OF ways, Crowley and Lee operated
systematically in this city. Their ia
Vorlte method was to buy ffve-cent
packages Of smoking tobacco, drinks,
etc, receiving ninety-fve cents in
good money when their purchase was
consummated. In their room was
found at least thirty packages of
flve-cent smoking tobacco. which
Crowley admitted getting in the man
ner indicated.
The locating of the plant was ac-
complished by the clever work of
inspectors Morrisey and Courtney,
comparatively recent acquisitions to
the detective force Saturday night
Crowley and Lee drove up to the
store of Joseph Helebrant at 2629
Second street north, and Lee went
inside and purchased a package of
smoking tobacco. He got in the bug
gy; but something in the manner of
his customer excited Helebrant's sus-
picions, and he looked hard at the
dollar given to him in payment for
the tobacco. He showed it to his wife,
who pronounced it counterfeit, and
at once reported the matter to the
police, giving accurate descriptions
of the two men and their rig
After leaving police headquarters
Helebrant walked up Washington
avenue northeast, and, much to his
surprise, saw Crowley and Lee stand
ing in front of a feed store near the
corner of Twenty-first avenue north
and Washington. Their rig was also
conveniently near, and Helebrant
observed one of them going into the
feed store. He ran to the North side
police station, only two blocks away,
and hastily told his story. Officers
Rice and Lindquist returned with
him to the feed store just in time to
nab the pair of coin makers as they
were preparing to leave. The prison
ers were taken to the North side sta
ton and held until the inspectors
arrived. The counterfeiters offered
little resistance to arrest, but were
brought to their senses when two big
revolvers were thrust in their faces.
Helebrant positively identified the
two men, and the inspectors recog-
nized Lee as a man who had been
- G
passing counterfeit money a year
and a half ago.
Crowley stated that he was a
railroad man, and had been en-
ployed at various jobs. Frank Lee
stated that he was not working
now, but had been in the feed bust
ness, and resided at 2402 Tenth
avenue south with his wife. Both
men emphatically denied that they
had passed the money, or had been
in Helebrant's store, but, neverthe-
less, they were taken. to the central
police station and incarcerated on
a charge of passing counterfeit
money.
The inspectors took the rig in
which Crowley and Lee had been
riding and drove to Lees residence
at 2402 Tenth avenue south. There
they found Mrs. Lee and her three
small children, the eldest being six
years old. The inspectors remained
with Mrs. Lee for some two hours.
At first she denied that her husband
had anything to do with counter
felt money, but when closely ques-
toned burst into tears. She took
her husbands disgrace very much
to heart, and finally broke down,
revealing the location of the plant
and the doings of her husband and
Crowley for the past three years.
She stated that Michael Crowley
was her husbands cousin, and came
to this city from Chicago three