Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1895-03-22

stop for a moment and Jhihk.
II Will tell you about the counter
feiting scheme, which gave me a repu-
tation among CROOKS and honest men Is
we'll Of being star performer in my
lire. IL all sreW out OF hJle ulp
which 7 made To- Washington ANA
which Melted me about $4,000.
Then the c0uut-riei-ins sch me was
nut in motion. Freucny Kline and
Billy Wallace were the experts, and
Billy had expected 10 have q die ior
either q SO OF $40 soi- piece oe.l'-
cred TO him i'm Washington. t&lI--5
10 GET this. he decided 90 make tle SID
and $50 dies himself. ana 4 Irt up Jne
coin for the tools and 10 take care o.
the gang.
Making q Gle is very slow process,
and we had o dandy time selling and
fishing while Bal- "1s Lo--S l12 "Jt-,.
he was the most po.nstaens W2t-i--.-
I ever knew, bul as hc baa WORKED I'D
tts treasury department he Eue" me
KIND OF game he wos up against, ana
did not want lo make ans I-H-a4-~7.
He made two dies and threw them
away because they ala NOT suit MIN.
THE money that WAS made from
these rejected dies would have passed
anywhere except among experts, but
Billy was in tle game 10 beat experts.
In NV OpiniOn De had not his cquat IN
the world as an engrayer and tool
maker, but he was one Oh those modest
fellows who do not have confidence Id
themselves.
"Frenchy Kline was on expert chem
fist. and could have made @ fortune IN
the business by going on The level, bud
he preferred to De q crook. There were
two things ne coul. do better than any
man in tAe would re could make gen
uine paper, for use as money. and
composition OF metals which resemoled
silver and sold so closely that it would
require an analysis in the assay Office
TO prove they were spurious. While
Billy was making dies. Kline was mix
ing up pots Of metals and turning ont
bars of yellow gold.
Billy finally finished his dies, and
thcn had the parts Of o. stamping ma
chine built in different foUudries and
machine shops. We brought the sec
lions TO RaveuswC0d on our own truck,
and they were put together i'm @ barn
on the place We GOT an engine and
boiler to run the stamping machine.
and were ready for business. But very
few people ever passed the old house,
and we were just as safe in our work
as IL We were in q wilderness.
1T requires a heavy pressure to
stamp a coin. and our machinery was
not quite as weighty rs the machine at
the mint but our $40 and so coins
were just as good rs any that ever left
the mint, with the exception that the
impression made on the front and back
of the coins was not quite as heavy
as the genuine After the stamping
the money was put into a milling ma
chine 10 cOrrugate the edges, and an
oiled roller, to give the cOin the appear
ance of age.
The coin, as fast as it was made,
was put into kegs, and when we got
enough the kegs were shipped to Eng
land, and after satisfactory arrange
ments had been made upon the other
side, were reshipped to this country
through a regular broker. Gold was
at that time selling at a premium of
from $50 to 240, and the kegs of gold
were consigned 20 Wells x Co., re-
putable brokers, in this city, to the
credit of Nathaniel Storms, the repre-
sentative Of foreign syndicate.
There were any number Of bidders
for the gold when it was offered for
sale, and we got rid of the whole lot
for about $4,000. 1t was one of the
prettieSt deals ever run OF in this
country"
There never was any job" said De
teCtiye Adams, worked in this cOun-
try, which could match the great gold
coin swindle so successfully carried out
upon the expert dealers in money in
Wall street. There is not 4 class Of
people easier TO beat than Wall street
men. provided they are met upon their
own stamping ground by fearless men
who deal with them upon an apparent
" solid platform.
"As l recall it, the bogus coin dis
posed of was worth. face value. about
100000. and the thieves We're kind
enough to go in and get the premium
upon this sum. The firm which han
died the gold in this city was Wells &
Co., and they We're above SUSPICION.
The coin was sent to them from Frink
< Beaman, an honorable London firm
OF bankers. and every connection from
start to finish had all the marks Of a
genuine transaction.
There was nothing TO arouse suspi-
ciOn except the gold itself. and that was
not critically examined at the time. be-
cause it had been shipped in q perfectly
room turrrrtar- d
ably not have been made into the
transaction for long time if it had not
been for the disappearance of Nathan
iel Storms, who had completed the
transaction with Wells q Co. and coll
lected the money for the gold.
storms came TO this country with
the gold and had letters Of introduction
equal to the best certificates Of charaC-
ter. He represented that he was the
agent of a syndicate OF foreign capital
lists who had been quietly gathering
ND all the sold they could set hold Of
i'll Europe at their own figures. and he'd
got tCgerher several millions of dollars.
which they intended 60 put upon the
American market 20 set The benefit o.
the large premium.
"Wheu Storms collected tho money
for Che sold he made an appointment
10 meet Wells q Co. the next day upon
g meter Of Importance. and he did not
show up. lie was stopping at tle AS
tor House. and letter was sent there
10y q messenger. who brought back q
reply that storms hsd given up his
room there i'm the morning. before he
went To- Wells d Co.'S office Ills bag
gage consisted only OF handbag, mad
,--, learned tr.f --,l.-,,- r,4 ,,,t