The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-05-23

current at any bank or at the treasury it
self, that are, nevertheless, counterfeit.
The margin of profit on this coin Is, of
course, very small, but detection is i'm
possible unless the outfit is accidentally
discovered. The maker of coin is a very
different individual from the engraver os
bllls-in fact, they are recognized as dis
tinct professions In the matter of coin,
there are certain distinguishing features
by which we know in a general way the
locality from which it came.
There was a gang in Southern Illinois
started silver dollar nearly twenty years
ago. These molds did service, after the
breaking up, as it was supposed, of the
| Illinois gang, in Indiana, and it was sup
posed that gang was making dollars in
Brown county The arrest of the Clippin-
gers and Dwight Wheaton was thought
to have broken this up, but the same dol
lar made it's appearance in the south, and
| Nashville and Cincinnati became distrib
uting points for it, A man named Rogers,
a respectable mechanic, had a brother
who was very wild This brother was re-
| quested to join the gang, and had prom
Used to do so while drunk. He relented
and told the officers, asking them to pro-
| tect him. 1 was one of the party who
went to the place where Rogers had APP
| pointed to meet the gang 1t was lonely
| spot in the mountains on the Upper Cum
berland river, almost inaccessible except
I IOf SklILS along lHG SuedUls II WdS d
dangerous proceeding to go there even
with a posse, but wlsle we could find
traces of their having been there, none
of them appeared, and we had to aban-
don the search.
A few months later Rogers, who had
| fully reformed, disappeared, and it is sup
| posed that he was made away with.
Enough is known of the methods to give a
/ brief account of them. A counterfeiting
| gang is bound together with the most
| rigid oaths, and they have but little to fear
from any of their members. They seek
| secluded place, and under no circum-
stances allow any of their product to be
sold anywhere in the vicinity of the place
where it is made. Nor will they allow 1t
! to appear at any one place alone. 1t is
usually introduced in widely-separated
] communities, and those are selected where
| it will attract attention to other localities
| than that in which it is made. The man
ufacturer never passes a dollar of it, and
| never allows a purchaser to know where
| it is made. 1t Is shipped by freight, usu-
| ally as though of little value, and may
| appear as household goods, tools or any
thing that will detract attention from Its
| real nature. Circulars are sent out from
a city at a considerable distance from the
place of manufacture and any victims
who respond must meet the agent at some
| other point. Great care is taken In max
| ing sales, and no detective has ever sue
! ceeded in buying any of II, although
! great many have tried 1t. The agent who
/ meets the man has none of it. 1t must
| be paid for, and then shipped to the man
| who buys it. If he does not want 1t that
way he can do without 1t. 1t Is then
shipped from a place other than those
/ where it is either made or sold. If an
| arrest is attempted before the coin Is re-
ceived, no proof of guilt can be secured.
If the source of the supply is traced,
there is no one there when the goods are
| received. 1t Is more nearly perfect sys-
| TEN than any ever devisd by criminals.
| The dollar is the most common counterfeit,
| although some one has made the same
| quality of lead nickels for a good many
| years without detection, and dimes quar-
| ters and half dollars are often seen, SEEM
| ing to be made, however, by amateurs or
| bunglers. When an agent or one who
| passes the money Is caught, he cannot
| squeal. He has no idea where IL is made
/ nor the location OF the man who sold 1t
| to him. A man of such a description met
| him and took his money, and that is ell
he knows. Hence, the penitentiaries are
| filed with the victims who try TO pass
few dollars, while those who make thous-
ands are not caught
''The engravers are a higher class OF
| criminals but run more risk, as they nave
not the close combination that exists
/ among the coiners, and frequently at
| tempt 10 pass their own ptouucis 1thuihO
| plates undoubtedly exist, whether they
were stolen from the treasury department,
| as is claimed, or not but II Is almost inn
| possible to duplicate the paper used by the
| government. II Is claimed that this Is
| done exactly, and every green goods CIR
| cular sent out makes the statement that
| there are thus a large number Of genuine
bills that did not come from the treasury.
| 1 doubt the truth of this, but the fact
/ that there are very close limitations Is I'M
| deniable As a rule, the bills made are
| of IS and $40 denominations, Tor the rea-
son that larger bills are apt to be very
| closely scrutinized, while those being
| common are handled carelessly and AFFORD
| better opportunity for passage. There Is
| one very noticeable exception 70 this,
which is the $1,000 bill.
A few years ago one Of these was pass
ed on a ST. Louis bank, and my recollee-
| ton Is that the sub-treasury also took II.
| There are forty or fifty OF these Ia ex-
| istenee. and they we're all made by the
| same man. He had no plates, but he did
every line OF the work with a pen. The
/ paper was 90 nearly genuine that no diff
/ ference has ever been discovered. He
| passed them IN places widely distant, sew
eral OF them being found In Europe. IL
| Is believed that he averaged one a month,
and aside from this he was never heard
OF In any crooked transactions. His make
up was remarkable He Is described by
different people as slim, as portly as old,
as young, and as middle-aged, with whis-
kers and without whiskers, black hair.
brown hair. and gray hair. lie has not
been operating for several years. but was
never caught, so FAR as IL known. There
are not so many engravers as there were
ten years ago, and at the present time
there are no very dangerous bills. OF
course. some are parsed, most OF them
being on national banks, and not treas
ury notes. and those that are being used
now are comparatively easy 70 detect"