The Bryan daily eagle. (Bryan, Tex.) 1895-1898, 1896-02-11
MONTELBANO'S MINT
A MYsTEk SUs WORKSHOP IN
THE NOUN AIMS.
The Pacific Coast Furnishes More Coun-
terfeiter. Than Az. ,sther seeiian Of
the Country Under The sod lie Made
spurious Coins.

The Pacific coast a. the home Of coun-
terfeiters In the past ten years more
cunning bands 81 manufacturers 20
spurious coin have been arrested here
than In all other parts of the union com
bined These manufacturers ~ the
queer" hide Ia rugged mountains. do
their work In lonely forests or secret
caves IN regions seldom visited By hu-
man beings
The most mysterious hlding-place 81
counterfelters ever discovered By the
government officers was unearthcd by
Assistant Secret Service Agent Harris.
who explored Il and found many colnf
and the ingenious Instruments used In
their production.
II was the workshop OF Giavanno
Monielbano. He has made aud circulat'
ca more dangerous cOunterfelts 81 silver
dollars. dimes. and quarters Ia the past
hve years than any other ten operators
combined. His output was very large.
and the coins were so well made and
polished as 20 require the most careful
examination % detect their character.
fhe'r ring was almost perfect. and even
banks have been known % take them.
Monteibano's mint was In a cave foui
miles from Fairfield. IN salona county.
a lonely spot IN the rugged foothills.
the entrance % which was 90 cunnlngly
closed By the sod that there was no
external evidences Of H. existence.
within that odd subterranean cham
Der Il was his haiti 20 work In
dusiriously at night. the cavern walls
being thickly studded with tallow
candles, by the fiickering rays 81 which
he made the false coins. The only cars
save his own which ever heard the
strange sounds be made in their manu-.
facture were those Of the coyote and
other wild animals which infcst these
lonely regions.
Removing his shoes before entering
% leaving bis strange workshop. the
ihrifty manufacturer never LETT any
tell-tale footprints For practical pur'
poses he was a. Isolated as was Robin.
son Crusoe on his island Tho ashes
from his furnace were always carried
miles away. and secretly buried. II was
a mere accident by which his hiding
place and workshop were discovered,
even after his arrest az Vallejo for pass
ing the bad coin
A hunter once fred a shot Ia the
vicinity Of Montelbano's mountain hid.
ing-place. aud Il 80 startled the coun.
terfeiier that be suddenly came forth
as II from the bowels of the earth.
The hunter took light and ran away
with the utmost speed. thinking that
the Strengthening being thus Sudden.
~ emerging from the earth was a
maniac or a Wild man.
The hunter told % t.iis incident after
Montolhano's arrest. whercupon Officer
Harris. using the points obtained from
the hunter. explored the rugged region
until he came upon the mysterious re-
treat His account u the strange place
and % the way Montelhano was able
10 bafile the authorities for years. Is
az follows.
This cave Is the oldest thing ever
unearthed by the agents Of the govern
mcnt II q situated about three and
and half miles from Fairfield. Ia a
side hill. and q 30 located that one
might pass by u and never suspect It's
existence. learned that hunters re-.
Gently set their traps Tor wild animals
within a few feet % the entrance %
this strange working place. never
dreaming hat u was even the tempo.
rary abiding place og a human being.
| In order o. enter a. had 90 MT up some
sod. after which I stepped down about
I four fect beinE invisible except above
I the waist l then crawied Ia about
Z ten feet and came down 90 n second
bench. which was the entrance 70 the
90. ID a.
I bend over 90 get into The second bench
and crawl some distance after which
/ was la this Internal chamber 30 mar.
row ana crampcd that man 81 or
/ binary height could not stand erect
I therein. 10 was filled With candles and
plaster 90 paris Tho candies were skin.
fully arranged Ia the wall. and when
they were lli the s,alatitel around
them glist,ued and tie appearance
I everywhere was wild ana uncanny The
tallow had run down la streams IN
7 various parts Of the cave. showing that
i hundreds 90 candles had been used dur.
b lng the process % his work
] His furnace was made out o. an
empty powder can. one part OF which
had been cut away. and his chimney
OF hue was long piece % well tubing
which. after running Co tho top OF m,
hin through the earth. terminated som,
distance away la heap OF brush. ID
Tar distant from the opening that NJ
passer-by could have seen the smoke
There was a bench. and around II
many ladies, crucihlcs. pinccrs. and
rceding machines were TO he seen. Their
wcrr also broken molds and seveia
sacks filled with unfinished dimes. quar-
tiers. and dollars There were also q
splendid emory wheel and complet,
polishing outfit Here aud there wcr,
strcwn large supplies OF anthony
block tin. hismuth. and lsinglass. Ha
money was made Of the, metals-th,
lsingiass bel SD Tor purpose o
giving the G, "a The pro- ring. Aflel
carefully moldins his money. he pollshe,
the dollars with emory powder an,
washed them In silver bath.
1t was MOutclhano's habit 10 worl
IN the cave during the night time an,
90 sheep Ia hts house. a rude hut ucarll
two miles away. Not Tar from his housi
was very common shed or barn q
which / discovered several sacks %
plaster OF paris sccrctcd beneath th
hay.
II found about 20 silver dollars Ii
the cave. A large part of the coin hal
not been fully worked IN many OF th
uuartcr-dollir pieces being polished %
hut one side There were uumorou
bags 90 completed countcrfcits scoretc,
about the cave and some were foun,
ln tho barn aH well as In the house"
This HIKE Made tiimsetf Vsefnl