Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1897-03-04
WOMEN coUNTERFEITERs.
Every Gang Ever Arrested Had at Least
One Female Member.

Every Gang Ever Arrested Had at Least
One Female Member.
Women have q weakness for coun-
terfeiting. The first person ever exc
cuted for that crime was n woman.
She was an Englishwoman named Bar
bara Spencer, and was put to death in
1921 for making false shillings. She
was strangled and burned at the stake.
Curiously enough, her accomplices were
acquitted.
Nancy Kidd was one of the most re-
markable female counterfeiters ever
known in this country. She belonged
to a family of noted forgers. She car
ried on her nefarious trade for more
Shan 30 years in Chicago and was ar
rested there many times. On one OF
these occasions lot of fiber paper was
discovered on her person. The gov
ernment officials were completely at a
loss to know how she had obtained
this. Finally she confessed that a
chemical solution had been used to
wash the faces of the notes and make
them perfectly clean. Thus, she was
in the habit of taking one-dollar bills
and changing them into larger denomi-
nations. The government authorities
released her in return for this valuable
information and for telling them what
the solution was. However, they had
her shadowed by detectives and finally
caught her with 900 worth of coun-
terfeit money in box. She was found
guilty upon seven different indictments
for counterfeiting and was sentenced
to eight years in the state prison, where
she finally died.
One of the cleverest tricks ever
played on Uncle Sam was invented by
n woman who lived in Philadelphia.
Her plan was to take $40 and $50 gold
pieces and with n small drill worked
by steam power to bore out the insides
and then refill them with some base met
al, being very careful that they should
weigh exactly the right amount when
she had finished. This she accomplished
by drilling through the miIled edge
of the coin, and then, after filing the
hole, covered it with a little of the ex-
tracted gold. In this way she made
$3.50 on every eagle and about SIG on
every double eagle. The officials of the
secret service say that this is the safest
device ever invented for cheating the
treasury.
Counterfeiting is very apt to run In
families. This, of course, Is natural,
as father brings up his son or daugh-
ter to follow his profession. Women
who would otherwise be good are often
led into this sort of crime by men who
rnv ~ hnc Prrfc
times it works the other way. Women
teach their husbands how to make false
money. This is what happened when
Ben Boyd married Mary Ackerman, of
Indiana. Her father was one of the
most successful counterfeiters of his
day, and his daughter had thorough
acquaintance with the art. Mrs. Boyd
carefully taught her husband all the
secrets of the trade, and he became one
of the most famous forgers of the age.
They carried on the business with such
a high degree of skill that they were
not captured for years, and when at
last the secret service Hawkshaws did
run them down not single counter
felt plate, note or coin was found in
their possession. When their house
was searched $4,000 in good money was
found. This small amount was all
the money they had accumulated dur
ing all their years of crime. OF course,
the officers could not touch 1t. After
wards sufficient evidence was secured
pfisons t dtY th potR aRd cfa1ed hS e Be- coh
verted while in state prison, and after
their release settled in Chicago, where
they apparently lived an honest life.
A case that annoyed the secret serv-
ice very much was that of a woman who
employed clever dodge. She went to,
u large shop and selected a valuable
shawl. To pay for this she handed
the clerk United States treasury note,
for 81 900. He took the money and dis
appeared, not returning for several min
utes. When he came back she asked
him why he had kept her waiting, and
he confessed that he had taken the bill
to n bank near by to be sure that 1T
was good. She pretended to be very
angry and said that she would not buy
the shawl ON any account, and walked
out of the shop. A little later in the
day she returned and said that as she
cOulQ nOU ma any OlntT SI1tWl lnA1
suited her as well in the other shops
she had decided to take 1t in spite of
the insult offered her. She gave him the
$1,000 bill, and, getting the shawl and
the change, left the shop. The owner
of the shop afterward discovered that
the note he finally accepted was a.
counterfeit. The first bill had been
good, but on her return she gave him
the false one, which was wonderfully
clever imitation. The secret service was;
much agitated about this and several
others of the $1,000 bills which turned
up, but they have since captured the
plates.
Practically every gang of counterfeit,
ers ever arrested has had women assor
ciates. In the office of the secret serv-
ice in Washington there is large frame
four feet square filed with the photo
graphs of women who have either made
or passed false money. Men almost al7
ways employ their wives or daughters
for the purpose of Showing" their
ounterfeits.-Washing Post