The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1896-04-11
BURNING BOGUS MONEY.
Tons of Counterfeiters' Production
Going Into a Furnaces.

Tons of Counterfeiters' Productions
Going Into Furnace.
Five tons of counterfeit money. machines
and other of the paraphernalia necessary
to the manufacture of the queer" will be
destroyed in Washington within a few
days.
So grea: quantity of material of this
sort has been collected during the last year
in the secret service division of the treasury
that its destruction has become necessary.
Just now it is carefully put away in boxes
and packages. each labeled with a record
Of its contents.
AS much care is taken of bad money as
of good money. because it would never do
to have the counterfeits get into circula-
ton again through neglect. Every penny
in bogus coin or paper must be strictly
accounted for, and deficit would be con-
sidered as serious matter as theft from
the cashroom.
the Treasury will select three of his most
trusted men and will appoint them COM
mittee to superintend the destruction of
the products of criminal ingenuity at pres
ent on hand. Every package will be
opened in their presence, and they will
watch the counting of the contents, which
must correspond to the memorandum in
the record book.
Finally, all Of the coin, as well as metal
tools and other apparatus, will be carried
downstairs and put aboard one of the big
lronclad wagons which are used by the de-
partment for carrying money. The wagon.
guarded by armed men and followed by
the committee in a carriage, will proceed
to the Washington Maynard.
BY special arrangement with the Sec
rotary of the Navy. one of the great blast
furnaces in the gunshop Will be placed at
the disposed of the committee. The
weighty packages will then be taken from
the wagon and stacked up in front of the
furnace, which is like unto that one which
was seven times heated.
Into it the stuff will be uncere moniously
shoveled-the coin first and then the coun-
terfeiters' machines, engraved steel plates
for false notes, implements of various
kinds, etc. Such things as jimmies and
brass knuckles go with the rest. In the
lot will be great quantity of metal
tokens. representing money, such as are
used by manufacturing aud mining COM
panies, particularly in the South, for paw
ing their employees. Many of these tokens.
the use of which is forbidden by law, bear
rough resemblance to United States
coins.
Together with the lot go in not few
things of odd sorts. Among them are adj
vertising tags of tin, made in rude imita-
tion of silver quarters. These are not in
tended to serve criminal purpose, but the
Secret Service gobbles them up lust the
same.
The law says that nothing in the like.
ness of any security of the United States
shall be permitted. In the collection now
on hand are number of so-called coin
clusters intended for paper Fights. They
represent clusters OF gold and silver pieces.
OF course nobody could pass them as
money, but they come under the statute,
and, besides, there is special objection to
them.
Coin counterfeiters are apt to have few
of them on hand, SO that if caught they
may pretend that they were merely en-
gagged in the manufacture OF paper-weights
The great majority of false coins are
made with plaster molds. Such molds are
carried to the navy-yard with the rest of
the material, but are not put into the fur
mace. They are merely knocked to pieces
with hammers, which is an equally effec-
tive method of destroying them. What is
cast into the furnace, including the ma
chinery and tools, is melted and reduced
to unacceptable shape.
1t is sold eventually by the Navy De-
partm ent as 80 much old metal. There is
small amount of silver in it, inasmuch
as bogus silver pieces are always plated
with silver nowadays by the up-to-date
counterfeiter.
Thus far nothing has been said of the
way in which the paper counterfeits are
DESTROYED. They are put into big tank
with hot water and acids. and are cooked
and stirred about for many hours, until at
length they are reduced to the condition
of pulp.
The pulp is dried, pressed into thick
sheets and sold for paper stock. The
process is the same as that which is APP
piled to the damaged paper money re-
deemed by the treasury. Into the great
vat few days hence will go great quanti-
ties of flash money" which term is used
to describe the printed advertisements in
imitation of the National currency, with
which the country is at all times flooded,
notwithstanding the utmost efforts of the
Government to suppress them. They are