The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-04-30
MAKERS OF BAD MONEY
INTERESTING TALK WITH A SECRET
SERVICE BUREAU OFFICER.
Brocknway and His Gang, Who COun-
Bonds-COIoneI WOods's Work.
,selal 70 the Indianapolis Journal.

| Special TO the Indianapolis Journal.
WASHINGTON, April 2.-"It was in
| June 1861" said a member of the Secret
Service Bureau, speaking of the recent
| roundup of counterfeiters in Pennsylvania,
chat il was discovered that duplicate num-.
| bers appeared on many of the 80 one
| thousand-dollar United States bonds which
had been redeemed by the Treasury De-
partment To say there was CONSERVATION
| when a discovery was made does not ex-
| press it. Good money had been paid out by
| the treasury for them to various bankers
| in New York and elsewhere. A council OF
| war was held TO ascertain the cause of the
| Implications if possible. Mr.. Casalear, then
| chief of the Bureau Of Engraving and
| Printing, and Mr.. Clark superintendent of
| the printing division. were forthwith or
| dered 10 appear before the officials of the
| treasury. Mr. Clark declared that the bonds
were genuine and that they had been print
/ ed under his personal supervision. Col. W.
| z. Woods, of this city, was then chief of the
| secret service, and he said he was satisfied
| that some of the bonds fraudulent and
| that they had been printed from copper
| electroplates. He further said he was con-
WINGED that the work had been done by
| William e. Brockaway and his pals. Well.
/ some of the officials thought Colonel Woods
| had gone daft. for both Casalear and Clark
| said the bonds were genuine, and had not
been printed from copper electro plates
| However, the Treasury Department was
| greatly alarmed and offered reward OF
| $25,0OO for the arrest of the counterfeiter
and the recovery of the plates. Chief Woods
was told that the reward applied TO his Of
| fee as well TO outside detectives.
ITO make a long story short, it was not
| long before Chief Woods had Brockaway,
John B. Doyle. Charles Ulrich and Charles
Smith rounded up, recovering the plates.
| Just now / can't remember what DISPOSE
| ton was made of the men, but | do remem
Der that the government had long and ex-
| pensive suit at law in the United States
Court at New York against the bankers
| who had obtained good money from the
treasury on the spurious $50 one-thousand-
dollar bonds. After a bitter fight the gov
eminent succeeded in recovering nearly or
quite 100000 which was reluctantly yielded
up by the bankers who had been gulled.
NEVER GOT HIS REWARD.
| Colonel Woods never did get his reward.
| although he resigned as chief of the secret
| service in order to give all his time to run
ming down and convicting the counterfeiters.
believe he was paid $1,000 on account of
| the secretary of the treasury. who told him
| TO go to work and get special appropria-
ton from Congress for the balance. He
has been trying ever since to get his
| money but has failed although a bill to
| pay him passed Congress in 1868. There
was always some hitch as to whether or not
| the plates from which the bogus bonds
perfect in execution-were printed were
| of copper electroplate or sheet copper, and
it was not until some time last year that
these plates were brought to the Treasury
Department to be destroyed. Whether this
was done or not very few can say, as
| vigorous protest was made that they ought
not TO be destroyed until Congress had final
! ~ passed upon the claims of Colonel Woods.
| Metallurgist experts, chosen by Controller
| Porter, testified positively that the plates
were copper electroplates. the product of
the electric battery obtained from mat
| rices, thus backing up Colonel WoodsS as
sertior.
The men mixed up in the 7-3o bond coun-
| letting gave the government more trou-
| BILE than any band of counterfeiters ever
| captured, unless possibly the Johnson gang.
Ulrich learned his trade in the Government
| Bureau of Engraving and Printing, and,
being thoroughly familiar with the arts and
methods of money making. he executed his
| counterfeits so we'll that they were thor
| oughly in circulation before they were dis
| covered to be bogus. He served more than
enc term in Sing Sing, and l believe he is
| now in Germany trying to live down his
| shady character, but that is something ex-
tremely difficult for counterfeiter to do.
|
| lean Bank Note Company. and one of the
| ceverest engravers this country ever pro-
| duced. II was almost impossible to detect
| one of his notes from the genuine. No one
but an expert could. They were simply per-
feet. Brockaway was not an expert at any
safe and shrewd placer of the spurious stuff
| where returns of the genuine would be safe
and quick However. he could detect by
! touch good from spurious money. In
placing his money he never took desperate
chances. except for very large sums. and
| he always worked his plans in such way
as TO completely throw off suspicion All
four were smooth workers and their meth
| DDS of getting money in circulation were
| on the strictest business lines Doyle was
| a resident of Chicago and was the broker
for the gang; Smiths home was in New
| York city: BrOckaway lived next door TO
rich was bird of passage, having no per-
manent place of abode.
HOW THEY OPERATED.
Smith would get off the notes, generally
Of the denomination of 800. and deliver
them to Brockaway. who would go to Bos-
ton. Philadelphia or some other city and de-
post in some bank in the firm name of
Brockaway &c Doyle. The latter would be
notified at Chicago of the deposit and he
would at once proceed to make liberal
drafts. but always for amounts of less than
$780, thus being sure that none of the coun-
terfeit money deposited by his partner
Brcckaway, would be paid TO him. This was
kept up for long while most successfully
and when they were finally captured nearly
$4,000 in good money was found on the four.
Only small amount of their own manufac-
ture was recovered, they being too Shrewd
TO have it on their persons.
1T takes the SmarteSt kind of a man to
be successful counterfeiter, and especially
of bank notes, and these are the ones which
give the department the greatest amount
of annoyance. Men who execute these are
educated experts with the pen and brush
and Go their work well that Ii is difficult
to apprehend them. This last catch is one
of the most important ever made by the de-
partment, and its immense magnitude has
not yet been made known"
Chief Wilkes rooms in the treasury
building contains all kinds of counterfeit
money. photographs of counterfeters, tools
| with which some of the work was DONE
| dangerous-looking weapons-pistols. dirks,
| knives-with which the counterfeiterS en-
| deavored to avoid arrest, and many other
things of like character. These have been
! collected from time to time since the estab-
lishment of the bureau, and volumes could
be written about their histories.
One of the most perfect hand-executed
| counterfeit bills was made by a green
| Georgia farmer named w. c. Bonnell. being
composition of six shinplasters Confeder-
ate money, and section of a one-dollar
genuine greenback. These are so ingeni-