Kansas City daily journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1892-1897, 1895-01-11
WORSE THAN THE MEN.
MANY WOMEN CoUNTERFEITERs Al
WORK.
Government Ohiciais Agreed That the Best
Makes of Bogus Money Are the Product
of Dcft Female Fingers-Nancy
Kidd's Experiences in Chicago.

OF Dcft Female Fingers-Nancy
Kidd's Experiences in Chicago.
In all ages and countries many of the
most daring and successful criminals have
been women. Especially is this true of the
making and passing of counterfeit money.
This has always seemed to have Il singular
ly powerful attraction for the weaker sex,
for there is no form of crime in which
larger number of women have been en-
gagged and none in which women have at
tanned greater distinction. Counterfeiting,
more than any other crime runs in fami
lies. 1t is no uncommon thing to lind cases
where many generations Of the same fam
lily are engaged in counterfeiting. Often
the father is an engraver, who makes the
plates, while his wife, sons and daughters
assist him in printing and circulating the
notes Near Oswego. n. y, in 1880, United
States secret service officers arrested a
whole family named Ingersoll, consisting
of father. mother and daughter.all of whom
were actively engaged in counterfeiting.
Women are often made counterfeters by
marriage with a counterfeiter. Many men
are led into counterfeitnE by marriage
with the daughter of a counterfeiter This
was the case. says the New York Press,
with Ben Boyd, who married Mary Acker-
man, of Indiana. whose father was one of
the most noted and successful counterfeit
crs of his day. Introduced into the noble art
by his wife, VINO had been thoroughly III
structed in it by her father, Boyd and his
better half long elded capture. When the
government officers succeeded in running
them down. carefully had they covered
their tracks that not a counterfeit plate,
note or coin could be found in their posses
sion While searching their house 5000 in
good money, the entire fortune they had
accumulated from their nefarious opera
tons. was found. This, of course, could
not be touched The officers found abund-
l., it, IL
his wife. While in state prison they both
claimed TO be converted and when liber-
ated they settled in Chicago, joined the
Baptist church and for several years past
have led seemingly blameless life
Since so many occupations that were 1Of-
merly closed to women have been opened
to Them many women have become en-
gravers, and there is no one who takes
more naturally to counterteitng thah one
who has the power to engraVe the plates
from which the false notes are made. This
Is at once the most difficult and the most
profitable part of the counterieltlnS pusl-
ness. The knowledge that she possesses
this power is a great temptation to Wo,
man to use it, ii the idea Is ever prese"'eu
to her.
A simple desire for novelty and excite
ment and that singular longing, more or
Iass inherent in the breast of every one of
MS TO do that which We are prohlplted
from doing, especially if the charm OF Sc
crecy and mystery clings about II, leao
many women into counterfeiting. others
20 into 1t because they believe that thefe
is n great deal of money to be made in the
business. There could be no greater or
more foolish error than this. OF course
some women counterfeiters have made mon
ey at first but it is only question oi tlme'
and always "A very short time before they
are detected. Then every cent they nave
in the world, and often every cent that
L.i and friends command, is
spent in trying to keep them from the penn
tentiary. The counsel fees that these peo-
ple pay are fabulous. In every clty ana
large town in the United States Uncle sam
has secret service agents VINO are con-
stantly watching for counterfeit money and
those who pass il. All women who dress
beyond their own or their husbands means
are objects Of suspicion to Uncle sam
agents. The money they are spending Tor
nnery may be obtained by evil deeds oil a
very different nature from the making and
passing of counterfeit money, but until he
has thoroughly satisfied himself that such
is the case Uncle Sans detective keeps his
eye constantly upon them.
The cleverest trick ever played on | lncle
Sans money mart is credited to "A woman
in Philadelphia. She had been engaged
with gang of counterfeiters, had learned
the secrets of the business. She hired a
room with steam power, and with the aid
of small drills she dug out 50 and $40 gold
pieces, leaving nothing but a very thin out
side shell This was effected by drilling
through the milled edge of the coin. She
then replaced the extracted gold with some
bascr metal, taking care to preserve the
exact legal weight of the coin, and then
covered up with a small bit of the extract
ed gold the tiny hole her drill had made.
By this ingenious device she extracted 50
worth of gold from every 81 gold piece and
$50 worth Of gold from every $40 gold
piece that she handled and yet the coin re-
mained to all appearances Just as before.
This device is pronounced by the officials
of the secret service to be the most abso-
utely safe and clever of all the dishonest
practices that have ever been resorted TO
in connection with money and 1t speaks
well for the ingenuity of the softer sex
that IL was the invention of woman. Sue
cess made her reckless and she carried on
her operations in a room separated from
the next apartment by Il board partition
which did not reach up to the ceiling. An
nquisitiye office boy next door peeped over
at her, suspected the truth and told his
employer Arrest and imprisonment soon
stopped the woman's operations
One of the most remarkable female coun-
terfeiters ever known in this country was
Nancy Kidd. She came of u family of
noted counterfeiters her father, mother and
all ner relatives being engaged In the pusi-
ness, which she followed for more than
thirty years. She was tail ana well pro-
portioned, just such a woman n theatri-
cal manager would pick out for the role OF
| AN adventures in a melodrama. She was
very intelligent and had fine manners. Dur
| ing large part of her time she carried on
operations in Chicago, where she was fire.
quently arrested on one of these occa-
| sions she was released depositing 500
| with the United States district attorney as
bail. She had scarcely left the office when
word was received from Washington not
| TO release her upon any bail whatever and
| officers were quickly sent after her She
| had gone to see her counsel no less a
person than the famous Little Giant -
stephen A. Douglas, then a celebrated
criminal lawyer. Nancy and Stephen were