The broad ax., 1897-04-03

the care of the Gerry Society. There
was really no hardship In this; II was
in fact, the most merciful thing tnat
could have been done with them lor
their father end mother were on the
following day arraigned on the charge
Of making counterfeit money and VIII
In all probability have TO 90 to prison
for long term Of years These TWO
children, Francis, aged 10. and Char
lotte, aged s. might also with eQuai
propriety be sent to jail, were It not
that their tender years protect them.
While the father with his moulds and
dies and chemicals converted base met
al into seemingly good fragmentary
coins, the little girls laid themselves
amenable to the law by passing the
same. Sometimes Il was the neighoor-
Ing butcher or grocer that they gave the
shining fifty and twenty-five cent
pieces, Of which papa always seemed TO
have plentiful supply, and frequently
these apparently favored children were
allowed to change the coins at the con-
fectioner's or the pie mans. There was
never any lack OF pennies in the hum
bic home Of the family OF Henry Bar
nard In the big fat house at No. $50
West Forty-fourth street. Whenever
small purchase was necessary one OF
the children, or the mother, and some
times the father, went out with bright
metal coins which came from some ap-
parently inexhaustible stock In the
back room, and returned with the arti-
cles and handfuls Of small change. But
at last 1t had to end, and the magic
wand OF the fairy which kept the house
hold supplied with cash was rudely
broken. Government secret service de-
tectives discovered and made q raid on
the counterfeiting plant, arresting q
whole family.
The story came to light when Agent
King Of the Gerry society produced the
two little girls at the Center street DO
lice court and asked Magistrate Simms
to commit them formally to the soci-
ety's care pending the examination Of
their parents in the United States court.
For some time the section Of the
West Side In which the Barnards live
had been flooded with bogus small coin,
and complaints poured into the Secret
Service bureau In the Federal building
and 20 police headquarters. Butchers,
bakers. grocerymen, saloon men, deal |
ers In dry goods street car con-
been frequently victim |
lied, the coin in most cases being Of |
fered In good faith by regular custom
eTs, who had received It in change from
various sources.
Secret Service Agents EsQuirrell, |
Flynn and Henry were assigned to in |
vestigate these complaints and trace
the bogus coin toSits original source of |
issue. The officers finally discovered |
that all the bad money passed through |
the hands of Henry Barnard, his wife,
Charlotte, or their little daughtera
There were apparently no confeder-
ates or partners charged with putting
the coin In circulation, as Is usual In |
most counterfeiting combinations. The |
bad coins were all Of small denomina-
twenty-five and fifty cent
pieces-and they were put out In a
small way, chiefly In the purchase of |
the daily supplies and the payment of |
the other household expenses Of the
Barnards.
The secret service ,men hardly az
pected to find q counterfeitiRg plant.
They were certain, though, that they
would capture q stock Of bogus money.
They had traced II back to the Bar
nards through many channels. The
home Of the family Is on the first floor,